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AWESOME BOOKS FOR CRAFT AND BUSINESS

Practical Emotional Structure by Jodi Henley – If you have a hard time getting your showing words to mean something and don’t like black and white rules, turbocharge your story with Practical Emotional Structure. A simple, plain-English guide to connecting with your readers using emotional theory and the transformational character arc. Jodi’s words are easy to understand, resonate, and we couldn’t be prouder to say her books are on our shelves and will stay there forever.

Backstory, Motivation and Conflict by Jodi Henley – Didn’t we just say Jodi is awesome? Well, here she is again. Backstory, Motivation and Conflict show you the inner workings of a Developmental Editor’s mind, and show you how to wring your story’s neck and make it better, stronger, and more of the story you wanted to tell, rather than what it came out as when you finished the last page. Her blurb says it all: Do your characters suffer from boring emotional arcs? Have your readers said your characters feel forced or inconsistent, or wondered why your hero and heroine love each other? Do you really understand the transformational character arc, conflict, or where motivation comes from? And have you ever wanted to know the actual mechanics of how to manipulate story emotions so you can produce consistent results? Written in an easy, conversational style, Backstory, Motivation and Conflict makes it easy to understand the theory you need to write emotionally resonant books, each and every time.

2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron – From her blurb: “Have you ever wanted to double your daily word counts? Do you feel like you’re crawling through your story, struggling for each paragraph? Would you like to get more words every day without increasing the time you spend writing or sacrificing quality? It’s not impossible, it’s not even that hard. This is the story of how, with a few simple changes, I boosted my daily writing from 2000 words to over 10k a day, and how you can, too.” If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, this book will help you get higher wordcounts, and if you’re a pantser or a plotster (a pantser who plots but doesn’t outline), you can still use this book for higher word counts without sacrificing time and without sacrificing your love for the story.

Write Faster, Write Smarter 5 book Series by Chris Fox – That’s right. We just linked you to an entire series of books. 5000 Words Per Hour helps you boost your wordcount. Lifelong Writing Habit shows you the benefits of writing every day, whether you want to or not. Write to Market shows you how to boost your sales by knowing your audience and delivering what they want to read. Launch to Market shows you how to make your book launches successful. And Six Figure Author gets your hands dirty by showing you how to collect and use data to sell your books and boost your income. We can’t recommend his books enough. He’s frank, upfront, and his books are actually interesting to read. Nothing dry here.

Write. Publish. Repeat. by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David Wright – Publishing for beginners. Learn the ins and outs of “the current self-publishing landscape” in an easy to digest, easy to follow, and easy to read (and re-read) format. From the blurb: Write. Publish. Repeat. details expert methods for enhancing creativity, building story worlds, characters, and plots, understanding your market (right down to your ideal reader), using the best tools possible to capture your draft, and explains proven best practices for editing. The book also discusses covers, titles, formatting, pricing, and publishing to multiple platforms, plus a bit on getting your books into print (and why that might not be a good idea!). But most importantly, Write. Publish. Repeat. details the psychology-driven marketing plan that Sean and Johnny built to shape their stories into “products” that readers couldn’t help but be drawn into — thus almost automatically generating sales — and explores ways that smart, business-minded writers can do the same to future-proof their careers.

Write it Forward by Bob Mayer – From the blurb: Write It Forward is a one-of-a-kind book focusing on you, the author. In Write It Forward Bob Mayer applies the time- tested strategies of the Green Berets to the world of being a successful author. He has taught thousands of writers over the years, but this new and innovative program probes deeper than words on the page. It is designed to teach writers how to think, plan and become the future best-sellers of the new age of publishing. The benefits you’ll gain from this book will extend far beyond your writing and reach into all areas of your life making dreams a reality.

Outlining Your Novel Boxed Set by K.M. Weiland – Want to learn how to outline better to produce a more coherent book and keep from getting lost? Outlining Your Novel is your greatest friend. K.M. Weiland explains in easy to read and interesting ways how to “help you choose the right type of outline to unleash your creativity, guide you in brainstorming plot ideas, and aid you in discovering your characters.” The boxed set holds both the book and the accompanying workbook to help you along your writing journey.

Gotta Read It! by Libbie Hawker – The blurb says it all: Blurbs, product descriptions, query letters… no matter what you call them, they’re a chore to write. And yet the success of any novel can depend on its pitch. What’s an author to do? In this short, instructive ebook, Libbie Hawker takes the pain out of pitch-writing and shares the secrets of a perfect fiction pitch. Whether you’re an indie writer seeking to improve sales of your self-published novels or an author hoping to hook your dream agent with a can’t-resist query letter, GOTTA READ IT! Is the ebook for you.

How NOT To Write A Novel by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman – This is a truly awesome and hilarious book that shows you how to avoid common writing mistakes, thus enriching your writing and making you a better author. Every page has a laugh and a half while giving you sound, important, and usable information to carry you throughout your writing career.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King – This is the best book I have ever found to help you learn how to self-edit. The authors are extremely thorough with awesome examples to demonstrate their lessons. It’s an easy, actionable read.

Art & Craft of Writing Fiction by Victoria Mixon – Victoria really goes into how to get better at your craft. As an author, you never stop learning. Or, at least, you shouldn’t, in my opinion. There are always ways to keep honing your craft, and this is by far one of my favorites. While it was a little dry for me, it was still an invaluable resource, and one that I re-read often.