Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Complete Guide to Getting Published | 2014 | Jessica Brody | Buy |
| 2 | Save the Cat! Writes a Novel | 2018 | Jessica Brody | Buy |
| 3 | Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel | 2023 | Jessica Brody | Buy |
Jessica Brody’s non-fiction writing guides have reached a wide audience of aspiring novelists. Save the Cat! Writes a Novel adapted the popular screenwriting method for fiction in 2018 and became a bestselling craft book. Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel followed in 2023. The Complete Guide to Getting Published rounds out her non-fiction with practical publishing advice.
The Save the Cat! approach breaks stories into fifteen beats, a structure Blake Snyder developed for screenplays. Brody translated those beats for novelists, using examples from published fiction to show how each beat works on the page. The method has been adopted by writing groups and university courses.
The Complete Guide to Getting Published (2014) came first and covers the practical side of the business: querying agents, understanding contracts, and navigating the submission process. Together, the three books give writers tools for both craft and career.