Review of Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, & Market Your Book by Patrika Vaughn

Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish & Market Your Book couldn't be written by anyone more experienced in the publishing industry than Patrika Vaughn. She has been widely published and has worked as a literary agent and professional writer for over thirty years. Throughout her book, her mission is simple: to set writers up for success.

In this self-proclaimed manual, she addresses both the writing and business side of a book. Her overview is brief but takes on the amount of depth necessary for the reader to start on the path to writing and provides a step-by-step approach to creating a book.

Vaughn begins by walking the reader through the writing process and assisting the reader in creating a vivid story or work of nonfiction. Vaughn provides a more systematic approach to writing; therefore, her method may not work for everyone. However, it is worth reading and is a perfectly adaptable format to any writing style, as she takes into consideration the aforementioned possibility.

As Part I and II are about the process of writing, Part III is about the business—what to do with what you have written. In this part of the book, Vaughn gives a general overview of self-editing, the preparation of manuscripts, and of the various markets that might take the completed work. Following these sections, there are two chapters that focus specifically on self-publishing and marketing the self-published book. Because this book was originally published in 1997, the advice given here should be taken with some caution and the reader should research today's book market for up-to-date information.

The one thing I dislike about this book is that the author tries to cover too much in a small space. Also, its focus is very broad, attempting to cater to both fiction and nonfiction writers when both need different kinds of attention, which limits the book to being a good general overview for the writer just starting out. Though Vaughn's book is geared more towards the beginning writer, any writer should be able to benefit from this information-packed book.

Patrika Vaughn's book, Writer, Publish & Market Your Book, is available from Amazon.com in print and Kindle editions.

Review by Diana Reed