I wanted to add all the writing books I have on my shelf. As I post about them I will upload links here for you.
MARKETING & ADVERTISING
How To Market A Book by Joanna Penn
Does what it says on the tin and my copy has a thousand post-it notes and stickies. Well worth it.
HELP! My Facebook Ads Suck by Michael Cooper
Another one that does what it says on the tin. If you’re looking to earn from your Facebook ads, this book will help.
Mastering Amazon Ads by Brian D. Meeks
This book focuses on developing your AMS (Amazon) ads to maximise your profit and ROI.
Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran
Learn how to publish your work like a pro and start building your audience with the most comprehensive and up-to-date self-publishing guide on the market today. Packed with practical, actionable advice, Let’s Get Digital delivers the very latest best practices on publishing your work and finding readers.
BUSINESS FOR WRITERS
Business For Authors by Joanna Penn
If you want to spend your life being creative then you need to build a business around your work. This book will help.
The Business of Being A Writer by Jane Friedman
The Business of Being A Writers is similar to the previous book, but this looks more widely at money making opportunities and exactly how much graft is needed to succeed.
SYNOPSIS AND BLURB WRITING
Write a Great Synopsis – An Expert Guide
An amazing 54 page guide by Nicola Morgan on how to write a synopsis.
How To Write A Sizzling Synopsis by Bryan Cohen
This packs a punch when it comes to blurb writing. I learnt loads and highly recommend it.
WRITING THESAURI AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
13 Steps To Evil – How To Craft A Superbad Villain by Sacha Black
There is no hero without a villain to defeat. Master your villainous minions with this book.
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression
My favourite writer’s guide, with a fantastic range of emotions and descriptors for emotional body language. Part I of three.
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
Readers connect to characters with depth, ones who have experienced life’s ups and downs. To deliver key players that are both realistic and compelling, writers must know them intimately—not only who they are in the present story, but also what made them that way. Of all the formative experiences in a character’s past, none are more destructive than emotional wounds. The aftershocks of trauma can change who they are, alter what they believe, and sabotage their ability to achieve meaningful goals, all of which will affect the trajectory of your story.
The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws
The sister guide to the above book, an amazing guide to creating the perfect ‘negative’ trait.
The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes (Writers Helping Writers)
This one focuses on positive traits.
The Writer’s Guide to Character Traits
Great for creating villains, and characters with interesting psychologies.
WRITING CRAFT BOOKS
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
This writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story.
The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne
The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It’s like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what’s not. The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult.)
Save The Cat by Blake Snyder
It’s not just story structure you should be learning about. But movie making too. Screenwriting can teach you how to grip a reader. Be sure to check this one out.
Screen Writing Tricks For Authors Alexandra Sokoloff
Are you a published author, but know you need some plotting help to move your books and career up to that next level?
You CAN write better books and scripts—by learning from the movies. Screenwriting is based on a simple (and powerful) structure that you already know from watching so many movies and television shows in your lifetime. And it’s a structure that your reader or audience unconsciously expects, and that is crucial for you to deliver.
The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
This one has been recommended a thousand times over and even in the first few pages I learnt loads. This is the ultimate guide to story and structure.
MINDSET BOOKS
War on Art by Steven Pressfield
This is one of the best mindset slaps I’ve ever read. It’s thought-provoking and is sure to help put you back on track.
The Successful Author Mindset by Joanna Penn
This book shows you all of the mindset pitfalls writers often fall into and how to combat them.
Grit For Writers by Tamar Sloan
This is a great reminder that this is a journey, we writers need to persevere and use our grit to succeed.
GRAMMAR AND STYLE GUIDES
New Oxford Style Manual (Reference)
The English version of the Chicago manual of style, and the first part in a set of three that an editor recommended to me.
Oxford Guide to Plain English (Oxford Paperback Reference)
Part II
Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation
Part III – The last in this set of three recommended reads.
All images from Amazon, links are affiliate and I will earn a very small commission should you purchase a book.