JustWriteBooks: Nonfiction Writing & Publishing Help

Let’s start with the most basic bit, the question of whether you need to seek permission or not. Most of the time, if you’re quoting judiciously, sparingly, and not much from the same source, the answer is no. Similarly, if the piece you’re incorporating won’t become the centerpiece or substantial amount of your work, it’s still no. However, there aren’t any hard and fast rules about how many words or how many lines of text you can quote without infringing on someone else’s copyright. If you ever read that there are such rules, don’t believe i

Today, we bring you the final P in this three-part series, which we hope will give you both the last step in choosing, creating, and crafting great stories for your nonfiction book and also the motivation to put what you’ve learned to work. Remember, the stories you use to support, illustrate, and demonstrate your ideas in action are what make you and your writing particularly meaningful and memorable to your audience.

Yesterday, we introduced the five Ps of story preparation—five critical pieces to help you come up with stories that will make you and your material memorable—and I detailed the first two, purpose and passion. Today, let’s go on to the next two, essential for creating a connection with your audience that lasts long beyond the moment they read your words.

Not long ago, I pinpointed the five Ps of story preparation—five critical pieces to help you come up with stories that will make you and your material memorable. They are purpose, passion, perspective, personalization, and pruning. In this first installment of The 5 Ps of Story Prep, we review the first two.

Your nonfiction book proposal can be from 20 to 50 pages. A description of and instructions for writing a proposal can be much, much longer than that. (People have published entire books on the subject.) But here’s the whole enchilada in five bites.

Good editing is so much more than hunting down the elusive typo and hacking up sentences. It can range from creative input at the earliest stages of development to putting the finishing touches on a completed manuscript. Do *you* need an editor?