Sell copy: How to write it, how to sell it, how to buy it

by Webster Kuswa

Dust jacket has light edge wear. Spine is faded. Same day shipping. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0911654690
• ISBN13: 9780911654691
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The professional writer's secret weapon

I stumbled across this volume in a thrift shop, & immediately knew I had to have it.I hate about 99% of "how to write" books that are on the market. They encourage too many people to believe that they'll have the next NewYorkTimesBestSeller of they can only figure out which magic words to put in their cover letter, or how to properly punctuate.This book is one of the very few that hits you right between the eyes with hard practical knowledge. It's aimed squarely at those writers who can actually already WRITE -- as in string words together in a way that brings a concept to life, engages the reader & doesn't let go.Most writers with Lit'ry pretensions -- of which I, of course, am numbered -- believe that their every word is sacred & golden, and that using this divinely granted Gift to make a steady buck is artistic prostitution.Of course, they also want that best-seller....Kuswa doesn't pull any punches. His first words in the Introduction: "Wouldn't you rather write a sales letter for pay than do an article or book for rejection slips?" He soon points out that even the budding novelist will benefit in ways other than keeping the landlord happy: "Experience in commercial freelance work sharpens thinking and improves style for whatever form of writing you prefer to do in the future."And he's dead right. My prose took off when I became a copy editor at a daily newspaper. (Plus, as Barry Malzberg pointed out, the most valuable skill any hopeful author will ever develop is competent typing.) Transcribing long boring lectures added pizazz & sparkle to my dialogue. Producing punchy advertising blurbs & letters & brochures was the single best thing that ever happened to my action scenes.Buy this book. If you have any intention of writing the next Great American (or whatever!) Novel, read every word from Webster Kuswa, & learn how to make someone else pay you for learning these invaluable skills.