Ten great books for authors

As an author it can sometimes feel very lonely, you’ve great ideas for a book, you’ve either finished writing it or are in the process, but where do you look for some advice when you need it?

Well, there are other successful authors who have been where you are, and through their experience, you can gain insight into what you should (and importantly) what you shouldn’t do to be a successful author.

Here are our top ten recommendations for books that (as an author) you should consider reading, and hey, if you have a book you think should be added to the list, let us know in the comment section below.

One  - Start Writing Your Book Today, By Morgan Gist Macdonald

Published in 2015, this book is highly recommended by it’s readers and has helped countless authors over the past few years. It gives a step-by-step guide that will walk you through writing a book from start to finish.

Two – How to Market a book, By Joanna Penn

The current third edition was published in 2017, Joanna Penn is a well established and best selling author in her own right, along with being a successful writer, she hosts a podcast for authors and also a great website at creativepenn. This specific book is aimed at authors who want to sell more books and look at their writing as a career.

Three – The Occupation Thesaurus, By Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglist

Published in July 2020, this book gives you so much information on both popular and unusual jobs, along with detailed conflict scenarios (for your character’s chosen occupation), help on using their careers to further your book’s plot line. This unique book is a must for those who want attention to detail when writing about a character’s career that they may not know everything about. 

Four - Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents, 28th edition

Published in 2018 (updated in 2019), this is a very popular title and details how to get your book edited  so that it’s publisher-ready, it also shows how to successfully pitch it to a publishing house, this along with details of contact information for 245 publishers and imprints makes it a good read for most authors.

Five – The Psychology Work Book For Writers, By Darian Smith

Published in 2015 by best selling writer Darian Smith, this book utilizes his degree in psychology and experience over the past decade into a workbook which will help you create more detailed characters. 

Six – Creating Character Arcs, By K.M. Weiland

Published in 2016 and has proven to be an incredibly popular book which is loved by its readers. This award winning and highly experienced author gives you the details you’ll need in order to create the right arc for each character within your book, it shows you how to avoid the common pitfalls and how to use overarching arcs to create series of books with the same character.

Seven – How to Market a Book, By Ricardo Fayet

Published in 2021, this new book offers a step-by-step framework of strategies aimed at successfully marketing your book to an audience. Written by the successful co-founder of Reedsy (who boasts of helping over 150,000 authors become successful in their marketing), this book is currently free on Kindle and well worth a look.

Eight – The 8-Minute Writing Habit, By Monica Leonelle

Published in December 2020, this book shares the top strategies that authors are using in order to write each and every day. Aimed at those who are struggling to fit their writing aspirations into an already busy day, this book helps to give you the tools and motivation to get on and write that book.

Nine – BookBub Ads Expert, By David Gaughran

Published in 2019, this book looks at one of the most powerful tools authors use to promote their books, BookBub. This book gives you the details on how to create images and ads which look attractive and work within the platform’s parameters, manage your bids for ads effectively, help to boost the discovery of your book and much more.

Ten – Project Management for Authors, By Terry Stafford

Soon to be published by the highly successful and award winning author Terry Stafford, this great new book gives the reader the tools to be able to effectively plan and execute your project from the very beginning of writing the book to editing, formatting, design, publishing and marketing.