November 2011

New Reference Guide to the World's Best Hidden Travel Destinations

Are you planning a trip around the world, and need a little advice? Check out National Geographic's Secret Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Best Hidden Travel Gems. Even for those of us who can only dream of such a vacation, the book is a feast for the eyes and fodder for the imagination. Read more about New Reference Guide to the World's Best Hidden Travel Destinations

Save the Cat:

A Trio of Books for Screenwriters (and Novelists too!)

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The first Save the Cat book is subtitled The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by the late Blake Snyder. In truth, you'll find yourself needing two more - also by Blake Snyder: Save the Cat Goes to the Movies and Save the Cat Strikes Back. For the aspiring screenwriter, these books are almost mandatory to have in your library.

In easy conversational writing, Mr. Snyder leads you by the hand showing you everything you need to know about writing a screenplay that is most likely to sell. His basic message is one you've probably already figured out - the same but different - as Hollywood loves buying screenplays that are similar to already produced moneymakers.

New Reference Book on Essential Oils

Looking for an extensive reference book on essential oils? At 480 pages, Llewellyn's Complete Formulary of Magical Oils: Over 1200 Recipes, Potions, and Tinctures for Everyday Use, is worth checking out. Read more about New Reference Book on Essential Oils

Digital Film School in a Book

Everything You Need to Know

Today, most everyone owns a video camera of some sort. Whether it's video on your phone, your primarily still camera or a camcorder, the advent of web sites like YouTube and Vimeo bring out the filmmaker in everyone. Once you've made a short movie or two, the bug has bitten hard and you want to learn more. But not everyone can afford film school, so the next best thing is hitting the books.

The best possible book to begin with is The Digital Filmmaking Handbook, Fourth Edition, by Sonja Schenk and Ben Long. The book is broken down, just like film school would be, into chapters that include screenwriting (short or feature scripts), pre-production, equipment needed (if any), shooting your film, editing and fixing things in post and even a chapter on distribution via the web.

Great Reference Book for North American Plant Identification

Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the plant lover or nature enthusiast in your life? Check out The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wild Flowers and Trees of North America, slated for release December 16, 2011. This book is a handy reference guide to some of North America's most prevalent flora, covering both native as well as introduced plant species. Read more about Great Reference Book for North American Plant Identification

No Plot? No Problem!

A Users Guide to National Novel Writing Month in November

Subtitled A LOW-STRESS, HIGH-VELOCITY Guide to WRITING A NOVEL in 30 days is the official book of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Written by the founder of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty, the book is filled with hints and tips for successfully writing a 50,000 word first-draft of that novel you've been meaning to write all of your life.

The first half of the book gives you ideas on how to approach a new novel, beginning with the advice not to write a word of the actual prose until November 1st (the first day of NaNoWriMo). But this doesn't mean that you cannot outline, create characters or write back story of your novel.

Yet, Mr. Baty takes a different approach in his book. He recommends that you do nothing on your novel until the week before NaNoWriMo begins. His belief is that if you spend too much time planning and plotting, one of two outcomes will happen. The first is that you may get bored with your story and abandon it after a few days. The second is that you have so much story, you will feel that you cannot do it justice in the 30 days you have to write. His goal is to give you the tools you need to complete the 50,000 word challenge.

Reference Book Club

The best reference books and study guides