38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid information with mediocre presentation, 27 Mar 2007
By C. R. Grieco - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Write Your EBook or Other Short Book - Fast! (Paperback)
An interesting, informative book and one that you will want to buy if you plan to self-publish. However I found the writing extremely clunky with numerous typos (even stuff that should have been caught by spellcheck). At one point the author switches from first person to third person and then back again. While the information is solid and I will likely buy at least one more book that the author offers, reading her books is a lot like going to the dentist; you don't enjoy it, but you know it is good for you.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Is there an editor in the house?, 21 April 2008
By Monty Rainey - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Write Your EBook or Other Short Book - Fast! (Paperback)
I believe self-publishing is the greatest thing to happen to the book world since Guttenberg. Self-publishing has allowed thousands of talented writers to make their collective voices be heard. The reading public benefits in untold ways by having available countless books that would likely have not otherwise been published. How many great manuscripts lay buried in some old steamer trunk somewhere, never to be read again, and never to be shared with the world?
But self-publishing also brings with it a host of shortcomings. To this reader, a lack of professionalism being the most notable, and primarily that lack of professionalism shows itself in the editing. Now, for a self-published book on how to repair the plumbing in your home, I can overlook a lack of editing, but in a book about how to write a book, a lack of editing is inexcusable. Other than that, WRITE YOUR eBOOK OR OTHER SHORT BOOK - FAST, by Judy Cullins, is pretty good. You can't even make the argument that hiring an editor is too expensive. I edit raw manuscripts for $3 per page. I'm sure many summertime vacationing English teachers would be willing to do it for even less!
The information contained here is good, although somewhat of a sleight of hand. By that I mean, Cullins did something she teaches in the book, she took what should have been a forty-page pamphlet and turned it into a 130-page book. The problem is, she does so with redundancy and a good deal of white space. Every two or three paragraphs is a new subheading that takes a couple of inches out of print.
I did learn a few things here. As I said, the information is worth the price of the book, I just hold a book on writing to a higher standard. There is too much emphasis here on making the dollar and not nearly enough focus on the quality of the finished product.
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
On Doing a Series of Little Books on Your Favorite Subject, 16 Jun 2006
By John Matlock "Gunny" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Write Your EBook or Other Short Book - Fast! (Paperback)
This book is a great example of what the author suggests that you do. That is, pick a non-fiction subject and write a fairly small book on the subject. There is a lot in what she has to say. The rules are pretty simple. Pick a subject that you know something about, that is small enough that it hasn't been written about too much. Write a small book, and spend as much time on promotion as you did on writing the book. People like to read authors that they know, so picking a subject where you can write a series of books covering different aspects.
Most of the book consists of short fast chapters that are fast to write, fast to read, convey information that the reader wants. There are chapters on just the back cover. When you have fifteen or twenty seconds of the buyers attention, what you put on the cover is very important. Then there are chapters on getting the book published, including finding a major publsher and on publishing it yourself.
She writes a bit on eBooks. I'm not so sure I agree with her on this one. eBooks have not been terribly successful. People don't seem to want to read on a computer. But publishing as a paper book and a eBook at the same time might make some sense.
