By Meg Leder and Jack Heffron
Writer's Digest Books
Hardcover and Paperback Editions

If you're even thinking about writing a book, you need The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing. This comprehensive guide contains over 400 pages of everything you need to know about writing, publishing and marketing your work.

Each section of this book covers vital aspects of the craft every writer should follow:

Part I: The Craft
Get started by understanding plot, story flow, point of view, characters and dialogue.

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing Excerpt It's one of the first things a new fiction writer hears in the way of advice: "Show, don't tell." The advice is sound. But execution is sometimes something else. There's just an awful lot of confusion about this basic tactic of effective fiction. Let's try to clear up some of it. The phrase "Show, don't tell" is shorthand for this advice: "Don't lecture your reader; she won't believe you. Give her the story action, character thoughts, feelings, and sense impressions as the character would experience them in real life. Let her live the story for herself as she lives real life, by experience." ©2002 Writer's Digest Books Published with permission

Part II: The Art
Understand the rules of fiction, turn true life to fiction, connect emotion and get in tune with your reader's senses.

Part III: The Process
Find out how to get started on your novel, jumpstart your creativity, revise your novel and deal with criticism.

Part IV: The Genres
Get to know your audience, create realistic characters and keep the suspense going throughout your novel. Plus, tips on writing horror, fantasy, romance and Christian fiction.

Part V: The Marketplace
Use these insider tips for finding agents and editors. Study the debate of fee-charging agents. Learn the ins and outs of the market. Tools for book proposals, a novel synopsis, getting your work published and help with the electronic publishing world.

Part VI: The Interviews
Read interviews with the hottest, most accomplished authors, including Margaret Atwood, Maeve Binchy, Tom Clancy, Joyce Carol Oates, James Patterson, Kurt Vonnegut and more.

Bookworm's Briefing
You could easily read this book from cover-to-cover or flip through it as a reference as your writing progresses. This is, by far, one of the strongest writing how-to books on the market.

If you only purchase one writing book this year, make it The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing. Head to the bookstore, run through the pages and you'll instantly be hooked.