Dozens of books are published every year on the subject of blogging. But really, few are worth recommending to a friend at the end of the day. Take your time to thumb through the Internet/blogging section in your favourite bookstore. And most of what you would see is pretty much the same dated content, if not old news. At worst, some of what you find are the same re-hashed SEO marketing guides published under a different guise.
Over the years since blogging exploded on the Internet, plenty of quality titles have been published about professional bloggers and the blogosphere. And some of the more successful books for bloggers have been penned by bloggers themselves. So, below is a list of ten of the most well-crafted and engaging books about blogging published in print:
Best Books for Bloggers
A Blogger's Manifesto: Free Speech and Censorship in a Digital World
Erik Ringmar's wonderfully tongue-and-cheek declaration of blogger independence debuted in 2007. Since its release, Ringmar's manifesto has been held up high by those interested in the social and political implications of blogging. According to Ringmar's “A Blogger's Manifesto”, one man's revolution is another man's taken-for-granted freedom of speech.
Literary classics die hard. And some titles on writing are as relevant today as when they were first released. One such masterpiece is William Zissner's On Writing Well
Zissner's book pre-dates the rise of the blogosphere by 30 years. But within its pages, bloggers seeking to refine their craft will find one of the best non-fiction style guides ever published.
Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World's Top Bloggers
Michael A. Banks gets right at the heart of the matter and let's bloggers tell the story about blogging in their own words. Published in 2008, “Blogging Heroes” features in depth interviews with infamous bloggers like Ken Fisher and Brian Lam.
Hot Text: Web Writing That Works
Writing for the Internet remains an elusive art form to outsiders. And Lisa Price's “Hot Text” brings to light some of the lesser known nuances of writing web content in all its common forms. Covering historical and theoretical perspectives, Price walks reader's through the finer details of online writing.
Co-authored by Ann Handley and social media guru C.C. Chapman, “Content Rules” gives a comprehensive overview of the differing forms of web content. Not limited to blogging, Chapman and Handley flesh out one of the more elusive concepts of online writing, quality content development. “Content Rules” gives credence to the SEO mantra “content is king”.
ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
In 2010 Darren Rowe and Chris Garrett demystified the secrets behind some of the most successful professional bloggers. “Problogger” speaks with all the authority you would expect out of piece of literature written by professional bloggers. As far as domain monetization is concerned, this is the best book written on the subject to date according to dozens of reviews.
Twitter Power 2.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
Most people wouldn't associate the social media network Twitter with blogging. But Joel Comm's “Twitter Power 2.0” draws the connection quite succinctly. Comm even takes on the potential of Twitter as a marketing force to be reckoned with and makes his argument quite convincingly.
Essential Blogging: Selecting and Using Weblog Tools
Some of the best and brightest minds of the blogosphere contributed to “Essential Blogging”. And the results speak for themselves in this all-inclusive guide to some of a bloggers most cherished tools of the trade. Experienced bloggers can even find some pretty good tips in this one.
Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business
Written by DL Byron and Steve Brobak, “Publish and Prosper” masterfully covers the sensitive subject of business blogging. Here, Brobak and Byron answers some of the more pressing questions any business blogger will have. If you are truly looking for a different perspective on online marketing, this book is for you.
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
Seth Godin's reputation in the world of Internet marketing proceeds itself. And in this often funny, always engaging book, Godin delivers a burst of positive reinforcement into the blogosphere. While not a book about blogging per se, “Purple Cow” still carries weight as a useful guide for novice bloggers.
What books are you reading to help improve your blog? I'd love to hear about it.
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Nice list. I second Content Rules… an easy, disarming read–pick it up and open to any page and discover useful nuggets. If you’re a video blogger (or considering adding video to your repertoire) Steve Garfield’s Get Seen is a another great book.
Awesome…glad to hear some other opinions on these books, it sure helps build a bigger picture!
Thanks for the comment
i like Blogging for Your Business its very inspirative for business blogger like me
That’s good to know! It’s a great book for business professionals 🙂
Hi James & Ileane
Thanks for the list James. I love reading….books. Even if I am reading ebooks, I prefer to print out what I want to reference lol
There are a couple here I would like to get. The one by Seth Godin and also Publish & Prosper sounds an interesting read too. Appreciate the recommendations James. Thanks
Patricia Perth Australia
There’s nothing quite like the feel of a book in your hands! And there’s always handy for making notes.
I’m glad I could help you find out about these handy books. Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for the list James. This will definitely narrow down searching for quality eBooks about the subject matter. I have already read Seth Godin’s print and will be checking 1 or 2 more. Thanks!
Hey DiTesco, glad to help! Now you know which other books to go for 🙂
Hi James (and Ileane)
These are definitely some great resources! I’d like to add “The Next Evolution of Marketing” to the list. Although it’s not directly about blogging, it offers valuable information that every blogger can use to market his or her blog in a meaningful way that adds value.
Thanks for the tip Kiesha! I’ll certainly be checking the book out…my marketing skills could always improve 🙂
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The best material about the blogging is introduced. I think this source is enough to be a good blogger
Thanks asam! Yep, I’d say these books are pretty much everything you need to become a good blogger 🙂
Hey James,
Another good book which isn’t directly related to blogging but more on the lines of a motivational book, which you need with becoming a professional blogger is “The 4-Hour Workweek.”
Hey Garen, thanks for the addition! I would be lying if I said I hadn’t heard of it 🙂
Great post James/Ileane with a wealth of information on blogging tips and ideas. Does anyone have a book or ebook to recommend about how to “automate” fully or partly some awkward things like guest-posting? I have manages to get on board a lot of advice in the last 5 months about building and managing my blogs. I have been asked to guest post in over 100 blogs. However, there is one thing I just haven’t figure out totally yet and that is how to optimize guest posting so that it does not take so long? Any books on this topic?
Have you tried Chris Garrett’s Guest Posting Workbook? He is quite a popular guest poster so there may be some useful information in there. I’m not sure if there is information about how to optimize guest posting to make it go faster.
Hey James,
I have never even thought about checking the Internet/blogging section in my favorite bookstore. I get all of the things I read on Internet/blogging is from e-books and other blogs on the internet.
I don’t think I ever read a print book on blogging. Well I think the “ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income” by Darren Rowe and Chris Garrett looks like a good one to start with. Thanks for introducing me to these books. I will definitely try to read a few of these.
Yes, that’s certainly a good one to start with!
It is quite weird, isn’t it? To read about the internet in a book…you’d never think of the two mediums crossing over. There’s actually a surprising amount of material on the matter.
Anything by Seth Godin always wins in my book – I’ve read a few of the others but haven’t heard of a few of theses 😀
The only problem, for me, is that I’m so busy that I can’t sit down to read when I want to which is why I try to find most of the books in audio format – thankfully a lot of these publishing companies realized this and have them available. Nothing quite as awesome as hearing some great advice while you’re rockin’ on your business.
That’s an awesome idea! It will certainly help you save some time…you can do two things at once! You could even blog while listening to books about blogging…wow highly effective! Haha 🙂
I love the folks over at ProBlogger and always go to their site for ways to improve upon what I’m doing as a blogger. Great article as usual 🙂
They certainly have a great amount of helpful information! Thanks for the compliment 🙂
Hard copy books about blogging, a niche dominated by online products. Definitely staying mainstream, since sales of hard copy sales are still dominating. Purple Cow sounds interesting; I’ve always had a soft spot for a purple cow.
Delena
The internet sure is becoming more mainstream, isn’t it? Good to know there’s a book out there for you 🙂
Nice little library you put together here, James. I like that you have some heavyweight bloggers in there so you know that they know their stuff. I’d include Trust Agents in this list. I know it’s old now compared to internet standards, but it’s just such a great resource. Thanks for helping us fill our bookshelf.
Thanks for the addition! It may be old but I’m sure there are some good kernels of knowledge in there…the essentials are still the same!
Glad to be of assistance.
Nice book list. In my opinion you are never done learning. Thanks for sharing.
Too true! There’s always something handy to read about 🙂
Great compilation; I like ProBlogger – Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, great book I must say
Thanks for stopping by! Now you know of some other books that are worth a look 🙂
Thanks for all the resources – now I have enough stuff to investigate and go through for the next month – I am thrilled to start)) thanks again)
Hey there Jim. Glad to be of service! Good luck with all your reading…you’ve got quite a bit to get through! haha 🙂
I’ve heard the problogger book referred to a few times and I think I’m going to get this checked out.
Great list of books of which, I’ve only read one. some more to add to the list I think!
Matthew
It’s a great book…definitely a sign 🙂
thanks for stopping by!
Nice list.
I am currently reading problogger’s new book.
would propably go for blogging for your business afterwards
Good to know, Mex 🙂 Let us know how it goes!
This is a great collection of books for bloggers and online business holders. Although I have never read any of them , I am certainly going to read atleast one of them in the coming few months. I hope I will be able to find these hard copy books in the place where I live.
oh dear! Hopefully they shouldn’t be too hard to find…good luck!
Hi James,
and thanks for mentioning my book — and at the top of the list too! Maybe your readers might be interested to know that the book is available as a download here: http://ia700401.us.archive.org/12/items/ABloggersManifestoFreeSpeechAndCensorshipInTheAgeOfTheInternet/ErikRingmarABloggersManifesto.pdf
It’s not that I don’t want to make money from the book, but it’s even more important to be read.
Hi Erik, Welcome to Basic Blog Tips! I really appreciate you for stopping by my blog and sharing the link to your book! I updated the post with the correct link now. Please stop by again and share some of your blogging wisdom with us. I’d love to see you visiting again soon.
Hey there Erik,
Wow, thanks very much! That’s really handy information. It’s no problem mentioning your book…it’s quite a good read 🙂
“Content Rules” sound like something i would want to read, opposed to “Twitter Power…” which is, well, i can’t imagine why someone wrote a book about Twitter. It would be worth it if it also included the other top social sites, comparisons, studies for each of them, etc.
If you want to cook, you don’t only buy carrots.
Hey Maria, it’s a helpful book, but is a bit limited by the fact it only mentions one social site. Twitter is one of the giants though, which is probably why there’s so much content for it.
You’ve got yourself a good idea for a book there 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Hi James,
There are several books that I’ve read that I’ve recommended in my EBook for anyone getting started with a business and/or working online. They aren’t about blogging, but they introduce concepts that I think are helpful…
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
What Should I Do with My Life? – Po Bronson
The World is Flat – Thomas Friedman
The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch
Thanks for the tips! They’re certainly worth a look 🙂
Hey there! Thanks 🙂 They certainly are quite popular books as well.
I knew, it’s weird! I guess we all assume all the information will be on the internet 🙂 Glad I could help..
First of all, thanks for this informative article!
I’ve recently got into the industry of blogging, and I always try to find some resources about it…and I think everybody will understand me when I say that is really difficult to find smth quality…I really appreciate such posts where experienced bloggers share good resources!
Hi James,
Thanks for the list! I currently have On Writing Well and ProBlogger out of the list. I’ve also heard about Purple Cow, though never got the chance to make the purchase.
Thanks for the recommendations! I’ll be sure to check the others out. 🙂
Christina
I want to say someting in brief on the topic :). Greetings for the material, it is a long time that I havent`t read something worthwhile on this subject and hope to find more articles like this here. I`m wishing you to continue with quality articles on the topic, if so I will pop in more often to review what is new in your blog;)))
This is a great collection. Lot’s of stuff I have to look at here.
Thank you for sharing this good collection of books. I only recently started blogging and I must get my hands on couple of these books.
From this list I heard only one book that is problogger book, but I still I have not go through with that book too….If I got any of these books in my place then defiantly pick any one of them which u listed here. Thanks for listing.
A list like this is very useful.
With so many bloggers bundeling their work and publishing it as a book, it is very difficult to find the good ones amongst all of the “I don’t really know what I am talking about but I can make it sound smart” books.
Thanks for this list James!
Glad to know that you share 10 Best Print Books for bloggers, this could be a great help for us as a blogger. A very big thanks to you! Keep on sharing!
Hi James,
Thank for your list, I love the PROblogger book and On writing well
Hi James, I am really not a fan of e-books. Frankly, I feel most ebooks are a waste of precious time. But this list you have provided seems like a reliable list that one can read. Prints are always somewhat more credible.
Thanks for the post. Sorry, was late to read this though!
Hi James, Great Collection of books. I am very new to all this books and will atleast try to read some of the books which you have listed above. Thanks for Sharing this Great Collection of Books 🙂