English Research

The beginning is the most important part of your book. The first chapter—probably even the first page—is what makes agents and editors accept or reject a manuscript, and it's what makes readers decide to buy a book or pick another. But writing a compelling opening is hard because there are so many things a great beginning needs to do and so many mistakes to avoid.

Encounters at the Heart of the World concerns the Mandan Indians, iconic Plains people whose teeming, busy towns on the upper Missouri River were, for centuries, at the center of the North American universe. We know of them mostly because Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804-1805 with them, but why don't we know more? Who were they really? In this extraordinary book, Elizabeth A. Fenn retrieves their history by piecing together important new discoveries in archaeology, anthropology, geology, climatology, epidemiology, and nutritional science.

Unlock the secrets to crafting captivating children's picture books with The Story Architect: How to Write a Children's Picture Book with Strong Story Structure. This comprehensive guide seamlessly blends storytelling artistry with architectural precision, providing you with the tools to build narratives that will enchant young listeners for generations. Whether you're a novice writer or an experienced storyteller, this book offers actionable insights to help you construct tales with strong foundations, engaging structures, and timeless appeal.

Best-selling author Elizabeth George has spent years teaching writing, and in Write Away, she shares her knowledge of the creative process. George combines clear, intelligent, and functional advice on fiction writing with anecdotes from her own life, the story of her journey to publication, and inside information on how she meticulously researches and writes her novels.

Drawing on examples ranging from Chaucer to children's rhymes, Cole Porter to Dylan Thomas, and from around the English-speaking world, it shows how any reader can understand and gain pleasure from poetry. This comprehensive guide explores poetry's relationship to everyday language and introduces major genres and technical aspects. Each chapter proceeds through chronological examples from a wide range of English language poems.

Join the 80,000+ writers who have taken the 90-day journey! The 90-Day Memoir is a day-by-day guide through the process of outlining and writing the first draft of your memoir. Bestselling author and founder of L.A. Writers' Lab, Alan Watt, teaches the process of marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure to tell the story of your life. The 90-Day Memoir was workshopped at L.A. Writers' Lab for over a decade. Many of Watt's students have gone on to become professional writers, bestselling authors, and win major literary awards.

Writing fact-based nonfiction for large general audiences requires two different skills: the ability to conduct rigorous research and to craft engaging prose. Tilar J. Mazzeo is one of the few people with extensive experience in both arenas, as a tenured academic and a New York Times best-selling author whose books have been made into a major motion picture and translated into more than 15 languages. She is also a sought-after writing coach with a passion for helping others communicate their expertise more broadly.

In Self-Publish & Succeed, trusted best-selling author and entrepreneur Julie Broad shows you that writing a successful nonfiction book starts long before you write your first chapter. To write a book that boosts your brand, generates a profit, and makes you an influencer in your industry, you need the #noboringbooks way.

When Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan walked into the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Processing Center and opened fire on soldiers within, he perpetrated the worst mass shooting on a United States military base in our country's history. Death on Base is an in-depth look at the events surrounding the tragic mass murder that took place on November 5, 2009, and an investigation into the causes and influences that factored into the attack.

The craft of writing offers countless potential problems: The story is too long; the story's too short; revising presents a huge hurdle; writer's block is rearing its ugly head. In Help! For Writers, Roy Peter Clark presents an "owner's manual" for writers, outlining the seven steps of the writing process, and addressing the 21 most urgent problems that writers face. In his trademark engaging and entertaining style, Clark offers 10 short solutions to each problem.

From baseball to biology, an award-winning journalist highlights the power of team chemistry in this "terrific" data-driven investigation of human relationships (Billie Jean King). Does team chemistry actually exist? Is there scientific or mathematical proof? Is team chemistry as real and...

Writers talk about their work in many ways: as an art, as a calling, as a lifestyle. Too often missing from these conversations is the fact that writing is also a business. The reality is, those who want to make a full- or part-time job out of writing are going to have a more positive and productive career if they understand the basic business principles underlying the industry.

Do you want to create, publish and market your audiobooks? Are you ready to use podcasting to grow your author brand and reach more listeners with your books? Audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment in publishing with double-digit growth in markets across the world. Podcasting has gone mainstream with listeners consuming audio on mobile phones and in-car devices, as well as through smart speakers. Advancements in voice technology continue to expand possibilities for audio creation and marketing.

The Psychology of Advertising offers a comprehensive exploration of theory and research in (consumer) psychology on how advertising impacts the thoughts, emotions, and actions of consumers. It links psychological theories and empirical research findings to real-life industry examples, showing how scientific research can inform marketing practice.

On Becoming a Novelist contains the wisdom accumulated during John Gardner's distinguished twenty-year career as a fiction writer and creative writing teacher. With elegance, humor, and sophistication, Gardner describes the life of a working novelist; warns what needs to be guarded against, both from within the writer and from without; and predicts what the writer can reasonably expect and what, in general, he or she cannot.

The business of book marketing has changed! The traditional rules longer apply, and a new era of marketing books is upon us - an approach in which authors are authentically engaging their audiences. But where do you start? Today's mega-success authors are not only writers but entrepreneurs who expertly work a strategy that leverages the power of social media, search engine optimization, advertising, speaking, bookstore signings, and a combination of other programs that are incredibly rewarding to the author.

We are just witnessing the start of the radical changes in retail that will revolutionize shopping in every way. As Amazon and other disruptors continue to offer ever-greater value, customers' expectations will continue to ratchet up, making winning (and keeping) those customers all the more challenging. In The Shopping Revolution, Barbara E. Kahn, a foremost retail expert and professor at the Wharton School, examines the companies that have been most successful during this wave of change and offers fresh insights into what we can learn from their ascendance.

The market is crowded, and it's hard to know what to do if you're a writer right now. Everyone is looking for an edge...to be better or faster. I want to help you find a way to be both of those things. Look inside to find out if this book is right for you. If you like what you see, then come with me and let's figure out this journey together. There's good news and bad news inside, and I want you to be as equipped as you can be.

Why do three out of four professional football players go bankrupt? How can illiterate jungle dwellers pass a test that tricks Harvard philosophers? And why do billionaires work so hard - only to give their hard-earned money away? When it comes to making decisions, the classic view is that humans are eminently rational. But growing evidence suggests instead that our choices are often irrational, biased, and occasionally even moronic. Which view is right - or is there another possibility?

Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Julia Cameron has taught thousands of artists and aspiring artists how to unblock wellsprings of creativity. And time and again she has noticed an interesting thing: Often when her students uncover their creative selves they also undergo a surprising physical transformation - invigorated by their work, they slim down. In The Writing Diet, Cameron illuminates the relationship between creativity and eating to reveal a crucial equation: Creativity can block overeating.