Flogging the Quill: Crafting a Novel That Sells

Flogging the Quill is out of print at the end of 2014, but a new and improved version titled Mastering the Craft of Compelling Storytelling is now available as a paperback and Kindle book. It's in a smaller paperback size and has new content.

Mastering the Craft is a one-book remedy for a host of beginning novelist ailments, a tune-up for published authors, and a resource for editors. Rich with advice and coaching from editor/author Ray Rhamey, its primary focus is to lift a novel manuscript to a publishable, professional level. The book's sections cover storytelling, determining what drives a plot, the six vital story ingredients, and tools for spotting shortcomings in a narrative. Writers also learn experiential description, how to handle the tricky character-description hurdle, staging, and overwriting. The when to tell, how to show lesson has been praised by literary agents and college teachers. If any one book can help you lift your novel to professional and publishable, this is it.