The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
The Forest for the Trees (An Editor’s Advice to Writers) by Betsy Lerner is a non-fiction title offering advice to writers.
The Cover: I love the cover to this book, it is simple yet creative, with a clean crisp look and clear text. This cover conveys the message that it is a non-fiction title for writers.
The Good Stuff: Hmm… Where do I start with this one? This book has numerous good-review snippets from respected sources on the front and back covers, and on the first page inside. It is well edited and the formatting makes good use of margins and spacing, making it easy to read and giving it a clean look inside. There is a nice little leaf icon for the page breaks and the version I have has used good quality paper that feels lovely on the fingers too. The writing style is easy to read, the words flow smoothly and it is entertaining.
The Bad Stuff: Okay, I’m going to put a caveat on this. I’m not sure I gave this book a fair chance. After the first few chapters I lost interest and really skimmed the rest of the content. I just felt very let down. It promised so much, yet as a self-published author, in my opinion it failed to provide much real advice at all. Maybe I missed it with my skimming, but it seemed to me to be more of an insight into the lives and types of writers, than an offer of advice.
Overall, I wanted to love this title. Everything about it drew me towards it with the promise of a good read. And it is well presented, well written, and entertaining. It just isn’t what I wanted it to be. I’m giving this one an ambivalent 2.5 out of 5 golden bookmarks because I’m having a strop.
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Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.
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