Month: October 2009

Patrick handed out the following list of recommended books at yesterday evening’s AAAWG meeting.

In descending Amazon.com users’ 5-star ranking percentage.

1. On Writing: Memoirs of the Craft by Stephen King (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 94% (638/682)
2. Making the Perfect Pitch: How to Catch a Literary Agent’s Eye by Katharine Sands (Amazon) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 88% (21/24)
3. Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 85% (76/89)
4. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 83% (105/127)
5. Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 80% (37/46)
6. Creating Poetry by John Drury (Amazon) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 80% (8/10)
7. The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 79% (312/394)
8. Stein on Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies by Sol Stein (Amazon) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 78% (49/63)
9. On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinseer (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 76% (135/178)
10. Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 75% (15/20)
11. Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript by Cynthia Laufenber (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 73% (11/15)
12. How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 72% (71/98)
13. Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 72% (43/60)
14. How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them by Sol Stein (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 65% (20/31)
15. Give ‘Em What They Want by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook (Amazon) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 63% (5/8)
16. The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman (Amazon search) — Amazon.com 5-star rating: 58% (81/140)

Note: Amazon.com title searchs are used when there are multiple editions.

Date: 2009/10/06 AAAWG Tuesday night meeting at Borders Books, Arborland, Ann Arbor

Wiki version: 16 well-regarded books on the craft of writing compiled by Patrick