The Greatest Hockey Stories Ever Told: The Finest Writers on Ice

Finally, hockey's rabid fans have an anthology of their own, a showcase of writing as dynamic and diverse as the fastest sport itself.

Price: $14.95

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The Art of Creative Nonfiction: Writing and Selling the Literature of Reality (Wiley Books for Writers Series)

This book is for the beginning creative nonfiction writer--one who needs to be told that writers are an eccentric lot; one who has never heard of the Yaddo artists' colony. Still, Lee Gutkind, the author of several books of creative nonfiction and the founder/editor of the journal Creative Nonfiction, has some interesting things to tell us about this genre of writing, which strives to communicate real-life stories dramatically. The most important quality that a creative nonfiction writer can have, writes Gutkind, is passion: "A passion for the written word; a passion for the search and discovery of knowledge; and a passion for ... understand[ing] intimately how things in this world work." Gutkind offers instruction on finding story ideas, focusing one's work, keeping story files, fact checking, and interviewing; he tells us what to expect from editors and agents; and he teaches us how to know when we're ready to start writing (when you can "think of nothing more to ask or to learn"). Perhaps the best tidbit here is Gutkind's emphasis on delving deeply into one's subject matter without inserting oneself into the situation. "While immersing myself in a writing project," he says, "I routinely like to compare myself to a rather undistinguished and utilitarian end table in a living room or office. It is a fixture. You walk in and out of your living room dozens of times a day. You see the table, you expect to see the table, but you do not say, 'Well, there is the table, hello table.'" Appendices include a sample book proposal and readings.

Price: $16.95

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Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers

The best-selling composition reader on popular culture, Signs of Life in the USA has been adopted at more than 700 colleges and universities since its first edition. Unlike other popular culture readers, Signs of Life presumes that this topic merits rigorous analysis and so provides a conceptual framework for understanding it: semiotics, a field of critical theory developed specifically for the interpretation of culture and its signs. The selections in Signs of Life are arranged in provocative chapters (on such themes as gender codes, television and music, film, and advertising) that tap into students' own experiences with and interest in popular culture. The uniquely qualified editorial team of a prominent semiotician and an experienced writing instructor have prepared extensive apparatus to prompt the rigorous analysis that help students become better thinkers and writers.

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Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University

Inspiring stories and practical advice from America?s most respected journalists

The country?s most prominent journalists and nonfiction authors gather each year at Harvard?s Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. Telling True Stories presents their best advice?covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including:
? Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story
? Gay Talese on writing about private lives
? Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles
? Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters
? Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth
? Dozens of Pulitzer Prize?winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . .

The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

Price: $16.00

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Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing

This highly anticipated update of the Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing builds on the excellent reputation the first edition enjoys with more of the great information readers have come to expect. With original material as well as articles taken from the pages of Writer's Digest, the leading authority in the field, this book is the only resource readers need for all of their questions on how to: Brainstorm creative article ideas magazine editors will find irresistible; Find the right magazine for their work; Compose a professional, sophisticated query letter that catches the editor's eye; Keep editors coming back for more/get repeat assignments from magazines; This book is the writer's treasure map to the lucrative field of magazine writing!

Price: $16.99

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