FOREWORD
Back there in the bad old days, when I was told you can’t learn how to write (and I believed it), there wasn’t much out there to guide the young writer on his perilous way. I was in college, you see, and they knew everything. And one of the things they made clear to me was that books on the craft of writing were a waste of paper. A scam. A way to separate rubes from their money. You cannot learn this stuff, they said. You either have it or you don’t.
I wasted a lot of years believing that balderdash.
Then one day I knew I had to try, had to see if I could learn to write. Even if it turned out I was only pounding my head on the wall of stark failure, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
Thus began my journey through what mythic structure mavens would call the “dark world.” I needed light, so I subscribed to Writer’s Digest and devoured many a WD book. And slowly—through trial, error, and my weekly quota of words—I made it through the woods and into a career.
I don’t begrudge those years, nor the struggle. Still, I wish I’d had a Mentor, somebody who knew the path, the ins and outs, the obstacles to come, someone who could take me by my unsteady hand and say, “Okay, first you ought to do this. Got it? Now you need to do this.”
You know what really would have been nice? Nina Amir’s The Author Training Manual.
What I like about Nina’s approach is that it is both practical and prioritized. It starts with the most important aspect, one that anxious new writers usually skip: mental preparation. Do you have what Nina calls “Author Attitude”? Do you really know what it takes to succeed in this game? Are you willing to practice, to pay the price? Miss this, and you might just be spinning your wheels—or should I say, clacking your keys? Nina would rather see your wheels get traction and your keys make words that will have a chance to connect.
You have a great book idea? How do you run that idea through a grinder that tells you whether it’s worth pursuing? The steps laid out in this book will show you.
We all know we’re in a new world of publishing options: Traditional, Self, or Blended. Nina lays out the details and tells you how to evaluate the choices.
There’s just a lot in here of supreme value. Like the mythic Mentor who shows up when you need her, Nina is ready to hand you a lesson at the right time.
Success as a writer has always been a matter, in large part, of plain old hard work. But also smart work—knowing what to do and how. This latter aspect can’t be emphasized enough. You can go out and hit a million golf balls, but if you’ve got a bad grip and you bend your elbows, all that effort won’t help you break 90 anytime soon. Or maybe ever.
The same idea applies with this crazy business of writing as a profession. The Author Training Manual will help make it a little less crazy for you.
Start your journey.