Review: Mixed Feelings
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 21, 2013
I adore Chuck Wendig's voice, and this book is chock full of good advice presented in a no-nonsense and RATHER entertaining way. Yes, there are plenty of expletives. There's also a running joke about an orangutan named Orange Julius. Both made me laugh.Two things bothered me. First, the book is obviously a compilation of past blog posts and makes no effort to hide the fact. The fact that it's comprised of blog posts doesn't bother me so much as the numbered lists get a little repetitive. That said, the format lends itself to reading in bite-sized chunks. Second, Under 25 Things You Need to Know About Self-Publishing, about 44% through, it says "Do Not Buy This Book" and adds "Anything it contains can be found elsewhere. For free." What the what? So that was disconcerting. (Or maybe I misunderstood? Maybe this is what I get for reading books while on the recumbent bike?) At least I can comfort myself in the knowledge I've helped pay for the Little Wendigo's future braces, I suppose.All in all, I enjoyed the advice and the philosophy behind it--as with all writing advice books, it's not a formula for success or a plan of action that you can implement. No, it's a book of things you need to hear over and over again in order to internalize them.