Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead: The Bumpy Road to Getting Published

by Maralys Wills

A treasure trove of sage advice for the new writer packaged in easy to digest and fun to read anecdotes. Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead offers real world suggestions for writing novels or non-fiction and turning them into not only saleable, but bestseller works.Maralys Wills, creative-writing teacher and author of twelve books in many genres, shares from her own experience the dos and don'ts of getting published.

Genres: Writing

241 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Maralys Wills has published seventeen books, raised six children and "lucked into the world's best teaching job."
Educated at Stanford and UCLA, she teaches novel-writing on the college level, and in 2000 was named Teacher of the Year. Her most challenging project, a poignant memoir titled Higher Than Eagles, became her greatest triumph, garnering excellent reviews and five movie options.
Wills considers public speaking the dessert for all the hard work of writing, and relishes every moment spent with a receptive audience. She lives and writes in Santa Ana, California."

Reviews

[Gregory Kompes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maralys Wills is a very good writer. Her voice is so strong on the page. That said, the actual "how to" writing advice in this book is rather thin. Instead, this is really a memoir of her journey through a publishing career. It's worth reading for that, but the book may be trying to do too many things at once; it doesn't really fully succeed at all of them.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar advice to other books about writing. The difference here is a lot of filler about the author's very sad personal life.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a lifelong genre hopper, this book is half memoir, half writing guide. My friend lent it to me with the highest praise but I couldn't get a fire under my butt to read another book on writing. When I finally cracked it open I couldn't shut it again. It was just so fun and full of such important information.

General consensus: Every writer should read this book. I'm now buying my own copy so I can keep it on my shelf.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun book. It's a combo of Stephen King's On Writing and any of a number of writing tip books. The chapters generally alternate, with one chapter of memoir, then the next of writing lessons. The writing lesson chapters are not intense or in depth, but there are definitely some good lessons to be learned in them. As a multi-genre writer, NAME gives a great example of the different needs for different genres and how it's possible to actually sell in more than one genre. As a side note, her personal story is compelling, and the way she weaves in writing, editing, and publishing with her personal life is remarkably well-done. I would note that a lot of the process she describes now feels very dated (pre-internet submissions), but that doesn't make it less enjoyable or less instructive. Overall, it's a nice quick read that feels quite different from many of the other books on writing I've read: it walks the line of memoir and instruction quite well.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Maralys Wills is a writer, speaker and instructor. The book is her story of getting published. It is personal and instructive for the newbie novelist, told in an easy-to-read and disarming manner. Wills in informative and her book fun.

Please read the full review here.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting how to book. Reads almost like a novel.

[Sbbrewst · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on writing that I have read so far. It reads like a memoir and a writing how to book simultaneously and its a page turner to boot.