In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly feature organised by The Story Siren. IMM is a post where you can show which books entered your house and it also gives you a chance to say thank you to the people that kindly sent them. To find out more about how you can join in, click here.

Most of them were on the freebie list as I'm a pauper these days!

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Ann Jacobs

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is a book that was published in 1861 by Harriet Jacobs, using the pen name "Linda Brent". While on one level it chronicles the experiences of Harriet Jacobs as a slave, and the various humiliations she had to endure in that unhappy state, it also deals with the particular tortures visited on women at her station. Often in the book, she will point to a particular punishment that a male slave will endure at the hands of slave holders, and comment that, although she finds the punishment brutal in the extreme, it cannot compare to the abuse that a young woman must face while still on the cusp of girlhood.

Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl is considered a slave narrative. Portions of it were first published in serial form before being published as a complete work in 1861, after some difficulty finding a publisher. It is also considered an example of feminist literature.

Quit Your Rotten Job...and Become a Successful Freelance Writer Instead: The Quick and Easy Way To Launch a Writing Career, by John Hadyn

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

If you have ever dreamed of being a professional writer, this book will set you on course for success beyond your wildest dreams. Here you will discover the quick and easy way to build a fun and profitable career in the writing business.

There has never been a better time to be a freelance writer - the Internet has opened up amazing opportunities for ordinary people to create a great income working from home. Replacing your regular income with writing income is relatively easy, and there are opportunities to make a high-six figure income...or even more.

Better still, you can do all this working from the comfort of your own home, working the hours you choose, and making more money than you have ever earned in your day job.

So You Want To Be A Freelance Writer, by Felicia A Williams

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer provides the foundational information that every online writer should know.

This book talks specifically about becoming a successful online freelance writer. Felicia A. Williams has been a writer for over 20 years and started writing online in 2006. After finding how easy and lucrative it could be, she dropped her offline endeavors and concentrated 100% on earning money writing online.

She shares her knowledge, experience and writing philosophy in So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer. Anyone with a desire to learn, work hard and remain consistent can earn a living working from home as an online freelance writer. The book explains the different opportunities available to online writers, the payment options, what types of content works best where and much more.

So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer is a reference tool that every newbie freelance writer should have. That's why the book is priced so attractively.

Felicia is a full-time freelance writer/blogger and owner of the site www.nojobformom.com where she shares her trials, errors and successes as an online freelance writer.

Farsighted, Emlyn Chand

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

Alex Kosmitoras's life has never been easy. The only other student who will talk to him is the school bully, his parents are dead broke and insanely overprotective, and to complicate matters even more, he's blind. Just when he thinks he'll never have a shot at a normal life, an enticing new girl comes to their small Midwest town all the way from India. Simmi is smart, nice, and actually wants to be friends with Alex. Plus she smells like an Almond Joy bar. Sophomore year might not be so bad after all.

Unfortunately, Alex is in store for another new arrival—an unexpected and often embarrassing ability to "see" the future. Try as he may, Alex is unable to ignore his visions, especially when they suggest Simmi is in mortal danger. With the help of the mysterious psychic next door and friends who come bearing gifts of their own, Alex embarks on a journey to change his future and save the woman of his dreams.

Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum, by Mark Stevens

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

Broadmoor Revealed gives the reader a glimpse behind the walls of England’s first Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Focused on the Victorian period, the book tells the stories of some of the hospital’s best-known patients. There is Edward Oxford, who shot at Queen Victoria, and Richard Dadd, the brilliant artist and murderer of his father. There is also William Chester Minor, the surgeon from America who killed a stranger in London, and then played a key part in creating the world's finest dictionary. Finally, there is Christiana Edmunds, ‘The Chocolate Cream Poisoner’ and frustrated lover.

To these four tales are added new ones, previously unknown. There were five women who went on to become mothers in Broadmoor, giving birth to life when three of them had previously taken it. Then there were the numerous escapes, actual and attempted, as the first doctors tried to assert control over their residents.

These are stories from the edge of where true crime meets mental illness. Broadmoor Revealed recounts what life was like for the criminally insane, over one hundred years ago.

250 Things You Should Know About Writing, by Chuck Wendig

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

"Chuck Wendig hammers out writing and career advice that's always brave, profane, creative, clever, and honest. And don't forget hilarious. You'll never laugh so hard learning so much."

Matt Forbeck, game designer and author of AMORTALS and VEGAS KNIGHTS (Angry Robot).

"You walk into this book a quivering neophyte crusted with writer fantasies and walk away a seasoned word warrior ready to do battle in the arena we call publishing."

- Kristen Lamb, author of ARE YOU THERE BLOG, IT'S ME, WRITER

Beautiful Disaster, by Jamie McGuire

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

Produce, Publish, Publicize, by Sabrina Sumsion

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

Are you getting ready to publish a book? Have you published a book before but weren't really satisfied with the experience and want to find a new publisher? Are you confused by all the options available to you as a writer? Maybe you want to make a million dollars or maybe you only want to record something for posterity. Whatever you motivation for venturing into the literary world, let Sabrina Sumsion, a publishing insider, help you navigate the muddied waters of the literary world.

Write Good or Die, Scott Nicholson

Synopsis

Taken from Amazon

Survival tips for 21st century writers, from best-selling authors Kevin J. Anderson, M.J. Rose, Heather Graham, J.A. Konrath, Gayle Lynds, Alexandra Sokoloff, Jonathan Maberry, and more. How to develop your craft, improve your writing, get an agent, promote your work, embrace the digital age, and prepare yourself for the coming changes in the publishing industry. Edited by Scott Nicholson.

Other contributors include Elizabeth Massie, Harley Jane Kozak, Douglas Clegg, Brandon Massey, Mur Lafferty, Dean Wesley Smith, David J. Montgomery, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Kroese, and Adrienne Jones. Covering art, craft, and business, the ever-evolving manual supports the writing blog writegoodordie.blogspot.com.

All proceeds benefit the non-profit organization Literacy Inc., which promotes reading among teens.

On Writing, by Stephen King

Synopsis

Taken from Goodreads

"Long live the King" hailed "Entertainment Weekly" upon the publication of Stephen King's "On Writing." Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 -- and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, "On Writing" will empower and entertain everyone who reads it -- fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.

[Note: I've read this last one before, but I loved it a bit hard and it fell apart... I'm special sometimes...]

So! There we have it. As you can probably see, I've decided to give my writing a bit of fine tuning. I'll let you know if these books help me to do so!