What is Reddit's opinion of The Only Grant-Writing Book You'll Ever Need?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I'm a student with no degree or professional experience in the field and I'm a grant writer. It's certainly possible to get into it. Fortunately, I had a lot of opportunities in high school to get solid training in writing (i.e. debate team, student publications, newspaper staff and stuff like that). So talent and solid writing skills are a must. But here's what I did to build up a good skillset in this particular field: 1. Network - talk to everyone you can in the field, ask questions and show enthusiasm. I worked on political campaigns as a volunteer and ended up making a contact who worked at a nonprofit. 2. Volunteer - I volunteered at a few nonprofits and got a good sense of how they operate 3. Intern - The contact I made at the political campaign gave me an email and a good word. I was asked to come in for an interview the next week. Interning was really hard, I spent 500 hours over six months and was so confused and not confident. Once I got the job I have now, I realized that I was actually well prepared. Volunteering at a nonprofit is a good way to get into it. 4. Buy some books that will teach you - I borrowed this book from the library and it was extremely informative http://www.amazon.com/Only-Grant-Writing-Book-Youll-Ever/dp/0465018696/ref=cm_lmf_tit_6 5. Pay your dues and bust your a** - I get paid very little, but I'm just looking to build a reputation, samples, accomplishments and a resume. And of course I'm very very passionate about the cause. I've dreamed of running a nonprofit similar to the one I work for one day and that's how I got into it in the first place. 6. Find events aimed at teaching organizers to build up straight from the ground. My boss sends me to some, she is aware that I have very limited experience and pays for me to train at workshops. I go to workshops every month at a college that runs a nonprofit resource center - you don't need to belong to a nonprofit to go to some of these. 7. Google - You can learn anything from google if you look in the right places. You'll find templates and guides. 8. Have writing samples and always get a letter of recommendation from every nonprofit you volunteer at.

This is a good way to start. I got my job sort of by chance, I just happened to be talking to someone at the right time and had the right connections.

warning- if you really don't think a nonprofit can make it, don't jump onto a sinking ship. Ultimately, funders don't fund programs because of the programs themselves. I do a lot of brainstorming with our staff and have the ability to speak my peace/give advice and they hear me out because for the most part I know enough to know what works and what doesn't.

I still have a long way to go for sure, but the above is how I got this far.

Also:

http://www.amazon.com/Only-Grant-Writing-Book-Youll-Ever/dp/0465018696/

http://www.amazon.com/Grant-Writing-Dummies-Beverly-Browning/dp/1118013875/

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Phrases-Writing-Proposals-Series/dp/0071495843/

http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Grants-Step-Developing-Jossey-Bass/dp/1118378342/

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Good-Cause-Persuasive-Nonprofits/dp/0684857405/

Also ask around at local non-profits etc. to see if there's someone that does it that could edit/review what you're doing the first few times.