Fiction Attack!: Insider Secrets for Writing and Selling Your Novels & Stories For Self-Published and Traditional Authors

I've purchased every one of James Scott Bell's books on writing, and every one of them is worthy of 5+ stars. His books are simply amazing....wonderful for any writer, from beginner to advanced. I've written over thirty books, and believe me, I never stop learning from a master like Bell. I have to read his books with a highlighter in hand, though perhaps it ends up being a futile exercise because I highlight so much. This book is absolutely wonderful. Once again, I wore out a neon yellow highlighter when I read through it the first time. I loved his new Self Publishing Attack as well--downloaded that one--and only wish I could order it in hard copy so I could highlight and make notes in the margins, as I always do with his books.Something I've never done before with any book by any author: I have the hard copy of Fiction Attack, and actually just downloaded it onto my Kindle Fire as well so I can read it all over again while we do a lot of traveling this spring. Come to think of it...I'm going to see if Plot & Structure and Revision & Self-Editing are available on Kindle, and will download them too, if I can..even though I have the much-marked-up hard copies. Highly recommend!

I ordered this book because I want to study everything James Scott Bell says. When he's right, he's brilliant. When he's wrong... okay, if he's ever said anything that's completely and utterly wrong, I haven't read it yet. (Even when I'd like him to be wrong... he's still right.)This book is a hodge-podge of advice for authors (and aspiring authors) of popular and genre fiction. Reading it -- after studying most of his other books -- I felt like he was at my elbow, saying, "Wait. In my other books, I forgot to tell you this part..."In other words, if you've read his other (excellent) books, this book may be wall-to-wall "ah-HA!" moments. And, since the advice is edited from his blog, this is a more conversational book than most.I love this book. It's among the books I keep near my desk. I also appreciate the paper version, so I can highlight it, jot real notes in the margin, and have that "book" experience.Browse Bell's blog, online. If you like it, I think you'll love this book.

I'm actually still in the process of digesting all the information in this book. Mr. Bell is eminently readable; he doesn't come across as stuffy or professorial. His information is good, especially in the way he uses interviews with other writers. (Maybe that's why he doesn't come across in a know-it-all, "use-my-way-or-forget-it" style. Hopefully I can use his information to finalize some manuscripts and get moving with them. Thanks, Mr. Bell!

I'm currently teaching a novel-writing class and wanted some references to quote. This particular book didn't give me much to use. It seems more like an opinion book than a book for specific advice to help writers. I did pull a few details out that were helpful, but I suspect this was written more to entertain than to instruct.