About Writing cover art

About Writing

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

About Writing

By: Gareth L. Powell
Narrated by: Gareth L. Powell
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £15.79

Buy Now for £15.79

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

Gareth L. Powell would be the first to tell you that he doesn't know everything about being a writer, or about getting published, or about life when your work is in a bookshelf. But his field-guide to publishing, About Writing, is absolutely here to help writers on every stage of their journey.

Whether you need a bit of writing inspiration or tips on how to find your voice, are struggling to manage writing alongside a day job, want some no-nonsense advice about working with an agent or a publisher or are all at sea with social media, this updated and expanded guide is a must have.

Positive, blunt and refreshingly honest, this is a guide to the practical business of writing from a professional author with a decade's experience, who has navigated working with publishers of all sizes, and walked the path from debut to award-winner. Written with Gareth L. Powell's trademark warmth and wisdom, About Writing is here to help you achieve your goals, and write your own story.

Originally published by Luna Press, this new edition contains updated tips, advice and information, plus more than 20,000 words of new material.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Gareth L. Powell (P)2022 Gollancz Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
This is very good. Lots of good advice on writing, and some good advice on living, too. Recommended.

An excellent guide

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Writing advice is a genre in and of itself. Every writer gets asked for it whether they want to be or not, many authors offer advice whether you asked for it or not and, much like in business, some people seem to be much better known for coming out with advice than they are for success in the field they're advising you about.

This isn't that. It isn't a get published quick scheme, it neither makes writing sound super easy nor like a weird form of personal torment, but acknowledges the difficulties, the realities, and the many rewards for writing as a hobby or a career. It's a gentle read and felt like a mid-point between listening to an author talking at a con and chatting to you across a table over a drink or two, giving you plenty of advice and support without ever being either vague or prescriptive. It's the benefit of one man's experience and insight, nothing more and nothing less, and the best part? I felt from beginning to end as though the author wrote this book in the genuine hope that the reader will succeed.

One day, if I work hard and have a little of the luck we could all do with sometimes, I hope I get to shake his hand and tell him with absolute honesty that some of these words helped my achieve my own weird little dreams of writing things that other people enjoy reading. I have a feeling that he'd be delighted.

The book on writing I needed to read, and I will read it again and again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have a fair few books about writing, getting started and how to stare the blank page down, but this is by far the most down to earth and accessible one yet. Gareth Powell shares his ups, his downs, what has worked, what hasn’t and totally trashes the idea of the glamorous literary lifestyle while reassuring us all that he would never be anything else but the writer in the corner of his living room. I chuckled a lot through this audiobook. He offers a lot of common sense advice for someone starting out and I would recommend this book to anyone who is beginning to put pen to paper.

Brilliantly human

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.