Writers Profits
by Susan M. Carter, editor
Published by Nasus Publishing
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Mark M. Owen, Ph.D.
Subtitled: How I Got the Gig, Volume I–15 Writers Tell How They Get Paying Gigs and How You Can, Too
Writers Profit is an insightful collection of experiential essays written by writers for an audience of aspiring authors. If you want to learn to be a successful writer, then there are many lesson’s scattered throughout the 174-page book. The text is cleanly edited by Susan Carter, who offers a brief introduction, and later shares one of her own hard-fought success stories in the final essay. Hers is one of the best in the book.
Between the covers, readers will not find the secrets of successful mainstream authors like John Grisham or J.K. Rowling. Instead the essays are written by people you might actually know, like the struggling web author down the road, or perhaps the e-zine writer next door. And while the successes shared may not be monetarily astounding, they are significant achievements in their own right. Make no mistake, the stories these writers share are rigorous, dragging readers through the painful process of submitting queries, clips and manuscripts. But the stories are also heartwarming, as they always end at some successful publishing event in the author’s lives.
A reader might be tempted to crack the book and jump right to an essay dealing with their own particular area of interest, such as writing scripts for a television series, or catching a publishing contract for a young adult novel. But each of the fourteen essays has a message to share, and readers would do well to digest them all. The one message that comes through loud and clear in each essay is never give up.
Armchair Interviews says: And that is a message worth telling time and time again.