Writers and Editors

Here's the start of a basic book list.
More to come, and see additional listings under the following headings on other pages:

- Books for science and medical writers
- Books on the craft of journalism
- Books on the craft of narrative nonfiction
- Books on the journalistic essay
- Books to help you write your own (or someone else's) life story
- Memoirs: A reading list
- Classic works of narrative nonfiction
- Books on how to write a book proposal
- Self-Publishing: A basic booklist
- Useful books on book production and design
- Books for fiction writers and editors
- Books recommended for book clubs
- Dictionaries and dictionary-like references


BOOKS FOR WRITERS

· The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing, ed. Tim Harper for ASJA (a guide to the business, for nonfiction writers)
· Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (inspirational, to get and keep you going)
· Follow the Story by James B. Stewart (on narrative structure)
· Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner (the big picture on book publishing)
· Secrets of a Freelance Writer:How to Make $100,000 a Year or More by Robert Bly (third edition), how to make big money as a commercial freelancer
· Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, by Janet Burroway
·My Words Are Gonna Linger: The Art of Personal History , ed. by Paula Stallings Yost and Pat McNees (for people who want to tell their own story)
· Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing, by Margaret Atwood
· On Writing, by Stephen King
· The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life, by Amy Tan
· What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers , by by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter (also useful for nonfiction)
· A Writer's Coach: An Editor's Guide to Words That Work, by Jack Hart
· Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times, The New York Times, and John Darnton (introduction)
· Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg
· Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, by Janet Burroway (also useful for nonfiction)
· Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by Jon Franklin (what makes a good story and how to structure for development, even while interviewing)
· The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard (1990)
· The Writing Life: Writers on How They Think and Work, Maria Arana, ed., (a collection from Washington Post Book World)

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BOOKS FOR EDITORS:

• AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (an essential style guide for magazine and newspaper writing and editing, but absolutely not okay for editing books)
• The Art of Literary Publishing: Editors on Their Craft by Bill Henderson
• Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future by Jason Epstein (based on series of lectures he gave at the N.Y. Public Library in 1999)
• The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read by Jason Epstein (a reality check for the idealistic)
• The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff (the style bible for books, geared to professional and academic authors; if you have the budget, you might also want Words Into Type)
• Chicago Manual of Style (CD-ROM for Windows). You can also subscribe to the online edition.
• The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications by Amy Einsohn (with exercises and useful answer key)
• Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers by Scott Norton
• Editing by Design by Jan V. White (well illustrated book on graphic design through which even wordsmiths can learn the value of white space etc.)
• Editing Fact and Fiction by Leslie T. Sharpe, Irene Gunther, and Richard Marek (an overview of the roles of various types of editors in the publishing process)
• The Editor-in-Chief: A Management Guide for Magazine Editors by Benton Rain Patterson and Coleman E. P. Patterson (have not reviewed this one)
• Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do, by Gerald C. Gross (these essays by various editors in book publishing explain how the book publishing business works and what various types of editors do)
• Edit Yourself, by Bruce Ross-Larson (how to edit bureaucratic flab into clearer, crisper, and more effective sentences); Bruce also has a series of workbooks for writing courses at the World Bank and similar organizations
• The Fiction Editor, The Novel, and the Novelist, by Thomas McCormack
• The Fine Art of Copy Editing by Elsie Myers Stainton
• The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner
• Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner (the very best guide to word usage, for such things as the difference between "historic" and "historical" -- an invaluable tool for wordsmiths)
• Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences by Nicholas J. Higham
• Indexing Books by Nancy C. Mulvany (this plus chapter 17 of the Chicago Style Manual are what the USDA course on indexing assigns)
• Levels of Technical Editing, by David E. Nadziejka (Council of Biology Editors)
• Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing by Claire Kerhwald Cook (line by line examples of how copyeditors fix sentences)
• Mark My Words: Instruction and Practice in Proofreading by Peggy Smith (exercises and answer keys help readers learn skills step by step)
• Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg (Perkins edited F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe, among others)
• The NY Times Manual of Style and Usage by Allan M. Siegal (an A to Z reference guide)
• Recipes Into Type: A Handbook for Cookbook Writers and Editors by Joan Whitman and Dolores Simon
• Selected Takes: Film Editors on Editing by Vincent LoBrutto
• Side by Side: Five Favorite Picture Book Teams Go to Work , by Leonard S. Marcus
• Stet: Tricks of the Trade for Writers and Editors by Bruce O. Boston (for Editorial Eye)
• Stet Again: More Tricks of the Trade for Publications People, from the Editorial Eye
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams (deeply understand the structure of a sentence and paragraph)
• Technical Editing, by Carolyn D. Rude
• Technical Editing, by Judith A. Tarutz
• The Time of Their Lives: The Golden Age of Great American Book Publishers by Al Silverman (a wonderful read)
• Words into Type (3rd Edition) by Marjorie E. Skillin (better organized that the Chicago Style Manual, and very useful for explaining the process of book editing and production, though way behind the times on technological changes)

DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC STYLE GUIDES:

• The ACS Style Guide for American Chemistry Society (ACS) publications

• The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers A Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers in the Biological Sciences (Council of Biology Editors)

• MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd Edition by Joseph Gibaldi (Modern Language Association), and there's a Pocket Handbook, too.

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , but also take a look at APA the Easy Way, which reduces the anguish of dealing with the APA style manual.

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Books on Indexing

• The Art of Indexing, by Larry Bonura

• Beyond Book Indexing, edited by Marilyn Rowland and Diane Brenner

• Indexes: A Chapter from The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition

• Indexing: A Nuts-and-Bolts Guide for Technical Writers, by Kurt Ament

• **Indexing Books, by Nancy C. Mulvany

• An Indexer’s Guide to the Internet, by Lori Lathrop

• The Indexing Companion (Website Indexing), by Glenda Browne and Jon Jermey

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