It would seem I'm impatient :)

[lilfluff]

So in my previous post I said I was either impatient or Humble Bundle and StoryBundle weren't doing NaNo bundles this year. Well, it looks like I was impatient as StoryBundle has a bundle up now. Given that Humble has two book bundles ending today in a very short time (indeed, ending early in writing this) they might also soon have one up.

What's in the StoryBundle bundle?

• Drawing Out The Dragons: A Meditation On Art Destiny, and The Power Of Choice by James A. Owen. I haven't read this one but it has 4.6 stars on Amazon and a print copy would basically cover the full price of this ebook bundle. (Kindle format only $4.99) Looks like it is less a how-to ____ and more a how to get in the mindset to ____. Plus a bonus how to draw a dragon chapter if the table of contents is to be believed.


• 52 Ways To Get Unstuck: Exercises To Break Through Writer's Block by Chris Mandeville. Another one I'm not familiar with. Despite coming out in 2014 this only has 19 reviews on Amazon. Looks like it divides things into sections on clearing out life obstacles, getting into a writing habit, examining the characters for inspiration, story mechanics such as GMC and various plot structures, and ways to clear your mind so you can let your subconscious work on things a while while you get your energy back. If you've already read books or blog posts on writer's block then I'm not sure how much here would be new but it does look like the author pulled together quite a collection of ideas.


• Blood From Your Own Pen, 2nd Edition by Sam Knight. Not familiar with this one either, only nine reviews on Amazon. The subtitle is, A Practical Guide on Self-Editing and Common Mistakes For Beginning Authors Who Intend to Survive to Publication, so three guesses what this one is about. Looking at the Table of Contents it is in fact partly about self editing, partly about self-publishing, and partly about how to format so professional editors won't cringe at the sight of your manuscript. It does look like the self-editing portion is 2/3 to 3/4 of the book.


• Pros and Cons: How Authors Can Make The Most Of A Convention Appearance by Jody Lynn Nye and Bill Fawcett. Haven't read this one either, but from the description it sounds like it could be good for those showing up at any sort of public event not just conventions. Basically a how to handle fans, not-fans, and those who haven't read your book but might.


• The Zero to Sixty Author: One Road To Writing Success by Kevin McLaughlin. Another I'm not familiar with. Looks to be written for those who are just starting their journey as a writer. Doesn't appear to be on Amazon, possibly a new/pre-release book?


• Military Strategy for Writers by Stephen Kenneth Stein. Not familiar with this one and only three amazon reviews, but it also only just came out at the end of last month. Looks to be a quick overview of military vocabulary, air and sea strategies, insurgencies and counter insurgencies, types of terrorism and how they're fought. From the table of contents he apparently recommends ten books with more details. I also like the opening line of the introduction, "Rambo does not win wars. A thousand Rambos do not win wars. ... Yet, in fictional accounts, it often does." This one I find interesting as the 'how the military works for writers' seems to be a slim field. I'm only aware of one other book, William S. Frisbee's Writing Military Science Fiction: Infantry.


• Beyond Prince Charming: One Guy's Guide to Writing Men in Romance (and beyond) by ML Buchman, this one is a pre-release offer as the listed publication date on Amazon is December 12th, 2023. From the book's description, "Why are men so often clichés on the romantic page? They don't need to be. Not even when real-life men appear to be clichés of themselves. These techniques can create male characters who pop off the page in any genre for their realism and depth."


• Making Story Models: Tools for Visualizing Your Story by Martin Shoemaker. Hey, it's one I'm actually slightly familiar with as I grabbed a copy a while back. A book written by a programmer who makes use of modelling in his programming work exploring the use of modelling to explore a story. I've only skimmed the book so far but one thing I like is this looks to be more about exploring the use of modelling for writing than any one particular popular plot structure. He doesn' merely look at a generic three act plot or the Save The Cat beatsheet but also Vonnegut's story graphs and looking outside Western tradition to Kishotenketsu.


• Time Management for Fiction Writers: What No One Tells You by Linda Maye Adams. To paraphrase from the description it's a time management book that "doesn't assume your day job is the only priority in your life." Just came out this year and has no Amazon reviews yet.


• How To Write A Howling Good Story by Wulf Moon. Looks to be a writing advice book, not many details, and another pre-release as Amazon shows the publication date as the 7th of next month. All I can say is whether that's a pen name or birth name that's quite the nifty name.


• Write Away: A Year of Musings and Motivations by Kerrie L Flanagan and Jenny Sundstedt. From the description, "Immerse yourself in an engaging blend of monthly stories, inspirational insights, practical guidance, and expert tips designed to ignite your writing passion and hone your craft." Not many reviews on Amazon despite the 2014 publication date. From one of the reviews it's a collection of short essays with the idea that you can read 1-2 a week for a year.


• How to Write Faster With Your Word Processor by Geoff Hart. Can't say much about this one as it looks to be another pre-release book with nothing about it outside the StoryBundle bundle page. It looks to be about looking for ways to use the tools Word Processors offer beyond merely typing and spell checking, with specifics for Microsoft Word 2019. I have located the author's web page for this book which includes a table of contents and more description.


• Paths to Publishing - 2023 Edition by Jana S Brown. From the description it's a guide on what to do after finishing a manuscript whether aiming for the traditional publishing world or self-publishing.


• Have Keyboard Will Type: (Hard Lessons Learned) Author Fundamentals Book One by William Alan Webb. Looks like a collection of short essays on various things writing related.

At least five dollars gets you the first four, twenty and up gets the other ten as well. Much as described in the last post, this one as have the last few bundles has me seeing one that I can say I'm definitely interested in, a couple more that look interesting, a few that I just don't see enough to know if I'd be interested or not, and some I'm unlikely to be interested in as I've either already bought books on the subjects, read lots of blog posts, otherwise covered, or just have little interest in. The price of the handful of books I'm interested is close to the cost of the bundle, and hey you can have ten percent donated to the Challenger Center.