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 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
- Classic works of narrative nonfiction
- Books on how to write a book proposal
- 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)

· Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, by Janet Burroway

· 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 (style for magazines and newspapers, but not books)

• The Art of Literary Publishing: Editors on Their Craft by Bill Henderson

• Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future by Jason Epstein

· The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press Staff (style for books, geared to professional and academic authors)

• 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

• 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 (what editors need to know, too)

• Edit Yourself, by Bruce Ross-Larson (a bible at the World Bank and similar institutions)

• The Fiction Editor, The Novel, and the Novelist, by Thomas McCormack

• The Fine Art of Copy Editing by Elsie Myers Stainton

· Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner

• Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences by Nicholas J. Higham

• 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)


• Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, by A. Scott Berg (who edited F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe, among others)

· The NY Times Manual of Style and Usage by Allan M. Siegal

• 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

· Words into Type(3rd Edition) by Marjorie E. Skillin

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DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC STYLE GUIDES:

· The ACS Style Guide

· The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors and Publishers

· MLA Style Manual

· Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

[which others should be here?]

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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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