Guest Review: THE NEW WRITER'S HANDBOOK: VOLUME 2 by Philip Martin

The New Writer's Handbook: Volume 2
By Philip Martin
ISBN-10: 0979824923
ISBN-13: 978-0979824920
Paperback, 280 pages
August 28, 2008
Scarletta Press
Reviewed by Cynthia Murphy

Writing is a tricky business. For many writers, striking a balance between the creative and commercial aspects of the craft is the biggest challenge of all. The New Writer’s Handbook: Volume 2 offers over 60 articles filled with advice regarding both sides of the business. Philip Martin edited this volume and contributed two articles. It is a great resource for all different types of writers.

The New Writer’s Handbook: Volume 2 is broken down into six sections: “Creativity and Motivation”, “The Craft of Writing”, “Pitching Your Work”, “Internet Marketing Skills”, Business Savvy”, and “Last Words and Literary Thoughts”. Each section features articles covering various facets of the chosen topic. The section on pitching your work should be particularly helpful for writers struggling to get their work published. Jean Ready’s “Ten Ways to Land a First Assignment” demystifies the process of landing freelance work. She explains the risks for editors and what writers can do to prove they pose minimal risk. Ready even quotes a number of freelance writers throughout the article. In this article and throughout the book, the articles provide helpful, practical advice for all types of writers.

The “Internet Marketing” section will also be particularly helpful for modern writers. It focuses on blogging. There are articles about why a blog can be a great marketing tool for writers and how to make a blog successful. I also particularly enjoyed Ron McDaniel’s “Evaluating Blog Results: Does Your Blog Suck or Succeed?” This article covers the different ways to measure the success of a blog. Some of the measures seemed unusual, but they worked for the author.

For all writers, the “Business Savvy” section could prove to be invaluable. A writer may be the most talented person since Ernest Hemingway, but business savvy could make all the difference in his career. This is one area that creative writing programs consistently ignore, yet business knowledge is extremely important for professional writers. It may not be the most exciting section of the book, but the “Business Savvy” section should be required reading for anyone who wants to earn a living through writing revenue.

One of my favorite aspects of this book is its variety. The articles come from all different types of writers- poets, novelists, children’s authors, etc. I have to admit I was impressed by the variety of authors. One of my childhood favorites, Lois Lowry, was even included. Agent Michael Bourret contributed a very interesting piece entitled “A Day in the Life of a Literary Agent.” This article provides an informative look at the other side of the writing process. It is good to know what might happen to a manuscript after it leaves the author’s hands.

Overall the selection of articles provides a nice mix of information and entertainment. However, one article doesn’t seem to fit. There is an article entitled “Simple Stretches for Writers” in the “Business Savvy” section. This article doesn’t seem to really fit anywhere in the book. It is an interesting article that would be beneficial to anyone who sits at a computer all day, but it just doesn’t fit with the rest of this section. The inclusion of this article probably would not have bothered me if the book had a looser construction. Yet, every other article seems perfectly placed, so this misstep is glaringly obvious.

The New Writer’s Handbook: Volume 2 should be required reading for anyone with dreams of being a published author. It covers the creative and commercial aspects in practical terms with articles from proven authors. I learned quite a bit about the business side of writing. Philip Martin has done a masterful job of editing this “practical anthology.”