The Book In A Box Method: The Groundbreaking New Way to Write and Publish Your Book

by Tucker Max, Zach Obront

Everything you've ever been told about how to write a book is wrong.

Authors assume that writing a book needs to be a struggle. They block off hours of precious time, throw away draft after draft, and never get any closer to a finished product.

What if there was a way to get your idea into a published book that was better and faster?

Now, finally, there is.

The Book in a Box Method cuts through all the nonsense to show you the exact steps to follow to ensure that you'll be able to write and publish the best possible book, in less time than you thought possible.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Business

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2015

About the author

Tucker Max's first book I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, is a #1 New York Times Best Seller, spent five years on the list, and has over 2 million copies in print. His second book, Assholes Finish First, and his third book, Hilarity Ensues, are also NY Times Best Sellers. He co-wrote and produced the movie based on his life/book, also titled “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.” He has also been credited with being the originator and leader of a new literary genre, “fratire,” is only the third writer (after Malcolm Gladwell and Michael Lewis) to ever have three books on the NY Times Nonfiction Best Seller List at one time, and was nominated to the Time Magazine 100 Most Influential List in 2009.

Tucker Max received his BA from the University of Chicago in 1998, and his JD from Duke Law School in 2001. He even attended Duke Law School on an academic scholarship, where he neglected to buy any of his textbooks for his final two years and spent part of one semester–while still enrolled in classes–living in Cancun. He currently lives in Austin, Texas.

Reviews

[Ivica Ďuricová · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me some time to actually read this book, but it is not because it is not well written, it is. It just contains so much information, that you need to "dose" it to yourself, so that you take the best out of it. I have a lot of stickers in the book to bookmark the info I liked the most. I am a published author (3 business books and 2 fiction books) and I still managed to find new useful tips and tricks on how to make my books even better. So, congratulations to the authors, this is really a great how-to-book. I recommend it to anyone, who is seriously thinking about publishing their very first (non-fiction) book and also to established writers, who want to polish their (especially self-)publishing skills.

[William Kiely · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the spirit of free culture activist Nina Paley (whom they quote in the book), Tucker Max and Zach Obront openly share the details of their "Book In A Box" method of extracting wisdom from non-writers' heads and transforming it into a well-written book.

The process indeed seems very quick and easy, so if you (or someone you know) are a non-writer with a new book's worth of valuable knowledge in your head, check out this 90-page overview to discover how producing a book to share your ideas (or the ideas of that brilliant person you know) is quicker and easier than you think.

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"To put it simply, we think books are too important to leave to writers, and we want the wisest, most experienced, most knowledgeable people on earth to be able to effectively and easily share their wisdom with the world. And that is what this book means, to you and the world. It's about sharing wisdom.

Think about it. Where did all the valuable knowledge in our head come from? Some of it likely came from books. But most of it came from experience, or from someone who had experience directly showing you. This is definitely true for me, and Zach too. We have learned from a lot of smart people, people who didn't record their wisdom in a book, but instead just shared it directly with us. Their wisdom has been instrumental in helping us achieve what we've done in life, yet only a few people have access to it.

Think how many more people they could have reached with a book? Now magnify that by the tens of thousands of experienced, seasoned professionals and experts in the world, and you realize something profound: the world is missing out on a lot of important wisdom." (Excerpt from the Introduction)

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insights about how to come up with a good outline. Also, some suggestions on how to get started with writing your own book and avoid the dreaded writers block, by employing their method. Didn't like the whole "outline" example, which took a whole section of the book. If you are looking for a way too improve your writing, this is not the book to look for. Oversimplifies too many things about writing and treats a book as another self-marketing tool.

[Bonnie Florek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Information

I think this book is very thorough and easy to understand. It is a great reference that can take an author from start to finish and create a good product. The reason I did not give it 5 stars is because I do not feel this is a faster or easier way to write a book. To me, it's just a different way with just as many hours of work ahead of you as you would have any other way. Not a time saver as promised. Just a good alternate way, if you so desire.

[J E Supple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: Good quick read, some really good advice on getting ideas down, blocking out books, and writing. And especially some great advice on publishing, marketing, and designing.

Cons: Tucker max and Zach Obront seem to really crap on people wanting to be writers in the beginning. They ask you to really ask yourself why you want to write and basically say if you're not selling something, then its not worth it.
Saying things like if you dont care how your book sells and just want to write to get your art out there, then there's a great place for that "it's called a diary" i didn't appreciate this elitist gatekeeping behavior prohected by this line coming from two writers saying for future writers to not bother unless theyre writing some marketing scheme or get rich quick kind of book.

What's worse is that Tucker Max says something like this to a woman in the beginning of the book as well, saying, "So basically you want me to teach you how to write?" And then immediately eats his words when he realizes she's already a success in her field and wanted to just get her advice out there for others.
You would think he'd learn something from that encounter, but i guess being the writer of "assholes finish first" and " i hope they serve beer in hell," humility must not be his strongest suit.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about writing NONfiction books, which would've been useful as part of the title or a subtitle. Had I known that, I wouldn't have bothered with it, since I'm only interested in how to write FICTION. This book did offer a new way of getting things done, but I don't see it working as well for fiction. The idea reminds me of how people learn in different ways (hearing, seeing, doing it themselves, etc.). Speaking your manuscript, then transcribing it, might be good for some people. However the claim that the only people who can do things traditionally are "professional writers" is false and more than a little pandering. Yeah, it's hard work, but thousands of average people manage it. The only other part I have a bone to pick with is the idea that "not all books need a conclusion." Fiction books absolutely need one, otherwise the plot was pointless. Nonfiction books are essentially elongated essays, and not tying everything together at the end is just bad form. Give your book a conclusion! For my own sake, I'm giving this book 2 stars.

[Fernando Suarezserna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book before writing my first Non Fiction. Even if you don't follow the whole dictation advice, it's nice to understand writing the book as a clear process, and that's what this book helps you understand. Will definitely recommend this book to any Non Fiction writer.

[Joel Salomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great specific exercises. A must read for any new author

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

very useful to write a book in as wise people have done before-- with a scribe.

[Christy Bower · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many ways to write a book and this model offers one specific way, which may work for some people, especially if the thought of writing seems overwhelming. On the other hand, dictating, transcribing, and rewriting the transcription seems like more work to me. Still, it's good to always be reading and learning new ways of doing things. I figure if I learn one thing out of each book I read, it was worth the investment. In this case, I did pick up some valuable links to services like editing, transcription, and more.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book on writing a book, its concise and won't take you long to read and its worth the investment because you will definitely take a few points.

the book will make you ask yourself key questions about your boom, starting with the goal of your book and target audience.

the out lining process I have useful in my blog writing as well as book writing.

if you are thinking about writing a book, I would advise everyone to read this book to help them with the process

[Mike McVey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you want to write a nonfiction book to help promote your business? This would be the book to read to help you in that process. Having wrote and self-published my first book right before reading this, I resonate with a lot of things I did in a more difficult fashion. I will be referring back to this book regularly as I help colleagues in the near future.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totally super organized method and process for writing a book. The "Book In A Box" method of extracting and organizing writing a book is here. If only the creative process could be so well organized

[Travis Hamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and concise

If this book is itself an example of the prescribed method than the result is a comprehensive exploration of the topic that was clear enough to give me the next step I need to take in order to left me wanting to write a book.

[Melanie Mole · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great but simple idea this book puts forward. It shows how even those who have difficulty in the actual writing stage of the book can make an impact early on by following this method. Good luck to anyone who uses it. I might just try it myself! Very clearly written and easy to understand.

[Jeannett Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for Nonfiction

If you plan on writing a nonfiction book, this is the best I've found. Complete from idea to outline to manuscript.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

One to save and use as a serious reference guide if I ever write a book