New edition of Stephen King's "On Writing" out

Anything with Stephen King’s name on it sells, right?

Stack ’em high in the front of the bookstore and watch ’em fly out the door. Everybody wants a copy.

And if it’s a re-issue because of an anniversary, well, the publisher and the stores have another sales hook.

Stephen King’s On Writing is just that, a re-issue.

The book came out 10 years ago and sold more than a million copies. Publisher Simon & Schuster has bet a lot of paper and ink that the book’s 10th anniversary edition, out this month, will do it again.

You can buy the book in whatever format you like: hardcover, paperback, electronic. And for an extra $20,000, King will come to your house and it to you.

No, he won’t.

I made that up.

But buy me a plane ticket and I’ll come read his book to you.

On Writing really contains two books, King’s sardonic autobiography and, the second, a tough-love lesson for those who want to write novels.

A lot of us writers have On Writing on our bookshelves. We keep it close so we can pull it down and reread sections when we need King to help us kick a bad habit in grammar or word choice or story structure.

The leaders of my writers group tell every newbie to get this book. That’s how much we value it.

If you have yet to buy your copy, the new 10th anniversary edition is a good reason to get one.

Two hundred eighty-eight pages.

Eighteen dollars at full retail.

But you know how to get the discounts.

Tomorrow: A friend wants advice for her granddaughter who loves to write

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Comment by Benjamin Sobieck on July 17, 2010 at 1:05am
Newbie is right. The latter half of the book covers basic writing instruction. If you've taken a writing class, you won't get much from "On Writing." I'd like to see King come out with a book more advanced than 101 coursework.

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