I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 16.
I bought How to Write a Book From Outline to Finish Line: 10 simple ways to outline your nonfiction book by Shelley Hitz because I wanted to refresh my memory on writing a book proposal.
What I should have looked for was a book on writing book proposals rather than a book on outlines, as it wasn’t really what I was looking for – not the author’s fault at all, but mine.
However, when I say “I bought” it, the book was actually FREE on Kindle, so I didn’t need to worry about returning it and asking for a refund. And, because I’d bothered to get it in the first place, I decided to read it from start to finish anyway, and it didn’t take long.
The book actually does do exactly what it says on the cover: It does suggest ten different ways to outline your book. These cover apps and packages such as Trello, Evernote, Scrivener, et al, and other more tried and tested systems, such as whiteboards and sticky notes. And then the chapters very quickly cover how the author uses these tools to outline her own books.
There then follows a chapter on writing the book itself, or how to start and then how to keep your bum on the seat, and then there’s a chapter on dictating the book, writing it yourself, or hiring a ghostwriter.
If you’re looking for tools and apps, etc, to help you brainstorm your next book, then this is a good place to start, and it’s free (at the moment). It’s a short, quick read written in an enthusiastic style.
How to Write a Book From Outline to Finish Line: 10 simple ways to outline your nonfiction book is available for free on Kindle, in the UK and in the US, and probably elsewhere in the world too – just copy and paste the title into the search and you’ll find your local copy.
