1
of
1
How to Be a Writer
Who Smashes Deadlines, Crushes Editors, and Lives in a Solid Gold Hovercraft
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3799
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
How to Be a Writer
$3799
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This book is ideal for aspiring writers seeking pragmatic advice on writing efficiently and professionally, particularly those comfortable with a direct, candid tone. It suits internet-savvy readers ready for a gritty but motivational approach.
Latest News
A Court of Splintered Harmony: How to Get Your Copy on Release Day
A Court of Splintered Harmony is almost here, and we have some exciting news for...
Pick up a Graphic Novel for Halloween
Wanting something different for spooky season? Try a horror themed graphic novel! Lizzy has rounded...
The ACOTAR Countdown Is On, But We Need to Talk…
Last week, things started taking a dark turn. The excitement surrounding the release was suddenly...
Even More New Board Games Just Arrived!
It's been another busy week at Book Hero, with heaps of new board games and...
The Book Briefing 21/10/2026
Welcome back to another edition of 'The Book Briefing', your weekly round-up of all the...
See more'Beauty is good, but coin is better. You can't eat artistic integrity. It tastes like sawdust.'
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Beauty is good, but coin is better. You can't eat artistic integrity. It tastes like sawdust.
This gonzo guide is a lesson in the practicalities of writing: how to be productive, professional and maybe one day even pay the rent.
Topics covered include 'How to slay writer's block', 'What the hell is workflow?', 'How to write 10,000 words in a day' and 'The best apps for writers'.
How to Be a Writer is a kick-arse writing guide with a tough-love approach, written for the internet generation. John Birmingham is lauded as a prolific writer working across multiple genres. Here he shares his secrets. And some hard-core, real-world practical advice. And a few excellent descriptions of explosions.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781742234847
Publisher: NewSouth Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 June 2016
Country: Australia
Imprint: NewSouth Publishing
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 17.0mm
Width: 134.0mm
Height: 208.0mm
Weight: 268g
Pages: 196
Collections
About the Author
John Birmingham is a journalist, Fairfax columnist, blogger, prolific tweeter and author of two Quarterly Essays, a number of books of fiction, non-fiction and memoir. These include He Died With a Felafel in His Hand, The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco, Leviathan: The unauthorised biography of Sydney and the Axis of Time series of thrillers, the How to Be a Writer: Disappearance series and the Dave Hooper trilogy.
Also by John Birmingham
View all-
A Time For War
In A Time For War: Australia as a Military Power, John Birmingham ponders the Australian way of war. After East Timor and Bali, a combination of primal fear and primal ambition has transformed attitudes to our region, to security, and to war as an instrument of politics. Australian defence policy has become more assertive, and our armed forces are being...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Stranger Thingies
John Birmingham is a master of good writing and funny lines. He has written a thousand stories, some true, some not so much. These are the best ones and they're so good, and so funny, there has been no barrel-scraping involved. Really, Stranger Thingies could have been much longer. The pieces contained within these pages run the gamut from the...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Appeasing Jakarta
In the second Quarterly Essay, John Birmingham takes apart the folly of twenty-five years of Australian policy on East Timor. How did Gough Whitlam and Richard Woolcott in 1975 saddle this country with a policy that was bound to lead to the intervention of 1999? Why were shrewder voices ignored and why did we persist with an unworkable model? Where...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Shattered Skies
With their advanced tech rendered null by the Sturm's attack, humanity face certain annihilation. Their only hope lies with a few brave souls who survived the initial onslaught – these five heroes might be humanity's only hope. Centuries after they were defeated and exiled to Dark Space, the Sturm have returned. The Sturm, an empire of species purists, have returned...Paperback$3500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Shattered Skies
The Shattered Skies by John Birmingham Centuries after they were defeated and exiled to dark space, The Sturm have returned. The Sturm, an empire of species purists, have returned from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering. In a sneak attack on...Hardback$4299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Pre-orderOn One Nation and the rising right
What's behind One Nation's surge? The rise of the new right in Australia isn't a sudden eruption. In this brilliant essay, John Birmingham gives us the deep history and the present moment. Using personal stories, insights from political insiders and overarching analysis, he shows how the right has found a story to explain everything. Simple, visceral, wrong in all sorts...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableOut 16 Nov 2026Pre-order -
Pre-orderThe Forever Dead
With sheer weight of numbers, the Sturm's Combined Fleet of the (self-proclaimed) Human Republic are driving ever deeper into the network of worlds they were exiled from over three centuries ago. At a horrendous cost, Commander Lucinda Hardy, Admiral Fraser McLennan, Sephina L'trel, Booker3 and Princess Alessia lead the only resistance to the Sturm's overwhelming forces. Amid the ruins of...Paperback$3899Unit price /UnavailableOut 3 Nov 2026Pre-order -
Leviathan
An electrifying, epic history of the city of Sydney as you have never seen her before. To peer deeply into this ghost city, the one lying beneath the surface, is to understand that Sydney has a soul and that it is a very dark place indeed. Beneath the shining harbour, amid the towers of global greed and deep inside the...PaperbackSold Out -
The Shattered Skies
Centuries after they were defeated and exiled to dark space, The Sturm have returned. The Sturm, an empire of species purists, have come back from the farthest reaches of Dark Space to wage a war against what they call mutants and borgs: any human being with genetic or neural engineering. In a sneak attack on the galaxy-spinning networks, they overwhelmed...PaperbackSold Out -
The Cruel Stars
With a ruthless sect of humanity intent on wiping out their species, five intrepid heroes must think like their enemies in this epic sci-fi adventure. They thought the Sturm were dead. They were wrong. Centuries after their defeat, the enemy has returned with an overwhelming attack on the fringes of human space. On the brink of annihilation, humankind's only hope...PaperbackSold Out
More from Education & Reference
View all-
Revenge of the Tipping Point
Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light. What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do elite universities care so much about sports? What is...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Body Keeps the Score
The Body Keeps the Score by Dr Bessel van der Kolk is a compelling and compassionate exploration of the deep-seated impact of trauma on the human body and mind. This groundbreaking work delves into the complex causes of trauma and paints a vivid picture of the revolutionary treatments that are enabling countless individuals to reclaim their lives filled with purpose...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$3000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseSong of the Birds
A stunning and panoramic history of native birds in Aotearoa, from the bestselling author of The Meaning of Trees For millions of years, the song of the birds echoed throughout Aotearoa, with no one around to hear it. While the arrival of humans would transform their story forever - birds may have changed us even more. In this beautiful and...Hardback$4499Elsewhere:$5500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseLucky You're Tough
Lucky You're Tough chronicles the early life of helicopter pilot and NZSAS soldier Mark Law, from growing up in the rural wilds of Whangamōmona through to surviving a series of life-threatening events that would shape his life and career. After a career as a badged soldier in the NZSAS that led to an intriguing stint with the British SAS and...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New Release
Hormone Health is Mental Health
Hormone Health is Mental Health is a lifechanging guide to understanding perimenopause and midlife women's mental health - and how understanding your hormones is the first step to feeling like yourself again. This book is for women in their thirties, forties, and fifties who feel like they're falling apart. Women who feel like their brains and bodies are betraying them,...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Age Code
What if the food you eat could rewind your biological clock? 'Clear and compelling' — Chris van Tulleken 'Really interesting and insightful' — Joe Wicks 'Fascinating' — Tim Spector From the rising incidence of cancer in the under-50s to increased infertility rates, there are signs everywhere that growing numbers of us are ageing too quickly. Why? Many believe there’s one...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Kitchen Confidential
The classic bestseller from the star of Parts Unknown and No Reservations: 25th Anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Irvine Welsh. BEFORE THERE WAS THE BEAR, THERE WAS BOURDAIN. ‘Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino’ — A.A. Gill ‘Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli’ — Daily Telegraph After twenty-five years of sex,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
One Last Question, Prime Minister
From Muldoon to Luxon, untold stories from the House of Parliament Barry Soper has spent close to five decades questioning New Zealand's prime ministers.From the imposing, larger-than-life characters of Rob Muldoon and David Lange, to the golden age of Helen Clark and John Key, and the post-Covid era of Jacinda Ardern and the 'Chrises', Soper's insight and nose for a...Paperback$2800Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Fungi of Aotearoa
The complete introduction to finding, identifying and using mushrooms and other fungi in New Zealand. Enter and explore the fascinating world of fungi. In this practical and up-to-date guide, forager and fungus enthusiast Liv Sisson shares her top tips and takes the reader on a journey to discover the unique and diverse fungi Aotearoa has to offer. Discover how to...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Suicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
15% offMaori Made Easy Workbook 1/Kete 1
Maori Made Easy Workbook 1/Kete 1 by Scotty Morrison is the ultimate companion for anyone eager to learn the beautiful and complex Maori language. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to brush up on your skills, this workbook offers a structured and engaging way to immerse yourself in te reo Maori. Designed to be accessible regardless of your starting...Paperback$1700Elsewhere:$2500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
23% off1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four
In the drab and oppressive world of 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduces us to Winston Smith, a man haunted by the omnipresent surveillance and control exercised by the Party and its enigmatic leader, Big Brother. Winston works diligently at the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to alter historical records to fit the ever-changing narrative dictated by the...Paperback$1000Usually:$1299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
