Seven Strategies in Every Best-Seller: A 186-Page Guide to Extraordinarily Successful Writing

The material was VERY disorganized and confusing. The name-dropping was constant, assuming that I was aware of 'this' agency and 'those' scenes from 'that' famous book and could therefore understand his examples and allusions with no explanation. (And I'm a librarian with master's degrees in both Library Science and English Lit!)

I read it through but still have no idea of the 'seven strategies' because they were never stated clearly. The first one--the Paranoia Strategy--seems to be totally misnamed since it refers to tension and suspense, not an unreasonable sense of fear that is a psychological problem for many. There were numerous typos and sentence structure problems that a good editor would have picked up.

Turned out that the book was totally self-published. I expect that the reviews that gave him five stars were also self-published or at least written up by cronies. A regular publisher would not have touched this with a ten-foot pencil!

I strongly advise AGAINST purchasing THIS book! Amazon has several other great books on the subject such as my favorite, Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Al Zuckerman (Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. 1994), that fulfill the promise of Mossman's title much more competently.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:

Get Ready for Greatness!  Feb 22, 2002
By Cynthia Sue Larson "www.realityshifters.com"
What sets Mossman's book apart from the pack is that it's the best summary of seven simple things that every best-selling book has (and that non-best-selling books lack) I've ever seen in one place. As Mossman points out, even the best marketing plans in the world can't compensate for a book that bores readers. Readers have straightforward expectations from books they can't put down -- and Tam does a first-rate job of clarifying what those expectations are, so any writer can begin to see their manuscript from the reader's point-of-view.

Mossman's enthusiasm for good writing imbues his book with a high-energy buzz that I find invigorating before each editing sessions with one of my manuscripts. I wolfed down his book in one fast sitting, and now savor it at random points by flipping it open and contemplating anew one of his writing revelations. The seven strategies seem deceptively simple, and in that simplicity lies elegance and the road to success.

I feel Mossman's book has been unfairly criticized for being less useful to non-fiction authors. As an author of two forthcoming books, one fiction and one non-fiction, I find Mossman's points equally valid for both genres. SEVEN STRATEGIES IN EVERY BEST-SELLER provided me with the epiphany that there is a main character in my non-fiction book, and she is ME! This simple but powerful point is transforming my factual manuscript into a book with my story forming the main story line throughout the book.
I am very excited to see the huge difference in readability that my book is undergoing as I edit it using Mossman's tips and pointers -- it's had a makeover from textbook to page-turner, and I love it!

Whether you are staring at the first blank page of your new manuscript, or desire to make an existing book much more readable, I give SEVEN STRATEGIES IN EVERY BEST-SELLER my highest recommendation.

6 of 7 found the following review helpful:

A Story Crafting Manual  Mar 27, 2000
By Dan Poynter "Author-Publisher-Speaker"
Seven Strategies in Every Best-Seller is more a study of what makes good fiction writing than what makes a bestseller. The subtitle is a more accurate description of the contents: a 186-Page Guide to Extraordinarily Successful Writing. The book makes a few references to nonfiction but it is mostly about fiction best sellers and story crafting. It is a scholarly study with numerous citations and references. Mossman obviously enjoys literature and writing. This book will inspire and inform both fiction and nonfiction authors and should be a manual for editors and book doctors. If you like this book, you will also like The Making of a Bestseller: From Author to Reader by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II. I like them both. Dan Poynter, author of 82 books (nonfiction). DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com