- Foreword by Sammy Cahn
- New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
- Author television appearances on the Dinah Shore and Joe Franklin shows
Praise from these Academy Award-winning songwriters (on the back cover):
“A book that answers many of the questions the aspiring songwriter needs to know; an important and necessary reference guide.”
–Burt Bacharach
“I sincerely believe this book will be highly useful and most informative not only to the amateur but to the professional as well. Read it! Study it! Learn it! It may well get you to where you are going, and much, much faster! My ‘cahn-gratulations.’”
–Sammy Cahn
“The Songwriter’s Handbook is encyclopedic in the information it covers. I wish I had this book when I started to write.”
–Marvin Hamlisch
“[This] is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject yet. It’s a must for every amateur songwriter and a welcome handy reference for the professional.”
–Henry Mancini
“Harvey Rachlin’s book has just about everything a songwriter needs.”
–Richard Rodgers
“This book is genuinely important to [the songwriter’s] future in learning the whys and hows of the songwriting world.”
–Jule Styne
“Contained are crisply-written sections on virtually all phases of writing . . . The Songwriter’s Handbook just about lives up to its subtitle “Everything a Songwriter Needs to Know.”
—Variety
“The author has a clear, simple style that YA’s [young adults] will find easy to follow.”
—Rockingchair
“If you’re seriously into songwriting . . . then you’ll want to pick up The Songwriter’s Handbook by Harvey Rachlin . . . It will . . . hip you into all the ins and outs of getting your original compositions published, recorded, and, with any luck, onto the charts.”
—The Good Times
“Unlike a great many music biz “how to make it” treatises, The Songwriter’s Handbook by Harvey Rachlin pretty much tells it like it is . . . This is . . . certainly the most comprehensive book on the business available to songwriters today.”
—High Fidelity
“The Songwriter’s Handbook by Harvey Rachlin contains a good deal of basic information, and could be quite useful to the beginner since it touches almost all the bases.”
—ASCAP Today
“A book that is straightforward and thorough in its explanations . . . The book can be valuable to both amateur and professional songwriters according to Sammy Cahn, and after four Academy Awards for songwriting, he should know.”
—The Instrumentalist
“There are several books on the market about songwriting, but the one we like best is called The Songwriter’s Handbook . . . It will answer most, if not all, of your questions about getting started with that first song.”
—Sheet Music Magazine
“The Songwriter’s Handbook by Harvey Rachlin covers every aspect of the music business as it relates to the songwriter.”
—Musical Merchandise Review
“If there’s a song in your heart, but it never occurred to you how to get paid for it (and now it does), take a peek at The Songwriter’s Handbook.”
—The New York Post
“If you want to write the songs that make the whole world sing, don’t miss this great guide that tells the novice everything from how to get a song recorded, to making demos, to finding ideas for lyrics and melodies.”
—Teen Beat
“Just about all you could possibly know about the subject is contained in the newly published The Songwriter’s Handbook.”
—Nashville Banner
Published in hardcover by Funk and Wagnalls in 1977 (ISBN 0-308-10321-1), 172 pages