How-to Book Sold

I've sold a how-to book to Tachyon with a working title of How to Write a Novel in Two Months and Other Practical Advice for Twenty-First Century Writers. It's a working title because I don't like the clang of "write"/"writers". For publication sometime in 2009. I've been thinking about my various writing book ideas and I realize they were actually two or maybe even three books, but the basic delineation is between my knowledge about technique, craft, and approaches to the fiction itself and my knowledge from 20 years of being a published writer. The latter is what this book is about.It does contain some "strategies" for writing, like the expansion of my write-a-novel-in-two-months post (with a stern admonishment that this is NOT the ideal way to write a novel), but it mostly covers things like habits versus processes; when rejection is a good thing; managing negative emotions like envy; knowing the difference between a creative project in support of a book and straight PR; the lifecycle of a book, including when, as a new author, you should expect certain things to happen; sussing out your strengths and weaknesses; deciding how much personal space you need; when workshops are a good idea and when they aren't; the real reasons for second novel syndrome. Etc., etc. Basically, I'm laying bare all of the trade secrets and general knowledge I've acquired about being a writer and making the most of your talent and your time. (And in the process including all of the information I give out in various lectures and workshops) Sometimes it'll be supported by anecdotes about my failure to do both, and sometimes it'll be supported by anecdotes about successes.This is a book for writers generally, NOT for genre writers. It should be of equal use to published and unpublished writers, to those who only have short stories out and those who have a novel or two out. It is not a book about how to get rich or famous as a writer, but it is a book about maximizing your potential and your chances. And it's a book about the human side of being a writer.Tachyon's being very generous in their terms and their wishes for this book to be exactly as I want it to be, and thus I'm going with them. Frankly, we love Tachyon, and since their distributor specializes in nonfiction, it's doubly attractive. We expect it to sell like hotcakes.The other writing book I want to do is probably four to five years down the road, and that's the one with the commentary and suggestions about approaches to various aspects of fiction.Jeff