The Elements of Narrative Nonfiction: How to Write and Sell the Novel of True Events

[Peter] Rubie has written a thoughtful and useful introduction to the art of nonfiction storytelling. I wish I had had this book thirty years ago, when I started out.
–Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War

Name some of the huge bestselling books over the years–“In Cold Blood; All the President’s Men; The Perfect Storm; Black Hawk Down; Longitude; Jarhead”–and they all have one thing in common; they all read like novels. Author and agent Peter Rubie shows the reader how to join journalistic research with riveting, character-driven prose to create narrative nonfiction. This is the only book to focus on writing and marketing the narrative nonfiction “”novel.”” (An earlier version of this book was published under the title “Telling the Story: How to Write and Sell Narrative Nonfiction (Harper).” This version has been extensively reworked.)

“Brings the intricacies of narrative nonfiction to light in an easy-to-use fashion. . . . engages through Rubie’s wonderful writing style. Don’t miss this book if you are writing true adventure, biography, history, memoir, military, travel or true crime.” –www.BellaOnline.com

The Elements of Narrative Nonfiction is an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with a nonfiction project. It’s smart, cogent, and comprehensive.
–Betsy Lerner, editor turned literary agent and author of The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers

In a publishing market where “narrative nonfiction” is looked on not just as a genre but as the holy grail, Peter Rubie steps
forward to do what no one else has done before–define the craft and lay out precepts for new bestsellers.
–John Silbersack, agent with the Jenny Bent Agency and former HarperCollins vice president, former senior vice-president, Trident Media Group

Really excellent–by far the best (most informative, most readable and just the most useful) advice I’ve read on writing
and selling narrative nonfiction, the “