38 Books Like How NOT To Write A Book

When I arrange for my clients to do a radio or podcast interview, some sell books, while others do not. Why is that?

In many cases it’s the little things said during an interview that make people want to buy that book. That’s why Media training is important, because what good is landing an interview if you can’t get the listener/viewer to take action and buy the book? If you take your interviews seriously then read this book. Besides learning tips and techniques you’ll gain confidence which is an important element of any interview. This book is for anyone who is planning on getting media coverage including: Authors, C-Suite Execs, Politicians, and Sports Figures. 

The author Jess Todtfeld worked as a national TV-News Producer at NBC, ABC and FOX News. He coached guests on how to look and sound good for years. Now he brings that experience to his… show more.

Sales of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ were driven in part by techniques outlined in PyroMarketing by Greg Stielstra. The essence of the book is to get small groups of people to buy and read your book and tell their friends. You start this by going to the people most likely to want to read your book and expand from there.

This book covers the essential elements of how to motivate people to buy a book and start word-of-mouth marketing. I’ve listened to the audiobook several times as it's just as packed with solid information authors can use.

In my years as a book marketer and book publicist I have found the real experts in this field are other authors. These are the people whose livelihoods depend on selling books. This is not a hobby for David Gaughran, being an author is how he makes a living. As a result, he’s studied, analyzed, and written about what makes a successful book and graciously shared this knowledge with fellow authors.

The fact that he is a bestselling author himself and has taken the time to analyze Amazon in every way conceivable way is reason enough to buy this book. I highly recommend Let’s Get Visible and consider it a must-read for all authors.

In Book Funnels & Amazon Ads, Alex draws from his experience of working with hundreds of authors. He delves into Amazon Advertising and reveals how to leverage this unique opportunity to your advantage. Amazon ads can be very effective for authors but you need to educate yourself before diving in. There is too much to know to just ‘wing it.’ This book was written by a person who is first a techie guy and understands Amazon algorithms like you and I will never comprehend.

Follow Alex’s advice and use Amazon ads.

This is a unique way of saving money by engaging in some extra creative activities, and thereby earning money from them outside of your normal salary/income.

For instance, this is similar to an employee or business owner having their own side hustle. Extra ways to earn money are also covered, and when you have saved in $1K parcels; then that money goes towards the relevant goal you have set for yourself.

The author uses her $1K parcels to buy shares. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad is the book that changed the trajectory of my life forever.

It is a parable that explains the difference between the traditional way of thinking “Go to school, get a good job, work hard, retire” with the entrepreneur mentality, and the concepts of utilizing passive income to replace your job at an earlier age.

I love this book because it takes the normally boring subject of finance and investing and breaks it down in a fun and easy way to learn so that you will actually finish the book and have the ability to experience that light-switch moment! 

Without a doubt this is the most commonly mentioned book that I hear referenced on podcasts as “the book that started it all”.

While not exactly a light read – it contains adult explorations of trauma and violence – Purcell’s writing is drum-tight and entirely absorbing.

This book broke my months-long reading slump and writer's block, reminding me that all it takes to fall in love with stories again is one really, really good one. I’m not much of an annotator, but the pages of my copy are splattered with pen, most often exclamation marks and underlines and obscene exclamations of enthusiasm and grief.

Split between multiple perspectives, locations, and decades, The Lessons is a heart-wrenching romance without fluff, tropes, and suspended disbeliefs. A story of expectations and disappointments, promises and betrayals, it’s full of sharp observations about writing and writers, social constructs, and human behaviour.

I devoured it in days, and can’t wait to forget all the details so I can come back to it and fall in love all over… show more.

I loved the voice of this book–it’s the voice of Stephen King, clever, yes, and a brilliant novelist, of course, but also absolutely down-to-earth. King is a perfectionist, continually going back through his writing to hone it–a useful reminder to all of us not to be satisfied with a first or second draft.

The book shows how, in the best writing, both dialogue and plot arise out of character. And I particularly valued his emphasis on cutting, cutting, cutting–dialogue and everything else. He’s made me do that more than ever!

Do not come to this book in search of warm hugs about the beauty of the process. True to the title, Klinkenborg (best name ever?) offsets each of his sentences like an epic poem in verse. The epic he describes is how epically bad your writing is, and—hopefully—how to improve. He returns to the word "notice" over and over, and that's really it. You're blowing sentences by not noticing what the sentence itself is doing. You're over-emphasizing "meaning" at the expense of the vehicle that delivers it. I sense there's a kind man in there, somewhere, who's working a side of the street he feels has been neglected by years of misguided education. But here, he's dedicated to the larger cause of clean, clear sentences. Not hugs.

What I love about Lee Koffman’s intimate writing memoir is her encouragement and support of the notion that all writers have a different method and that you must find your own tips and tricks to get through the writing practice.

As a high-achieving student, thinker, and writer, I was mortified in classrooms to find that I didn’t have quick answers for things. With time, I came up with something great, but on the spot, I was an inarticulate, floundering mess.

Koffman taught me that truthfulness can not only be found in what you write but in how you do it. I learnt to accept the way my mind worked and realised that in combining the content and the method, you can create something great.