How to Make a Living as a Writer

Excellent information on not only forming habits to become a great writer but how to balance writing with a busy life. Great insights with links throughout to assist anyone with a heart for writing to succeed.

This a no nonsense advice from an author and teacher who knows his craft. Sound practical advice that can be transformed into action for new and experienced authors. Refreshingly honest and to the point.

I just published my first book. But before I published I bought this book and it spoke to me. As I read, I felt even more motivated as it confirmed many of the assumptions I had about writing and gave valuable suggestions. I'm now a fan of James' work. Excellent read especially for new writers. Go for it!

Once again James Scott Bell brings humor, common sense, and great insight into the writing life. The most amazing thing about this book is that he makes the illusive writer's dream actually seem attainable.

As always, Bell has penned another winner. There's a lot of great ideas and encouragement here, as well as practical advice on things like marketing and editing. It's a quick read and a good kick in the pants, if you need a pep talk.

Wow! What great practical advice for the new or experienced writer. Bell covers many of the concerns the modern writer faces from the perspective of someone who is going through them himself. A great read. Many practical tips. A must read for anyone who takes their writing seriously.

Thoughtfully explained, this book tells writers old and new how to get serious about their writing, how to make it a business, and how to take the right steps to make a living doing the thing a writer loves to do. Written by a long-time, successful writer, this book is a sure bestseller. I highly recommend it.

This was a very insightful read. I expect it will make me better at my craft, but even more importantly, it gives me a context and perspective that will help how I live my life.

For that, I am grateful.

Once again author James Scott Bell is living out his commitment to help writers succeed. This book is a must-read for those wanting solid, applicable tips to make writing full-time a reality. It's a book I will recommend again and agin

This is mildly derivative work, but it is clear and concise. It's excellent for someone just starting to consider a wildly destructive career move into freelancing and writing generally. Only three stars, but I liked it and it's worth reading.

I bought this book expecting more about how to make a living writing. I thought there would be much more than just a chapter about how to make money through self-publishing. The book had some good information about how to write fiction but I've already gotten that information from other books. The information in this book was too general to really be useful to me.

I have followed this author's footsteps through the years, and I am fully convinced that any advice from James Scott Bell is Good advice that we can learn from. I was anxious to read this, after learning about his new release at a writer's conference, and there was no way I could pass it up. This book is exactly what I expected from a pro! The author delivers solid advice with lots of helpful information on the right road to turning your writing into a business, and becoming successful at it.

This insightful guide tells-it-like-it-is in Today's world, and gives you much more information than just on marketing, and editing. In fact, this is a valuable book for both new, and established writers. The author leads you in the right direction with several helpful tips.

Although this is a quick read, it's worth every moment in learning Great ideas, with practical advice. Motivating, encouraging, and insightful. Highly recommended for all writers!

There are so many nuggets of wisdom in this book. Every single one of James Scott Bell's writing how-to books are must-reads for writers. This one is ideal for those who want to push themselves closer to full-time status. In today's writing climate it isn't a pie in the sky notion to make a living with your writing, and Bell explains the tools you'll need to get there. James Scott Bell is always encouraging, entertaining, and trustworthy. This one is worth reading more than once. In fact, this is my second time through.

I bought this book on an impulse that attests more to the marketing skill of the store.com than the appeal of the topic or recognition of the author. Having published a dozen books myself without earning enough continuous income to pay my living expenses, I thought there might be a new wrinkle or two I should know about, and throwing away a couple of dollars and a couple of hours reading was not a great waste, especially as I was basking in the afterglow of a successful stock trade (where the real money is).

This book is more motivational and promotional than instructive and the "How To" title is misleading. The author delights in dropping the names of financially successful writers who were early entries into the world of e-book publication—when e-reader devices outnumbered e-book titles—and the book content seems more like a Suggested Reading List and Book Services Directory, than explaining how to earn a living (it would seem designing book covers is more dependable and potentially more financially rewarding).

Fluff is mentioned as a topic: "Fluff is the stuff that is not helpful and takes up too much space. It is the kind of material that has the reader thinking, Get [sic] to the point already!" an opinion Mr. Bell should take to heart, along with his suggestion to hire an editor to prevent grammatical errors, as in the quote above, because shortly thereafter he admonishes writers that "Yes, grammar matters," and "So learn to write." Ahem... perhaps a personal brushup would be wise Mr. Bell, ( especially for slang/jargon terms such as "alsobot").

In addition, the technical formatting of the book would benefit from the talents of a skillful HTML/CSS coder (to remove the TOC numbering and underlining) rather than relying on the obviously limited capabilities of the Scrivener application, which causes another grammatical error on every leading paragraph (paragraphs should only be indented when following another paragraph, not after figures, headings, titles or chapter breaks).

Mr. Bell does have a few interesting comments about writing book jacket descriptions and preparing an "elevator pitch," which I think are worth two dollars, so I feel the Kindle price is not excessive and I have received something for my money. The cost of the paperback version would leave me feeling cheated because any author contemplating making a living as a writer would already know just about everything in this book.

The book contains a link to the author's website which under the guise of a free giveaway, harvests e-mail addresses for future promotional junk mail.

As I have not read any of his novels or other material, I cannot comment on his storytelling ability, which may be very good, but you must risk your own money to find out.

Throughout this book an accumulation of helpful information is written in a simplistic manner for anyone to understand. The author breaks down topics to focus on the most needed and necessary answers to the questions most writers have. His twenty years of experience has served him well as he is considerate enough to share that wisdom he has acquired. I highly recommend this book as his knowledge and fortitude is of great inspiration.

I received this book in return for an honest review.

Another good one from perennial author's advocate James Scott Bell! I've been learning from Bell since the beginning of my writing career, and, boy, do I wish I'd had this book back then to light the way through the often dark tunnel of the business end of writing. Bell shares his own experiences, offers practical hands-on advice about monetizing our art, as well as the bonus of some writing how-to advice.

I really enjoyed this book. Lots of helpful hints and tips and I made a lot of notes. I will use a lot in my book. The only gripe was he made reference to many other books in his examples discussed in the book and I had never heard of or read most of them so have no idea of the point he was making. I would reccomend the book. (type found ch21, para3 wd7 :) )

Bell is an encouraging realist. This is the first book I have found that clearly explains the steps for self publishing. There is no promise of easy success and money. Creating a quality book or e-book is the focus, a message that I appreciate not only as an aspiring writer, but also as a consumer on Kindle and nook.

I purchased this book yesterday and stayed up all night reading it! This is probably the first non-fiction book that has held my attention so well. I'd highly recommend giving JSB a read to anyone not sure how to break into the business of writing.