Have you ever wondered if the descriptions you are using for characters or people in your novel, screenplay or column are accurate? Author Carolyn Kaufman, Psy.D., shows us in a clear, concise guide how to know for sure. Kaufman uses her years of experience in psychology and writing to bring us the most current information on this fascinating area of life.

Today, most of us learn about psychology on TV shows, movies or plays. We have more information available today than ever before. However, did you know that the writers of those TV shows, movies or plays may have not researched the actual psychological traits they are using in their characters?

There is a lot of miss information circulating today. Why not find out for sure and make your characters come alive and be accurate as well?

Kaufman’s book is an easy to access, up to date manual on psychological disorders, medications, personality issues, as well as degrees in the field of psychology today. If you are writing about people, you will find great help in this book.

I enjoyed how Kaufman takes psychological disorders, explains them, and then writes from a writer’s perspective helping you get your characters right. This is not a boring treatise on Psychology. It is a writer’s how-to manual written by a professional in Psychology who also happens to be a terrific writer herself.

She opens her book with common myths and mistakes. Then covers why people do what they do as she teaches you to think like a shrink. She touches on the degrees, training and ethics of the professional therapist. Then she includes a look behind the closed doors of a real therapy session.

Next you will learn about when a problem become a disorder. You get to walk through childhood disorders, dementia, eating disorders, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociation, as well as personality disorders.

Need a villain? You will find the real truth about psychopaths inside, to help you craft your characters correctly. Next you will learn about emergencies in psychotherapy as well as physical and biological interventions. All in all I’ve found this to be a complete guide to everything you need when crafting and writing about characters and people.

Don’t end up like some TV shows and novels that create interesting characters, with the wrong types of personalities and disorders. Make your writing come alive with factual information to bring new understanding and enjoyment to your readers.

You can even use this book to look over your past writing and find the cliches’ and misinformation you have been using, and never knew about. Then quickly correct these issues and land that publishing contract using correct psychological information.

Happy Writing!

Pick up your copy here:

The Writer’s Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This article was originally published in my Nonfiction Writing Column for BellaOnline.com. You can read it here:

The Writer’s Guide to Psychology – a Review

In the publishing world today both editors and agents commonly ask a writer this question: “What’s your platform?” Whether you are writing your first book or retuning to print with another, you need to know how to answer this question if you are looking to get published.

So, what is an author’s online platform? Stephanie Chandler answers this very question with timely research, personal experience, plus she adds in interviews with successful authors to highlight what is working best today.

We all know the publishing industry doesn’t look or act like it did 20 years ago. However, many up and coming authors still don’t understand how much marketing they will be expected to do for each of their books. Neither do they understand what kind of book marketing works best and when you should begin.

Chandler handles all of these questions with easy and clarity. She opens up the myths, lays out the tasks in easy to understand steps, and then she provides accurate resources inside her informative chapters while presenting a complete resource section at the back of her book.

All in all I’d say she has covered this topic extremely well. Like many writers, I have spent countless hours searching the Internet and inside Libraries trying to find out what marketing tactics actually work today. I wish I had this book a year ago. I could have saved myself tons of time and wasted effort. Not to mention the time I would have saved trying things that simply don’t work very well anymore.

Did you know that doing book signings inside book stores is no longer a good way to sell books? Do you know how to set up a quick and easy website or blog with payment options that are quick and easy for you and safe for your readers?

Inside this guide you will find everything you need to know, plus how to get it done, along with when you should be starting your online platform for your next book. If I had to pick something that is missing, I’d have to say that you should add Google Checkout to the list of payment processors that Chandler writes about. That is truly the only thing I could find missing.

This is really a great book to have and use. When I finished reading this book I started to layout my online author platform for my next book because Chandler suggests you do that one year before publication. Who knew? I’m glad I know now. You will not only enjoy reading this book, you will increase your sales. So don’t wait on this one. Pick it up and get your online author platform going today.

Join me in my forum and share your book marketing success stories and what you have learned from this awesome little book.

Happy writing!

Pick up your copy now at Amazon.com:

The Author’s Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books

Note: I requested and received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

I love narrative nonfiction books. How about you? There is something intriguing about this genre. I have found personally that as I read the true events I’m pulled into the book as if it were a good fiction novel. Ah, it’s a grand combination.

First major point to this genre is: How true do narrative nonfiction books need to be? Does the amount of truth weaved into the characters of the book matter? Great questions like these are answered inside this guide. It's not enough to write a good story here. You need to write a true story with characters that take you by the hand and bring you deep into the controversy and adventure while disclosing interesting secrets.

A large order to say the least. However, I believe that Peter Rubie has brought the intricacies of this genre to light in an easy to use fashion. Rubie shares a bit about one of his scavenger hunts into numerous bookstores while on a trip with his wife who has turned shopping into an art form. During this one particular excursion, on a whim he sought out narrative nonfiction books from all types and sizes of bookstores. This led him to write this inspiring guide.

Rubie states: “The writer of a piece of narrative nonfiction has to be an investigative journalist, adept researcher, interviewer, and skilled novelist.” A tall order for writers today. No worries though, this book brings you through all these essential skills.

Inside this guide you will find out the true traits of narrative nonfiction and the essential elements that must reside inside your prose. You will learn about dramatic license and how to follow it correctly. For example, you must be clear to your readers and the publisher what is “true” in your book and what has been embellished. This will steer you clear of repeating a scandal we have seen in the recent past to some books touted as narrative nonfiction that turned out to be all fiction.

Rubie then takes you by the hand walking you through the journey of finding a subject and making sure it is a good one. Next you will dive into how to do research correctly, followed by good ways to turn the chaos of the research into the skeleton of your book.

Next you are taken through how to write your book. How to find an agent, as well as marketing tips and help. And if this was not enough to get your book safely into a publishers hands, you also have a wonderful bonus of how to write your book proposals with the added plus of real book proposal examples.

This book cleared the mystique cloud of this genre for me. Though I love to read this genre I was shy about trying to write in it. After reading this book I have a plan of action to follow.

Rubie engages you from the very beginning of this book through his wonderful writing style. Don't miss the opportunity to learn how to write narrative nonfiction through the great content in this book and the excellent example from his writing style. It is not often you can learn by reading the “How-To” and by watching the author's example in his own writing.

Don't miss this book if you are writing a true adventure, biography, history, memoir, military, travel or true crime book. These and many others fit under the heading of narrative nonfiction.

The Elements of Narrative Nonfiction: How to Write and Sell the Novel of True Events

Note: I requested and received a review copy of this book from the publisher to review.