Write, Edit, Publish: What Every Writer Needs to Know but Only an Editor Will Tell You

Literary agents and publishers reject 99 percent of manuscripts before finishing the first page. Discerning readers are just as ruthless. If your opening doesn't grab them by the throat, they're gone. Award-winning author and veteran editor Michael J. Totten will show you-in the first two chapters alone-how to craft a killer first sentence and a gripping first page that refuse to let go.

Most books about writing are written by writers, not editors. They don't see the troubled manuscripts that Totten sees, so the crippling mistakes that sink so many otherwise promising manuscripts aren't well covered in most books about writing-until now.

He'll show you dozens of ways to brand yourself a pro instead of an amateur, save your plot from disaster, tap into readers' capacity for empathy so they truly sympathize with your characters, craft an ending that haunts even after it's over, spellbind readers using real rather than vacuous descriptions, avoid idiotic character decisions, ditch the lame filter words, and so much more.

With insights forged from three decades in the trenches, Totten will save you years of struggle and show you how to write so well the world can't ignore you.

Praise for Michael J. Totten

"This book is game-changing for writers. Michael J. Totten gives great advice about writing that only a seasoned editor could convey. I'm including this book as required reading in my editing course and plan to have other folks in my department read it as well."
-Allyson Longueira, professor in the graduate program in creative writing at Western Colorado University

"I've admired Michael J. Totten's work as a writer for years, but it turns out he is also a superb editor."
-Judith Deborah, author of A Falling Knife: An Evan Adair Mystery

"As an accomplished writer, journalist, and editor, Michael is second to none. He has helped me with two books and enormously improved both."
-Fred Litwin, author of I Was a Teenage JFK Conspiracy Freak

"If you're looking for an editor to help you take your book to the next level, look no further than Michael J. Totten. I've always found his astute insights invaluable."
-Scott William Carter, author of The Gray and Guilty Sea