Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead, by Maralys Wills

Like a great novel, I didn't want this book to end. As entertaining as it is instructive, I found myself reading "Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead: The Bumpy Road to Getting Published," over breakfast, squeezed in before dinner, and late at night. It didn't want to put it down.
She drew me into her story and soon I found myself wondering what was going to happen next, only later jotting down notes to remember for my own writing.
With a dozen books published, she authentically provides the advice writers need. Fiction writers will discover tangible, work-ready ideas. Non-fiction writers will find constructive guidance throughout, including plot ideas. Reading this non-fiction book filled with interesting anecdotes and a mildly suspenseful cadence provides a real life example of how to entertain and inform at the same time.
Her book doesn't gloss over the difficulties (137 submissions before one of her books was sold!), but describes the persistence and focus all writers require, as well as specific techniques that will polish a manuscript until it gleams.
Perhaps it reads like fiction because Maralys Wills has authored numerous fiction books. Though I bought her book to help with my non-fiction writing, she had me wondering if my next book could be fiction! She provides specific, useful advice on critical areas such as plot, character, finding ideas, research, and selling a manuscript or book idea. She provides advice with depth.
One of her books was especially close to her heart, and she used its "bumpy road to getting published" as a core example throughout this book. At times I wanted to reach out to her and listen as she poured out her sadness or her excitement. She had me living this roller coaster life with her.
Perhaps because she drew me into her tale, I felt present with her, as if I were one of her students in class. I absorbed her advice like a sponge and instantly found the mistakes in my own writing, as if she were critiquing my work in person. Beyond the classroom, I find myself still living with the characters in my head, wondering what they are going to do next.
A good novel does that – leaves you wanting more. In this case, the main character is the author herself, and there is only one way to keep this book alive: to apply Maralys Wills’ advice from “Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead.”

http://www.maralys.com/