Elements of Fiction

Walter Mosley is one of the most versatile and admired writers in America today; his books have sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. In the vein of Stephen King's On Writing or John McPhee's Draft No. 4 , The Elements of Fiction Writing is an essential writing guide and a close examination of the genre's elements–character, plot, setting, style, and so on. It will appeal to readers as well as writers. Mosley's earlier monograph on writing fiction, This Year You Write Your Novel (Hachette, 2007), has sold more than 50,000 copies. As with Mosley’s This Year You Writer Your Novel The Elements of Fiction Writing is an excellent candidate for course adoption in schools, not only for creative or expository writing, but also critical theory or English/literature more generally. There is an excellent market and long shelf life for writing guides like this one. Books like Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir , William Zinzer's On Writing Well , Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird , Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd's Good Prose , and, of course, William Strunk's classic The Elements of Style keep on selling. We received a lot of media attention for Mosley’s novel John Woman and expect the same for The Elements of Fiction Writing , and this book will offer an excellent opportunity for interviews and excerpts given its instructional tone. Mosley is an excellent, captivating speaker, especially on the subjects of writing, reading, and what makes good literature. We plan to send Walter on tour in conjunction with publication. Grove welcomed Walter Mosley to our list last year with the publication of his widely reviewed and critically praised novel John Woman , which was longlisted for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. An inductee of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame, Mosley has won numerous other awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master Award, a Grammy, PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (twice).