Writer's Essential Tackle Box

The Writer's Essential Tackle Box is the book I wish I'd read ten years ago. Of course, it wasn't published then, but still. . . .

Last July, because of a comment I left on a post of publisher Lynn Price's Behler Blog, I won a copy of her book, The Writer's Essential Tack Box, published, of course, by Behler Publishing. It received a cat scan from Chloe before I could open it.

This book was packed with useful info about "getting a hook on the publishing industry." I could have used a lot of this info before I self-published a novel in 2001 and vanity-published some other stuff years ago. Even though I've worked my way up to small press publishing, I still learned a lot from The Writer's Essential Tack Box.

The book was published in 2009 and—given all the changes in the publishing industry since then—I thought its information might be out of date. It isn't.

The book is divided into the following  four sections: Interviews—Casting the Flyrod; "Forget the bait, pass me the Maalox": The Submission Process; "Chuming the Waters: and The Writers' Survival Style Guide. Each section was packed with info.

I especially liked the in-depth questions and answers in the interviews with agents in section 1—Andrea Brown, Rita Rosenkranz, Laurie McLean, Peter Cox, and others. Also extremely helpful was the information about the different review sources. 

Throughout the book, Lynn Price defines—as well as explains—a lot of terminology. She tells writers what they need to know whether they're seeking commercial publication or self-publication. Clearly she's done her homework. 

I highly recommend The Writer's Essential Tack Box to anyone seeking publication. It's easy to read and, well, essential.

Here's the book trailer: 

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