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Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Hallie Ephron
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $4.93
You Save: $12.06 (71%)
New (36) Used (13) Collectible (1) from $4.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 302420
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 1582973768
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.3872
EAN: 9781582973760
ASIN: 1582973768
Publication Date: September 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: SHIPS TODAY!!!!!! BRAND NEW BOOK
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Book Description
How to write a page-turner is no mystery with this thorough and authoritative guide. Successful mystery writer Hallie Ephron's Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: -Features comprehensive instruction, exercises, and worksheets for mystery writers of all levels -Addresses all subgenres of mystery from hardboiled crimes and cozies to romantic thrillers and medical mysteries -Covers how to grab readers from the first chapter, how to construct effective plots, and how to revise and submit mysteries to publishers Ephron takes the mystery out of the writing process, making it less daunting for beginners and more efficient for experienced writers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Excellent resource not matter your genre. April 14, 2008
I am writing a romatic suspense novel, and I've found this book to be a fantastic resource for developing a deep understanding of my own characters. Now I feel like I know exactly how each of my point of view characters would act, feel, and speak in each situation I throw them in (or they throw themselves into as they've now taken on a life of their own!!). I've also really appreciated the exercises on structuring the plot to keep the readers guessing--how to structure suspect analysis (motive, lies, secrets, etc) and the supporting cast.
If you're serious about structuring a good mystery (even if it's a subplot like my own), this will be a great resource.
 Great review... January 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you don't know how to write, this book won't teach you; however, it is an excellent review, a good pattern, a genre-description. If you're a writer and you're WONDERING if you can write mysteries, this would be a good book for you to read.
Excellent primer and refresher December 31, 2007
I undertook this book among with a few other "craft" books after completing the second draft of a mystery novel, to help clear my head and clarify what I would need to accomplish in the third draft. I found it among the most useful craft books I've ever encountered. Clear, concise, clever, and accurate. Ephron writes from experience and respects writers willing to give novel-writing a go; she does not talk down to her readers or fill her pages with useless advice such as "don't forget to do XYZ, but don't do it too much." The exercises and instructions she includes will not write a book for you, but they will help you understand what you will need to successfully accomplish to write a book of your own. I find most craft books barely more useful than doorstops - thinly veiled memoirs, for the most part - but this is a true gem among the huge number of "how to write a mystery" books you could choose from.
Getting started on your writing July 9, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Excellent way to get going on that mystery novel. The exercises direct your thinking about your plot and characters. Answering her questions makes the characters especially come alive and the story takes off from there!!!
Good for newbies May 22, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Writing instruction books penned by writers are a dime per every two dozen. Most of their advice amounts to a re-packaging of every writer cliché available for free: Show, don't tell; write a character bio; use he said/she said; conflict, conflict, conflict. Rarely does anything write-home-worthy come down the pike that we haven't read elsewhere. So it is with a mix of openness and skepticism that I picked up WRITING AND SELLING YOUR MYSTERY NOVEL by Hallie Ephron.
The result? A good primer for beginners, but mostly just another rehash of generic advice to the more seasoned writer. Ephron covers everything in this book: Characterization, dialogue, selecting a title, setting, plotting, suspense, revision, marketing, polishing, selling--I mean she covers it ALL. She also includes copious charts and graphs that illustrate her points for the reader's personal use. This is what makes it such a good, comprehensive tool for someone just getting into writing who could benefit from an all-in-one resource. But as much as that's a strength of the book, it's also a weakness. The book is too busy with charts, and Ephron breezes through every imaginable subject so quickly that she rarely scratches past the surface. In this way, WRITING AND SELLING is malnourished inasmuch as it's comprehensive.
For intermediate to advanced writers, there are a few good chapters in here. I particularly enjoyed the ones on plotting and suspense, and Ephron's itemization of different plot twists and turns, when coupled with the chapter on suspense, is almost worth the price of the book alone. So, if you're just starting out, feel free to buy WRITING AND SELLING YOUR MYSTERY NOVEL to get your beak wet. Then go deeper with DON'T MURDER YOUR MYSTERY or SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS.
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