Book review of "Writing White Papers"
by Gordon Graham, Editor, SoftwareCEO
At last, there's a thoroughly practical book on the market about how to write effective white papers.
Author Mike Stelzner is one of the world's leading authorities on white papers.
He's written well over 100 of them for technology firms such as HP, Microsoft and SAP.
He's also the founder of WhitePaperSource, the biggest online forum for discussing every aspect of white papers.
Now he's crystallized all his experience into a truly helpful book called "Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged."
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It's available as an e-book, a hardcover and in several bundles with other resources. Stelzner has produced a comprehensive, yet accessible, guide on how to create compelling white papers. His book is packed with proven techniques and considered opinions on how to write effective white papers. |
The book takes a practical, step-by-step approach, assuming the reader has never written a white paper before. That's the ideal place to start.
I would have loved to have seen this book 10 years ago, when I was struggling with my first white paper project.
Until now, there's been a painful lack of high-quality information on how to write white papers.
This book fills the gap beautifully.
Stelzner provides a 10-step process that kicks off with an all-important needs assessment to clarify the topic, define the ideal reader and pinpoint the goals of the piece.
This assessment provides an essential guide through the rest of the publishing process.
Then he deals with the essentials of white paper outlines, interviews, research, titles, contents and formats.
A final chapter covers how to promote your white paper once it's finished: an essential detail that's too often forgotten.
If you absolutely, positively have to get started right away, a quick start guide provides a guide for how to jump right in and get to work.
This book is sure to become the standard reference in the field.
Anyone seeking to develop or publish white papers should buy this book, study its approach and follow its recommendations.
You will be far ahead of the crowd.
Copyright © Computing Technology Industry Association, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
