Get Steve’s New Book on Writing … Free!
[Forgive me for leaving this post up two weeks in a row, but response has been so overwhelming to this free offer (see below) that we’ve decided to keep it going till midnight a week and a day from now—June 30. That’s the expiration date. Don’t be late!]
As a thank-you to readers of this blog, we’re giving away the e-version of my newest book, Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t, just out today. No opt-in required. You don’t have to enter your e-mail address or compromise your privacy in any way.
The eBook is free, with no opt-in required.
The book is free until midnight Eastern time June 30.
What is Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t about?
The title comes from the first and most important lesson I ever learned as a writer, on the very first day of my very first job, as a junior copywriter for Benton & Bowles Advertising in New York. What the phrase means is that because readers are inevitably busy, impatient, easily-distracted, i.e. they don’t want to read your sh*t, it’s incumbent on you and me as writers to make our stuff so interesting, so sexy, so unusual, so compelling that a reader would have to be crazy NOT to read it.
Every other lesson in writing follows from this one tough-love truth.
Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t is my “lessons learned” from a career in five different writing fields—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help.
Some sample chapter heads:
Fiction is Truth
Nonfiction is Fiction
Sometimes You Gotta Be Somebody’s Slave
“Steve, Your Ego is Getting Out of Hand,”
Not to mention …
Three-Act Structure
Text and Subtext
How to Write A Boring Memoir
A Non-Story is a Story, and
Sex Scenes.
At the risk of hyping my own stuff, lemme say that Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t is a pretty good from-the-trenches primer for anybody who is a writer already or who has ambitions to become one.
Click here to download your free copy.
And thanks again for sticking with us here on Writing Wednesdays.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
Wow, thank you very much for this guys!!!! I will be buying the hardcover (or paperback) and placing it right next to classics such as Anne Lamott’s ‘Bird by Bird’ and Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’.
Thank you very much!
I too am trying to save my soul. Thanks Steve. I’m loving it.
Thanks so much for this Steve! I started reading it last night and am loathe to have to put it down today to go to work. It’s going to be another classic, right next to The War of Art!
Downloaded it. Loving it. Also loving that cover shown above.
Not often I get a book at 7am and have it read by 9.
Not ever, actually.
Also not often that a nonfiction book affects me like a blockbuster movie. Joy, frustration, relief, anger, resignation, hope.
Here in the belly of this beast, it’s going to take more than one read to make a compass from my feelings about it.
Thank you! Really enjoying it and sharing with my creative friends. It’s a good read for anyone, writer or not!
Hi, Steve, Thanks so much for making this available to us.
Quick FYI, when I add the epub version to my Calibre or iBooks Libraries, the title shows up as NOBODY WANS TO BUB YOUR SH*T. This also happens with the Mobi version in Calibre.
I opened the epub in Sigil and found the error in the content.opf file:
xmlns:opf=”http://www.idpf.org/2007/opf”>
NOBODY WANTS TO BUB YOUR SH*T
Easy fix.
Hi Larry,
Should have this fixed shortly. Thanks for the heads up! My fault…not Steve’s.
All the best,
Shawn
Thanks, Steve. Loved The War of Art and am looking forward to this one. (I am also a fan of your fiction!)
It’s riveting, just as Joel said. And I cried at the end because now I know I’m lashed to my own perilous project, too. Thanks so much for the gift of your words and the wisdom between the, Steven.
Thanks for the free version, but I’ll buy it for my bookshelf, too. The title alone is worth $27.95. And after seeing the title page art, I may stitch it on a sampler and hang it in my office. Jack
Thank you! I can’t wait to read it – the War of Art is on my regular re-read pile on the nightstand. I’m having trouble downloading the kindle/mobi version – when I click that link it takes me to a page of jibberish, just so you know. But the PDF works, and I can’t wait to dig into it. Thanks again!
Deonne, if you right-click on the link you’ll get an option to Download or Save As or something similar, depending on your browser. That’ll let you save the file to your hard drive.
I hesitated to click because I don’t have an e-book device—but yes, there is a pdf too.
Too bad I missed seeing my “save” button, but I happily took lots of notes on the last page of my printed off second draft. Now I cat go off and do a big re-write.
Thank you, Steve.
As art mimics life and life mimics art it’s never just about the sex, is it?
Well, at least not in a good life.
Or good sex.
Thank you Steve for your generosity. Love your tons of wisdom.
Thank you for this book Steven. The section on making your protagonist a star was especially helpful to me. And thanks too for considering the magic of the creative process as well as the items in the toolbox.
Hey Steve…at the risk of letting you ego get out of hand, you are one of my favourite authors and writing mentors. Loved The War on Art, and have already read “Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t.” I’ve gleaned a lot of writing ‘gold’ from both of them. Thanks for keeping it real as to what it takes to be a writer.
And thanks for not writing sh*t.
Thank you, as always, thank you, thank you.
I echo Joel on the need for more than one reading.
One question: At the bottom of the Fiction portion of the Also By page, is listed a work I don’t recognize. The Knowledge. So, checked this and the Black Irish site, and the wider internet, but found no information. Might this be something to look forward to?
Ah, you’ve got sharp eyes, Jonathan! We should have put “(2016)” next to “The Knowledge.” Indeed it’s a new book that we’ll bring out in a couple of months. A ‘too close to true memoir.’
Thanks for noticing!
Steven,
Thanks so much for this. I’ll be purchasing the paperback to add to my copies of The War of Art, Turning Pro and Do the Work!, but this will be a good way to get started on your latest book. Cheers and thanks again!
Robin
Loved it! Thank you.
I think I got this offer three times this week, showing how generously you spread the message. Thank you very much, I really appreciate your work and the way you discuss all aspects of it so frankly. It’s a great comfort to see that even excellent writers such as yourself face the same demons as the rest of us. A true inspiration!
Thanks for the insights. I always want to read your sh*t! Will spread the word.
I finished it in one sitting. Inspiring and practical, it was well worth reading. Thanks Steve.
As a thank-you to readers of this blog, we’re giving away the e-version of my newest book, Nobody Wants to Read
The whole time I thought Steve was saying that nobody wants to read your shit…then, at the very end of the book, I realized that he REALLY meant nobody wants to read your SHIT.
It’s like realizing “the pen is mightier” can actually read as “the penis mightier”, or discovering and translating the title of an alien manuscript as “To Serve Man”, but after years and years of continued translation and research you discover, finally, at the very moment the love of your life is boarding an alien spacecraft for a free “vacation” to their home world, that the contents of the book are precise directions and instructions on how to SERVE man…as an entree.
I just spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to edit my comment so I could remove some of the shit to make it read better…
I couldn’t figure it out, so…
I guess whoever ends up reading that ???? (pointing to my above comment) unfortunately HAS to read my shit.
I award myself no points and may God have mercy on my soul.
I downloaded the book and read it in as close to one sitting as time and obligations allowed. It’s a fast read (and for me, a slow reader, that’s something). But don’t let the conversational and easy style fool you. That’s part of the deep craft in this book, which teaches not only directly, but indirectly, in how it’s written. This book is magnificent, on so many levels. It is both entertaining and instructive, and certainly requires not only a second, more attentive read, but a special place on the reference shelf, to be referred to quite frequently. At once intimately personal and eminently practical, NWTRYS takes the reader on a journey of discovery and self-discovery, structure and struggle. It’s a book about craft and inspiration, where failure only hides the success within. Self-help books, and I hesitate to call this one because it’s so much more, often tend to be preachy and preening. NWTRYS is the opposite, both humble and inspirational. In a field where cliches and formulas abound, this book not only avoids the formulaic, it reveals the skeletal system of narrative, so that creating the flesh and blood, which is the life and variety of people and works of art, is the work and hard responsibility of the writer-who-would-be-a-writer. Congratulations, Steve, on another masterpiece.
Creative courage ammunition. You have gifted us with the armor, boots, helmet, gun belt and map. Never have I seen such complexity explained with such clear and practical application. Master Steven Pressfield this is awesome. AWESOME!
Your and Shawn’s generosity is bigger than the sky. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. x x x
Best book on writing I’ve read–and I’ve read a lot of them. I especially needed the chapters on theme and concept. On a personal level I enjoyed the parallels of our lives–UNC at Chapel Hill, the Navy, into ad copywriting, but then elementary school teaching, now the writing. Thanks for the book. I’ve told my other writer friends to read it.
Thanks for posting this. Can’t wait to read it.
Thanks for the perfect kick in the butt to ask ourselves “What would compell someone to read my shit”? To really look at something that you’ve put a Piece of yourself into, to look at it with the eyes of complete stranger who’s looking for something to take their mind off their own shit, isn’t easy.
It reminds me of this Scene out of “the Story of Us”
Bruce Willis’s character, Ben who’s a writer calls his Agent Dave, played by Paul Reiser.
Dave: Oh, you’re writing a book about your grandmother
Ben: I’m writing a book about my grandmother!
Dave: About your grandmonther, Oh. Hmm.
Did she **** a president?
Ben: No.
Dave: Did she discover uranium?
Ben: No.
Dave: Did she find a cure for cancer?
Ben: No.
Sorry, hit the wrong key to post before I was finished.
Dave: Nothing like that?
Ben: No.
Dave: Then why, why would anyone anyone want to
read a book about her?
Ben: Cause she was four foot nine, she immigrated to America when she was a Little Girl, she made buttonholes in a sweatshop fourteen hours a day, and managed to stay married to the same man for 57 years, I’m tellin ya Dave it’s going to be the greatest love Story ever!
Dave: (looking out the window at the People below) Ya see those People down there? they’re going about their Business, going about their busy lives doing everything they don’t want to do, they Need to sleep too, so that Little bit of leisure time they have left they’re Kind of choosy about, so you can understand that unless she went down on somebody really interesting, they don’t want to waste their valuable time reading a book about your f’in grandmother.
Thanks so much Steven for sharing this valuable gift. It is being used.
Steve,
Got it! Devoured it!
And I love reading your shit!
Jim Gant
A truthful punch in the face, Steven.
This reminds me a quote from Werner Hertzog in Liz Gilbert’s Big Magic – “it’s not the world’s fault you want to be an artist, now get back to work”
Thanks for the freebie. Super generous.
Thanks Steven this is great! And the Seth Godin Effect is really kicking in. I already listened to “Do the Work” via Audible and loved it. But it was only after i got this book for free that i bought “The Art of War”. So no selling is selling too! 🙂
The content on both books is breathtakingly good.
Keep up the great work!
Had a free moment to myself sitting at Starbucks wishing I had something to read. Thanks so much. Love your blog and wit — and wisdom on all things writing.
Loved your book! It was just the shot in the butt I needed at that moment. I still love writing, and can’t imagine being anything else (I started my career writing insurance sales copy for direct mail), but publishing as an industry sucks the life out me. So, every now and then, I read something inspirational or motivational about writing that reminds me why I do this insane job. So thank you for Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh**t.
I clicked on the kindle version from my computer but all I got was script. How do I get this to download onto my kindle?
My 25 year apprenticeship learning my craft and getting my ass kicked by resistance every which way has me appreciating this book as it as been a lonely road. Thank you for that…
After I download mobi and epub I’m not given the option on my phone to open the files using Kindle or Play Books apps.
Thanks!
STEVEN–YOU ARE A GEM of the rarest kind. Thank you. read it it one sitting… it’s as though you were speaking to only me, sitting here in my living room with me.
THANK YOU For your generosity in writing and sharing it so freely.
Steve, you are freaking brilliant. So is Shawn. I LOVED the book. I burst out laughing each and every time you mentioned “my” presentation on geraniums. It still makes me laugh when I think about it. Thanks so much for your time, your generosity, your thoughts and ideas, your encouragement and support, your honesty and humour. I absolutely love you guys.
This was such a great gift!
I’m in the midst of a summer of storytelling, and everything in your book was right on time.
Thanks for being so open with your story.
Hi Steve: Thanks so much for the book, and for offering it free! Loved it, so helpful and direct. So readable, I devoured it in one sitting. Really is helping me push through the last quarter of my first novel first draft. Thanks again.
Steven,
Thank you for the book! It was great. I ordered the hardcopy today, along with the hardcopy of The War of Art. I saw your free offer from Marie Forleo.
My current day job is as an engineer. (There’s a story in there. 😉 ) I’m also a fashion photographer. While “Nobody” is about storytelling, photography is nothing if not that. I will adapt those principles to my photography, especially with the ideas of theme and concept.
Thanks again!
I just finished reading the free version of NWTRYS and I have to say that I think Steven is a genius. I will buy the book now so I can make notes on it and mark it up. I love how he presents the material with no arrogance, no superiority, no ego. He says it like it is. The chapters are concise and precise and delivered with a punch. The timing of this book release for me was as though planned by the universe, the muse, the gods, whatever. Thank you Steven for very inspirational words. I will read this many times as I work on the books floating around in my head!!!
Hey. I admire talented people. Especially those who can write well. Although now they say that you can learn to write well, but I think this is not true. People are born with the gift of writing beautifully. You can find writing is not bad, but it is quite another matter. I so want to write a book and leave the memory of myself in this world, but I have no gift at all to write. So far, the only thing I can do is essay have.