Books for Writers

How to Books for Writing: General | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Poetry | Play & Screen

Reference Books for Writing: Style & Grammar | Publishing & Marketing | Self-publishing | Children’s | Freelancing | Romance

GCWA Online Catalog of Books for Writers

The book list links Books for Writers to online book stores and the local Lee County Library, when available. Members are invited to add their favorites to the book list by contacting website@gulfwriters.org.

How-to books for writers

On Writing, by Stephen King
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing the Natual Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Little Book of Writing Advice by Tim Jacobs
Amazon

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The First Five Pages: A Writer’S Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile, by Noah Lukeman
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

How-to Books for Writers – Fiction

The Write Great Fiction Collection Bundle by James Scott Bell & Nancy Kress
Amazon

How to Write a Damn Good Thriller, by James Frey
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

How to Grow a Novel, by Sol Stein
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Lee County Library

Books on writing by Janice Hardy
Amazon

Books on writing by K. M. Weiland
Amazon

Story Genius by Lisa Cron
Amazon

How-to Books for Writers – Non-Fiction

Writing Lives, by Leon Edel, 1987
(Not available at Lee County Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Old friend from far away : the practice of writing memoir by Natalie Goldberg
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Biographer’s Craft by Milton Lomask
(Not available at Lee County Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

How-to Books for Writers – Poetry

The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser, Poet Laureate 2004-2006.
(Not available at Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing Poems by Michelle Boisseau, Christine Wallace, Randall Mann
(Not available at Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Poetry by Nikki Moustaki
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Make a Living as a Poet by Gary Mex Glazner
(Not available at Library )
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

How-to Books for Writers – Play & Screenwriting

The Story Solution by Eric Edson
Lee County Library — Amazon — Barnes & Noble

The Complete Book of Scriptwriting by J. Michael Straczynski
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Naked Playwriting: The Art, The Craft, And The Life Laid Bare
by William Missouri Downs and Robin U. Russin
(Not available at Library )
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Reference Books for Writers – Style, Grammar, etc.

APA Publication Manual by American Psychological Association
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Careful Writer by Theodore M. Bernstein
(Not available at Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Eats, shoots & leaves : the zero tolerance approach to punctuation by Lynne Truss.
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B.White
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Funk & Wagnall’s Standard Handbook of Synonyms, Antonyms & Prepositions
Lee County Library – Amazon

A Grammar of Present-Day English; R.W.
Pence, published 1947-1963
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Harper Dictionary of Foreign Terms
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Hollywood standard : the complete and authoritative guide to script format and style, by Christopher Riley
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Line by line : how to edit your own writing by Cook, Claire Kehrwald
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The new well-tempered sentence : a punctuation handbook for the innocent, the eager, and the doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon.
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Roget’s International Thesaurus
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Writer’s Legal Companion by Brad Bunnin & Peter Beren
(Not available at Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Reference Books for Writers – Publishing & Marketing

Literary Marketplace LMP – Directory of the American Book Publishing Industry
Lee County Library
How to Write Irresistible Query Letters by Lisa Collier Cool
(Not available at Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Writer’s Market
More than 3500 market listings for writers.
Older versions can be checked out of the library, but the 2010 edition can only be used in house.
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Reference Books for Writers – Self-Publishing

Collins, Amy. The Write Way. Everything You Need To Know About Publishing, Selling and Marketing Your Book.
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Friedlander, Joel. 10 Things You Need To Know About Self-Publishing.
Free from The Book Designer
Lee, Dona and Al Musitano. Published! The Complete Guide to Non-Traditional Publishing. To Self or Subsidy Publish? That is the question.
Amazon
Levine, Mark. The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. Fifth Edition.
[Sixth Edition pending.]
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Rich, Jason. Self-Publishing for Dummies.
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Sampson, Brent. Self-Publishing Questions Asked & Answered
[Note: Brent Sampson is the president of Outskirts Press, a Print on Demand publisher.]
Outskirts Press

Reference Books for Writers – Children’s Books

A Basic Guide to Writing, Selling, and Promoting Children’s Books by Betsy B. Lee
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Children’s Writer’s Reference by Eric Suben, Berthe Amoss
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Children’s Writer’s Word Book by Alijandra Mogilner
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Business of Writing for Children: by Aaron
Shepard (not available at library)
(Not available at Library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Reference Books for Writers – Freelancing

The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing, edited by Timothy
Harper. Griffin
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Freelance Success Book: Insider Secrets for
Selling Every Word You Write
by David Taylor. Peak Writing Press.
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer by Moira
Allen. Allworth Press.
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a
Freelance Writer in Six
Months or Less by Peter Bowerman, Fanove Publishing
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing Freelance….Christine Adamec
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Reference Books for Writers – Romance

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Your Romance Published by Julie Beard
Alpha Books, (January, 2000)
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

How to Write a Romance for the New Market and Get Published by Kathryn Falk
Genesis Press Inc., (September, 1999)
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

You Can Write a Romance by Rita Clay Estrada
Writers Digest Books, (August, 1999)
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing Romances; A Handbook by the Romance Writers of America by Rita Gallagher, Rita Clay Estrada
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant
(not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

The Art of Romance Writing : How to Create, Write and Sell Your
Contemporary Romance Novel
by Valerie Parv (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble

RECCOMENDED READING: Short Stories

What Ails the Short Story, an essay by Stephen King in the NY Times, 2007.

To win contests or gain publication, it is necessary to understand the current state of the genre.

The 50 Best Short Stories of All Time – How many have you read?

Twenty Great American Short Stories – American Literature

Best short stories and novellas to read in 2016

Celebrate Short Story Month With These 17 Stellar Short Stories

Miscellaneous

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Lee County Library (e-book)
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble
William Fox, Sol M. Wurtzel and the Early Fox Film Corporation, Edited by Lillian Wurtzel Semenov and Carla
Winter, reviewed by Jenna Glatzer.
A nonfiction work that reads like hilarious fiction. (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Stein on Writing…Sol Stein
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Writer’s Journey…Christopher Vogler (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Courage to Write….Ralph Keyes (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Quotable Writer….William A. Gordon (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Successful Syndication….Michael Sedge (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
You Can Write A Column…Monica McCabe Cardoza
Lee County Library – Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Writer’s Idea Book…Jack Heffron (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Words Into Type, 3rd edition; Marjorie
E. Skillin (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble
The Writer’s Art, James Kilpatrick (not available at library)
Amazon – Barnes & Noble