There have been countless books written about editing and writing. It sometimes seems that writers are more interested in writing book about book editing than they are to write novels.

However, buried within this plethora of books is a handful of titles that continue to be useful to both writers and editors alike.

What's Included in the List of Books

In order to create a useful list of books, several criteria have been applied to the original list of more than 300 books.

Firstly, for a book to be included in the final list, it needed to be well-reviewed. This meant that it was necessary to have a significant number of positive reviews on Amazon (typically fifty plus). The average score of these reviews needed to be approximately four stars. Also, the book needed to be generally well-regarded as a key text for writers and editors.

Secondly, the book needed to contain original advice. Only the briefest of searches on the Internet will produce a plethora of books about writing. However, many of these include nothing more than unoriginal and regurgitated writing advice and offer little to the genre of 'books about writing'. Steps have been taken to exclude these books from the list. As a result, only books with original advice have been included.

Thirdly, the books needed to fit neatly into one of four categories:

Books about editing.
Books about the technical aspect of writing.
Books about the art of writing.
Style manuals.

These four categories take steps to recognize that though books written specifically for editors and self-editing are important, it is also essential to understand both the craft and art of writing.

The result is a total of close to fifty books that will help you become a better editor and writer.

Please note, these books are listed in no particular order.

Books about Editing

What Editors Do: The Art, Craft, and Business of Book Editing by Peter Ginna.
Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers by Scott Norton.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne.
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.
The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself by Susan Bell.

Books About Technical Aspects of Writing

Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from Start to Finish by James Scott Bell.
Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules by Steven James.
Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling by Donald Maass.
The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman.
Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee.
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway.
On Writing Well by William Zinsser.
How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No-Nonsense Guide to Dramatic by Frey.
The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, With Exercises and Answer Keys by Amy Einsohn.
The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby.
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg.
Save the Cat! Writes a novel by Blake Snyder.
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler.
Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It) by Janice Hardy.
The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers by Matt Bird.
The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great by Donald Maass.
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose.
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster.
Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron.
Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams.
How Fiction Works by James Wood.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney.

Books About the Art of Writing

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott.
Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King.
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury.
Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield.
The Little Red Writing Book by Brandon Royal.

UK Style Guides

Copy-editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors and Publishers by Judith Butcher.
Fowler's Modern English Usage. Ed. R. W. Burchfield.
The King's English, by Henry Watson Fowler.
The Oxford Style Manual.
The Complete Plain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers.
Usage and Abusage, by Eric Partridge.

US Style Guides

The Careful Writer, by Theodore Bernstein.
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right, by Bill Bryson.
Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner.
The Classics of Style — presents writing guidance from William Strunk, Jr., Emerson, Whitman, Poe, and other writers.
The Associated Press Stylebook.
The Chicago Manual of Style.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.