This is the book for anyone who ever laboured over a laptop in the hope of bashing out a bestseller–or just fantasised about seeing their name on a cover.

Experienced writers Mittelmark and Newman–themselves teachers in how to write successfully–have expertly picked out the 200 classic pitfalls that litter the work of wannabe novelists.

Sharply observed and peppered with joyously cutting comments, they give an insiders’ view into the reasons why publishers bin the majority of fresh manuscripts that come their way.

In fact, anyone with even a passing interest into the mechanics of how to make a story come together will get something out of this.

And this guide to tapping out a winner will probably be infinitely more entertaining than the many books it seeks to inspire.

8 February 2009