Recommended Resources
Let’s be honest: you won’t learn everything you need to write great stories from me. So here’s a list of books, podcasts, and websites I have personally used and benefited from in my writing and editing journey. They cover a wide variety of areas related to the craft of writing and the business of publishing, so take a look and see what you need now rather than trying to grab everything at once. Click the images or headings below to go to each section.
Note that there may be affiliate links on this page. This means that, should you click the link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the sale from the seller at no extra cost to you. Affiliate links will be clearly marked.
Recommended Books
Fight Write
If you’re writing anything that involves a fight or weapons, then this is a must-have book. Carla Hoch goes into detail about crafting believable fight scenes, walks you through selecting weapons and fight styles for your characters, and unpacks injuries and death. An excellent resource that I will be using with both my writing and editing.
Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors
Written by editor Kathy Ide, this book unpacks self-editing for authors. It has tips for cleaning up your stories at a big-picture level as well as touching on several tips for proofreading. This is a good resource for fiction and nonfiction writers.
The Emotion Thesaurus
Let’s be honest: writing emotions is hard. How are you supposed to show rage when it’s an emotion you avoid in your life? Or love when you’ve never experienced it? This book lists over 100 emotions along with their tells—both external and internal.
The Dictionary of Body Language
Written by a retired FBI Special Agent, this handy book lists hundreds of movements, stances, and actions and explains what they communicate. If you’re wanting to truly master writing interactions between characters that are believable or just convey more without your characters needing to explain something, then this book will be an invaluable tool (while also being just plain interesting).
Editing Fiction at a Sentence Level
If you’re wanting to improve your line craft, this book is a must-have. Louise Harnby, leading editor and proofreader of crime fiction, unpacks a variety of things that can weaken your prose, explains what effect they have, and looks at when you might want to use the various techniques. This book also contains a useful punctuation guide.
The 12 Key Pillars of Novel Construction
Every novel, regardless of genre, has several elements that are necessary. C. S. Lakin, editor and author, unpacks these and provides questions to develop them for your story.
Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story
Simply and easy to understand, this book unpacks the three-act structure and gives examples from books and movies.
Successful Self-Publishing: How to Self-Publish and Market Your Book
This provides an excellent overview of the self-publishing process, the various platforms that are available, and ways to get started with marketing your beautiful book.
Waves of Creativity
We all reach low points with our writing. We also all reach points of forgetting why we started on this journey in the first place. This collection of bite-sized encouragements will challenge, inspire, and encourage you.
Influence: Building a Platform that Elevates Jesus (Not Me)
As Christians, we have the challenge of glorifying God in all we do. This is easier said than done. This book tackles this sometimes difficult topic by looking at ways we can guard our hearts and confidently share our faith in a world that encourages to build our kingdoms first.
The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, 4th Edition
Specifically targeting Christian writers, this style guide explains the rules governing English in an easy-to-understand way and also provides the correct spelling of a variety of words, both related and unrelated to religion.
Recommended Websites
Steve Laube’s Blog
When it comes to industry standards and publishing business, where better to learn than from industry professionals? Steve Laube is an agent with decades of experience as well as a publisher. The advice shared on his blog is vital for any author.
The Book Designer
Your book’s interior is as important as the words telling the story. The Book Designer has many articles unpacking interior book design as well as templates for you to DIY if you are self-publishing.
Reedsy
Packed with resources from free writing courses to industry-specific information, Reedsy is a go-to for me. Poke around and try not to get lost in the variety of generators …
Story Embers
Their blog has resources covering topics like characters, plot, theme, and how faith impacts our writing. They have also hosted virtual conferences with guest speakers like Allen Arnold, Nadine Brandes, and Paul McCusker.
The Christian Writers Institute
Looking for courses that cover a wide variety of aspects related to both writing craft and publishing business? The Christian Writers Institute has many courses taught by industry professionals and best-selling authors.
Allen Arnold’s Blog
Let’s be honest: as a Christian, it can be tough to pursue our creative calling with God, using it as a means to glorify His name and grow in intimacy with Him. Allen Arnold’s daily blog is been a source of encouragement to always remember that we aren’t called to do life (and writing) alone.
Christian Editor Connection
A matchmaking service for connecting Christian authors, agents, and publishers with vetted professionals.
The Christian PEN
If you’re looking for a Christian editor, then the Christian PEN should definitely be a consideration for you. Look through the list of gold and silver members and see if someone is a good fit for you. And if you’re a Christian editor looking for community, then this is the place to be.
Recommended Podcasts
The Novel Marketing Podcast
The longest run novel-marketing podcast in the world, this is an excellent resource for those wanting to up their marketing game and sell more books.
The Christian Publishing Show
A must-listen for any Christian author wanting to better understand the many facets of publishing and writing.
Ink and Impact
Dalene Bickel offers interviews and thoughts on writing that will leave an impact. Targeting Christian writers of both nonfiction and fiction, this is a good resource for those needing to be inspired to be bold in sharing their faith through their words.