Books like How To Market A Book — picked by fans

This one didn’t change my life, but it did provide me with a no-nonsense guide to pesky things like conjunctions and clauses, superlatives and synonyms, prepositions and pronouns, and, obviously, alliteration. Ha. 

What I liked most about this book is that it isn’t written like a textbook. I read what is widely considered to be the writer's bible, The Elements of Style by William Struck and E.B. White, and considered giving up on my dream of becoming a writer because the book made me feel as if only someone with an Einstein-like intellect could write. 

But, as Mr. King wrote, the story is what matters; everything else is just dressing. But in saying that, being able to string together sentences helps (I think my jokes are funny, but no one else does), and this book gives a simple explanation of how to make your copy sing.

This was probably the most easily digestible book on investing that I’ve ever read. To me, the most difficult part of investing is simply getting over the fear of doing it, and Morgan Housel gives genuine motivation for overcoming that fear.

The chapters are purposefully short, which allowed me to absorb the main takeaways without getting too in the weeds on details (a necessary downside of a lot of nonfiction). I loved that it included very clear examples of how our brains work against us when it comes to our finances, as well as clear advice on how to counteract that.

I kind of hate this book, mostly because I wish I’d written it.

It’s a very comprehensive look at what a sedentary life can do to your body and how you can do clerical work (like writing books or wasting time on social media) without killing yourself. I was a standing desk user long before I got this book, and as a career martial artist, I’m quite familiar with how the body works and why it needs to move.

I hate to admit it, but Dr Starrett is way better qualified than I am to write this, and despite my previous experiences, I learned a lot about how to stay healthy while spending hours at my desk. Dammit!

Like most authors I am resistant to marketing, and especially to writing newsletters. But this book showed me how to create a real relationship with my readers, based on mutual respect and appreciation, and to treat writing newsletter and marketing emails the same way I treat writing books. A healthy mailing list is the single most important asset a writer can have: it’s a community of people who like your work.

Thanks to this book, I get great open rates and great retention on my list, and yes, when I write a book, a lot of folks on my list go and buy it, which pays for the time to write more books!

Any writer who wants to sell their book needs some book industry information details. This book is a compendium of writing, publishing, book marketing, and publicist resources.

The book is separated into sections that include all the information you would need to reach out to publishers, literary agencies, publishing trade organizations, and book industry folks for hire–their names, addresses, websites, and the types of books they publish. The price is crazy reasonable, and the time it will save is invaluable. 

For the new author, the list of literary agents is perfect to start a list of who to send your first query letters for possible representation. The book industry resource guide is a fabulous way to find the specific help that you may need on your marketing and publishing journey. There are editors, book cover designers, interior book graphic designers, and publicists listed for hire as well. I used this… show more.

I always like to start learning about a subject with an overview, and this book brings together experts on topics ranging from technology to censorship, marketing, copyright, and book clubs in the period starting with World War II. I turn to this volume, again and again, to refresh my knowledge and enjoy excellent writing by the top scholars in book history. Earlier volumes in the series cover the topic from colonial times.

As the founder of Rolling Stone magazine, Jann recounts decades of being at the forefront of musical, film, and political history.

But it’s his personal admissions of his arrogance and, most importantly, decades of being in the closet as a gay man that make reading or listening to this absolutely fascinating.

I (Rachel) first encountered this tiny book at a 2002 anarchist ‘zine fair as a twentysomething punk and has been recommending it to everyone I meet ever since.

While the age of social media has given us new tools for communicating our ideas about politics, culture, and identity with friends and strangers alike, what if the power goes down, or your platform is taken over by an unhinged billionaire and collapses?

There’s nothing more DIY, cheap, or practical than a ‘zine for getting your voice heard, and Wrekk’s book tells you how to make one. It’s also updated regularly, so even as technology and distribution channels change, over two decades after its initial publication, it remains as relevant as ever.

I love a fresh take on a classic story, and this slow burn romance offers a modern spin on the classic Beauty and the Beast story.

Izzy Marlowe is an editorial assistant who aspires to higher levels in publishing. Beau Towers is a reclusive former child star. When Izzy goes to Beau’s mansion to try to get his memoir, she has no idea she’ll end up staying to help him write it.

In the process, the two find love and self-worth in a world that isn’t always kind, and a publishing industry that shatters as many dreams as it fulfills.

This is a fantastic recent book that offers a walk-off-the-page sense of its large cast of characters—Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Thomas Paine, William Cowper, William Blake, Benjamin Franklin, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and many others.

They were all regular guests at the dinner table of the London publisher, and bookseller Joseph Johnson, where he sat back and listened to his talented collection of authors talk about the issues of the day.

It’s both a great way into the world of publishing and selling books and a wonderful introduction to lots of famous writers of the period from a fresh new angle.