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Books for Content Strategists, Writers, and People Passionate About Content

Posted by on Mar 02, 2010

Content strategy, content marketing books iPhoto by Shelly Bowen, content strategist, San Diego, CAHere are books I’ve read, reference, or are on my forever expanding reading list (in no particular order):

“How To” Create Exceptional Web Content

Marketing to People

Getting Inside Their Heads (So We Can Speak Their Language)

Innovating with Content

Have you read any great books that have inspired you to create exceptional content for your company? Let me know. I’d love to add them to my reading list!

Please note: purchasing books from my reading list helps support this Pybop. List updated March 6, 2013.

    19 Comments | RSS feed for comments on this post

    • Great list! I’m definitely retweeting this.

      Here’s one you missed: “Audience, Relevance and Search: Targeting Web Audiences with Relevant Content http://www.amazon.com/Audience-Relevance-Search-Targeting-Audiences/dp/0137004206/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

      It’s forthcoming (Due in stores on April 30), but people can get rough cuts of some of the chapters before publication at this link: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/9780137048250

      Kind regards,

      James (Twitter: James_Mathewson)
      (A co-author)

      Comment by James Mathewson on Mar 02, 2010

    • Thanks for the content book addition, James! I added to the list, and I look forward to reading it this spring.

      Comment by Shelly Bowen on Mar 02, 2010

    • Smart compilation! Here are a few I recommend as well despite being a bit older (but still quite relevant):

      - “Killer Web Content” by Gerry McGovern http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/killer-web-content.htm
      - “Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing The Way Businesses Are Talking With Customers” by Robert Scoble & Shel Israel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Conversations
      - “The Cluetrain Manifesto” http://www.cluetrain.com/

      A must-listen podcast for those who aren’t quite sure whether to invest in Ginny’s book (you should!) might want to check out:

      - http://jeffparks.ca/index.php/books/ginny-redish-writing-web-content-that-works

      Comment by Kristina Mausser on Mar 03, 2010

    • Terrific List! – One book I have referenced frequently in the past decade – and never is out of date – “Envisioning Information” by Edward R Tufte.

      Comment by Nancy Speroni on Mar 03, 2010

    • Thanks for the contributions, Kristina and Nancy! Those books really help round out the list.

      Comment by Shelly Bowen on Mar 04, 2010

    • Shelly,
      thanks for the mention of Digital Body Language, much appreciated. Great list! I’ve read a good number of them, but you have me inspired to dive into a few more.

      Comment by Steve Woods on Mar 05, 2010

    • Shelley,
      Thanks so much for the plug for our book. I hope Get Content Get Customers was valuable for you.
      Newt

      Comment by Newt Barrett on Mar 05, 2010

    • Shelly…great list. Thanks for the inclusion.

      I would add Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It for Content Marketing Motivation.

      Thanks,
      Joe
      http://twitter.com/juntajoe

      Comment by Joe Pulizzi on Mar 12, 2010

    • Hi, Shelly,

      finally the list. I am looking forward to reading the books you and others on this page have recommended. I am currently reading Get Content Get Customers! Cheers, Nenad.

      Comment by Nenad on Mar 14, 2010

    • Depending on one’s slant, also:
      THE CONTENT MANAGEMENT BIBLE, Bob Boiko
      COMMUNICATING DESIGN, Dan Brown
      CONTENT CRITICAL, Gerry McGovern
      EVERYTHING IS MISCELLANEOUS, David Weinberger
      HERE COMES EVERYBODY, Clay Shirky
      INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR THE WWW, Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville
      GLUT, Alex Wright
      and any number of digital style guides, from Wired to AP.

      Comment by Jeffrey MacIntyre on Mar 19, 2010

    • Wow, great additions, Jeff, thanks! My book wish list is getting very long.

      Comment by Shelly Bowen on Mar 19, 2010

    • [...] Content Strategy Success in 5 Steps San Diego Interactive Content Professionals Meet for Thursday Happy HourShould You Blog? No. You Should Not.If a Photo Is Worth 1,000 Words …Books for Content Strategists, Writers, and People Passionate About Content [...]

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    • Hey, we cannot let this post sit idle! I want to add an obvious candidate …

      CLOUT, Colleen Jones

      … but also say that I recently *really* benefited from this text:

      THE ACCIDENTAL TAXONOMIST, Heather Hedden

      Comment by Jeffrey MacIntyre on Jan 11, 2011

    • Colleen’s book is out? Hooray! I’m going to go order it now. “The Accidental Taxonomist” looks great too. Thanks, Jeff!

      Comment by Shelly on Jan 11, 2011

    • If you had to pick one, wich would it be?

      Comment by jose on Jan 25, 2011

    • [...] Books for Content Strategists, Writers, and People Passionate About Content [...]

      Pingback by How Influential Is Your Content? | Shelly Bowen's Pybop: Exceptional Web Content on Feb 14, 2011

    • Replied to your tweet before I thought to check the comments. Oh well.

      - Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte is a good read and just an all-around beautiful book.
      - Also Where Good Ideas Come From by Stephen Johnson (not so much for content, but for how we think).

      Great list! Mine is growing too fast to keep up with.

      Comment by clay on Apr 01, 2011

    • Awesome resource. Thanks for the original list and all the enhancements. My list is pretty robust now!

      Comment by Sherisa Aguirre on Sep 27, 2011

    • [...] Books for Content Strategists, Writers, and People Passionate About Content [...]

      Pingback by Content Strategy Resources on Nov 17, 2011

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