There’s a common myth associated with the career of authorship, which is that writing is a solitary task.
While the act of writing itself is a somewhat isolated exercise, no writer is truly alone. Just as editors and agents depend on novelists to create bestsellers, authors also depend on others to help them showcase and sell their work to the world.
What’s more, many resources are available that can help writers become better, get published, understand the market, and make money from their stories.
Below you will find top 21 must read books about writing fiction and making money. They will motivate you to do everything from creating masterful plots to querying the right agent for your manuscript.
1. Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising & Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein
As the Executive Editor of Arthur A. Levine Books, Cheryl B. Klein has helped publish bestselling books such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Published in 2011, this collection of Klein’s talks and blog posts explains many of the ins and outs of children’s publishing. “Tell yourself the story you’ve always wanted to hear” she encourages aspiring authors, and given her track record of publishing bestsellers, writers would be wise to listen.
2. The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner
Now a partner for Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, Betsy Lerner began her career as a writer and editor. This edition, published in 2010, extends a guiding hand to writers on the subjects of the creative process and publication. She advises those weathering through difficulties in the writing process that “Finding your form is like finding your mate” and that writers “can’t compromise” when searching for their style.
3. The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It…Successfully by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry
Founders of The Book Doctors, Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry work together to help writers become published authors. Their critically acclaimed book, endorsed by bestselling authors such as Khaled Hosseini and Timothy Ferriss, unveils many of the mysteries of publishing. Having released several editions, the newest of which was published in 2015, the authors hope to make writers more successful in their search for a publisher by teaching them four essential skills: research, networking, writing, and perseverance.
4. Outlining Your Novel: Map your Way to Success by K.M. Weiland
Despite the fact that many novelists may struggle with the process, there are significant benefits to outlining your work. If the task seems especially daunting, pick up a copy of this bestselling author’s manual on outlining. Not only does Weiland provide numerous techniques that will help new authors strengthen the structure of their novels, but she also dispels the common myth that outlining inhibits creativity. Writers will walk away from this read dizzy with new ideas and itching to use some of these suggested organizational methods.
5. Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from Start to Finish by James Scott Bell
As one of the key ingredients to a good novel, developing a gripping plot can prove to be trying. For those trying to understand how to plot their way out of close scathes with evil, lovers’ quarrels, and death defying feats of heroism, this is an entertaining and relatable guide to learn how to plot effectively. Published in 2004, this Amazon #1 bestselling thriller author will teach you to develop the kind of plot that will captivate a reader page after page.
6. Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents: Who They Are, What They Want, How to Win Them Over by Jeff Herman
If you’re looking for a good companion to your copy of Writer’s Market 2016, then this book might just become your newest best friend in publishing. Released in 2014, the advice the founder of the Jeff Herman Agency doles out about agents, editors, and more is timeless; a must read for an author who is pursuing the traditional route in getting published.
7. Create Your Writer Platform: The Key to Building an Audience, Selling more Books, and Finding Success as an Author by Chuck Sambuchino
Perhaps now more than ever, writers of all genres and forms need a sturdy platform. Especially in today’s internet run world, a platform can be the difference between selling thousands of copies of your book and selling only a few. Yet how does a novice author go about creating a platform? Once you have a platform, how do you reach a wider audience? The editor of Writer’s Digest Books has plenty advice on developing the kind of platform that works best for you.
8. 100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know by Scott Edelstein
Sometimes writing can be tough, and it can seem like reaching your aspirations of becoming a published author are an entire world away. However, the rational wisdom and invaluable tips the author of 15 books shares will lift your spirits. New authors and veterans alike will find comfort in Edelstein’s affirmation that “Anyone who writes is a writer.”
9. Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins
Lover of the stage and winner of the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, Brandilyn Collins uses her knowledge of method acting to help writers create fascinating and psychologically deep characters. This is an especially beneficial read for novelists looking to integrate character motivations into a story’s plot.
10. Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, & Theme by Martha Alderson and Jordan Rosenfeld
Is the perfect scene, brimming with the right combination of action, emotional stakes, and deeper meaning, evading you and your next bestseller? Then you might want to take a line (or a couple of pages) out of “PlotWhisperer’s,” and fellow writing coach, Jorden Rosenfeld’s, book. Published in 2015, this manual will help any writer build stories with multiple layers and understand the connection between enthralling plots and riveting scenes.
11. Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block
Writing fiction might make you feel as though your entire career is based on a series of delicately spun lies. Yet, the master of guise teaches and inspires authors to improve their writing skills, and embrace a career in writing, by giving the run down on everything from market analysis and maintaining your ethics as a writer, to writing faster. This book is definitely a toolbox overflowing with tips, techniques, and theories that can be added to any author’s arsenal.
12. Dojo Wisdom for Writers by Jennifer Lawler
Everyone experiences self-doubt at some point. Yet, it seems that writers are particularly susceptible to feelings of unworthiness, especially when it comes to analyzing their own work. How can a novice writer, or even master, come to believe in the beauty of their writing? According to this author and martial arts practitioner, any artist can overcome doubt. The collection of 100 lessons on wisdom and spiritual practices will energize writers to find the inherent beauty in their work.
13. The Successful Novelist: A Lifetime of Lessons about Writing and Publishing by David Morrell
For anyone in need of quick tips on novels, this handbook, comprised of sixteen crucial lessons and written by a New York Times Bestselling author, reveals many key elements of the novel writing process. Embraced by leading authors such as Dean Koontz, Morrell’s manual discloses a seasoned author’s knowledge on plot, characters, publishing, viewpoint, and much more.
14. How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid them—A Misstep-by-misstep Guide by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman
We’ve all been there. We spend weeks and months laboring away at what we believe to be the next international bestseller, only to discover that our writing sounds flat and lifeless rather than captivating and insightful. The problem isn’t that we don’t know how to write well, but rather that we haven’t come across enough bad writing in order to recognize it in our own work. That’s exactly what these bestselling authors did when they released this funny and engaging read in 2008, highlighting 200 hundred common mistakes writers should avoid.
15. Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page one and Never Lets them Go by Les Edgerton
We all love a novel that captures our attention from the first sentence and is difficult to put down. If you’ve ever wondered how to write one of these masterpieces, this prolific author of novels, short fiction, and screenplays has the answer. This intensive guide on story beginnings gives hopeful authors insight on how to hook agents and editors, and get their manuscript picked up from the slush pile.
16. Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Creating Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints by Nancy Kress
The regular Writer’s Digest Columnist and Sci-Fi writer teaches authors to build compelling characters in this eye-opening manual. Published in 2005 as part of Writer’s Digest’s Write Great Fiction Series, this is a comprehensive guide to picking the right viewpoint, creating believable character emotions, and writing realistic critical scenes.
17. The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman
After having discovered your big ticket idea, you might find yourself wondering how transform it from concept to book pages. Even more importantly, how to do you transform it into pages of a manuscript an agent, or editor, might actually want to read? The successful literary agent, whose agency represents clients such as the Dalai Lama, created this workshop to help writers learn the secrets of really good fiction.
18. Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff VanderMeer
Writer’s block can be difficult to shake. You can’t find any inspiration, or every idea you think of seems too contrived, or everything other than your book suddenly seems incredibly interesting. Musing though a few pages of this beautifully illustrated companion might just help. Published in 2013 and developed by the three-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, this fun and imaginative book is a much needed reprieve from instructional books on writing. The entrancing drawings will help light up your mind’s eye with all kinds of fresh and unique ideas.
19. How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich
If you’ve ever wanted someone to reveal the secrets of a bestseller to you, bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum Series has granted your wish. In this enthralling edition, writers become privy to the techniques and methods a bestselling author uses throughout the creative process. From this, writers can pick up all kinds of tips and clever ideas about how launch, or revive, their own writing process.
20. This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
From the 2016 Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, this introductory guidebook into the world of fiction is bound to have novice writers feeling encouraged to start drafting up their novels right away. Mosley prescribes discipline and strict routines for getting your novel written. “Writers-in-waiting” will be eager to closely follow Mosley’s how-to-handbook to finish their novels within the next 365 days.
21. Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules by Steven James
Many instructors will give beginner writers this tidbit of classical advice: the rules are there for a reason, and unless you have a purpose for breaking them, don’t do it. However, as this critically acclaimed and national bestselling author of thrillers points out, there are times when the rules don’t matter. If you believe that rules were made to be broken and want a fresh perspective on writing fiction, you will find exactly that in this guidebook. Writers will find themselves set free of literary constructs and equipped with numerous tools to hone in their own storytelling method.
What did you think of our list of 21 top books about writing fiction and making money? Have you read any of these? Are there any other books about writing fiction and making money, which should be in the list? Please share in the comments box below!
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As a graduate from the University of Arizona in English and Creative Writing, Rofida Khairalla’s love for classical literature and post-modern fiction extends beyond the realm of books. She has provided her services independently as a freelance writer, and wrote on the news desk for the student-run newspaper, The Daily Wildcat. As an aspiring children’s book author, she’s refined her craft amongst the grand saguaros of the Southwest, and enjoys playing with her German Shepherd on the slopes of Mount Lemmon.