Today we have the joy of sharing a guest review from our friend Jesse (who goes by @dzhecci on Twitter). Jesse chose to review: You Are A Writer by Jeff Goins. Without further ado here are Jesse’s thoughts:

You Are A Writer (review)

I am a writer. If I learned nothing else from Jeff Goins’s book, I learned that. I learned other things, too, though, which is the point. But the most important thing I learned is that I am a writer.

You Are A Writer is, essentially, a book about how to get published. More than that, though, it is a book about how to improve your writing, further your career, and prepare yourself as a marketable commodity in the publishing world. From tips on writing and editing to website design and construction, there is something for everyone. If you already have a substantial blog with many followers or have only ever written grocery lists, if you want to get published this book is for you.

Goins pulls from his own experience as a writer, both as an amateur and a professional, to explain how to get from point A to B in a way that seems both practical and possible. It will not tell you exactly whom to contact at exactly which magazine to get published, but it will tell you how to find those people for yourself, and how to appropriately contact them.

In addition to being a valuable resource for freelance writers, the book is enjoyable to read. It’s well-written, well-paced, and at least my copy had an interesting formatting system that I found intriguing.

I would have liked a little more detail at certain points, regarding some of the suggestions, but this is my only real critique. It was a book I could not put down. But it was also a book that I found so inspiring that I paradoxically wanted to put it down so that I could return to my own writing.

It is a book that I will likely read and re-read throughout my life. I suggest you check it out.