From Book Idea to Bestseller: What You Absolutely, Positively Must Know to Make Your Book a Success

by Kim Baker and Michael Snell

From Book Idea to Bestseller is a very good soup-to-nuts guide for embarking on, and maintaining, a career as an author of non-fiction books. Michael Snell is an agent and writer, and Kim and Sunny... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761506306
• ISBN13: 9780761506300
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles
• Length: 418 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A recommendation from the horse's mouth . . .

I actually heard about this book as a result of sending a query to Michael Snell. He sent my "proposal" back with a nice note and a recommendation to get this book. It wasn't available in any of the bookstores in my area without use of special order, so I was a skeptic at first.I obtained a copy of this book and eagerly flipped through the pages. Not only did I learn that I hadn't the slightest idea about what I was getting myself into, but I also learned that I had a lot of work ahead of me if I wanted to be a success.I've been recommending this book as a jumping off point for other authors I know looking for agents and publications. This book, of course, doesn't guarantee you'll be a success in your venture . . . but it does a wonderful job showing you what steps to take. Will I get published as a result of this book? Only time will tell, but I remain optomistic now that I've got the right tools.

Best Practices for Selling Nonfiction Books

I have already sold two nonfiction books on my own without an agent. Reading this book was a real eye-opener. I found out that I did not know the first thing about how to write a nonfiction business proposal. My first thought was to wonder how much money it had cost me not to have read this book sooner. Well, better late than never.Book publishing is still somewhat of a mystery to me. Reading this book dispelled more of that mystery than two years of working with outstanding publishers has. The authors are not only knowledgeable, they are very generous in the way they share their experience. By having an often-published author/agent and two other well-published authors collaborating, you have a lot of potential knowledge to pick up. I suspect it would be hard to get any more knowledge from an entire writing career than you obtain by reading this book. What a geat deal!These are good writers, too. The organization of the book is simple and effective. The prose is brief and clear. But what I liked best was the warmth and supportiveness that the authors expressed. These people genuinely want you to get published and have a writing career (if that's what you decide you want). Get this book, read it immediately, and then start applying it as soon as possible!

Outstanding how to book for your first book submission

This most thorough and easy to read book has proven itself to me. I had the idea of what a proposal should look like, but Snell let me grasp exactly what the publishers want to see. It didn't bog me down with useless information. I really appreciated it's get to the point format.

Get Published

Here is a very thorough guide on how to get that first book published.Insider information from an agent and two authors. Worth a look. -Linda Fry Kenzle, author of ten books

I got published because of this book.

The sample proposals and clear guidelines in this book allowed me to get published--two books this year. I am grateful to Mr. Snell and the Bakers for their sound, real-world advice. They demystified the book sale process. Without them I would have stayed a wanna-be instead of an author.