You can find a lot of great information online – but in terms of researching and learning, nothing beats taking time out with a good book to wrap your head around a new topic, upskill, or open your mind to new points of view.
As bloggers, we can spend so much time in front of a screen, sometimes its good to take a break from pixels and get back to print. There are hundreds – if not thousands – of books about blogging. You’ll find many available on the subjects of WordPress specifically and creating your own website. Here are ten of the best to get you started….
On WordPress
WordPress Your Way, by Nancy L. Hendrickson
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B00AEB5EHE” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wG-lfyadL._SL160_.jpg” width=”120″]WordPress Your Way focuses on how users can customise theirsite to increase readership, automate social media and amp up their reach. Starting with the basics of WordPress installation, this guide quickly branches out into more advanced topics – still written for beginners – such as setting up your RSS feed and Google Analytics, safeguarding against hackers, creating favicons, building custom menus, increasing reader participation, extending functionality and more.
WordPress To Go, by Sarah McHarry
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B0072V4EYS” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513LoFbZwBL._SL160_.jpg” width=”100″]WordPress To Go is a #1 Amazon Best Seller, and promises to help readers build a WordPress website from scratch on their own domain, even if they’re complete beginners.
It cuts through the jargon to offer a simple, step-by-step guide to getting your website up and running, including registering your domain name with the right WordPress host, installing WordPress with a few clicks, designing a professional-looking website, adding and formatting content, adding and using themes, plugins, widgets and tools, and more.
WordPress: The Missing Manual, by Matthew MacDonald
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”1449309844″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41%2B5vclYLCL._SL160_.jpg” width=”122″]This ‘missing manual’ is written to give readers the know-how to use WordPress and its themes, plug-ins, and widgets to build just about any website they can imagine – from a stylish blog to a basic e-commerce site.
Topics include creating a blog, building a website, adding multimedia such as slideshows, video clips, and web and podcasts, building and engaging an audience, and creating a community.
WordPress For Dummies, by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”1118383184″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WcBROk32L._SL160_.jpg” width=”127″]What book list would be complete without a ‘For Dummies’ guide? This book series is one of the most popular around the world, and for good reason – offering simple-to-follow but comprehensive guides to almost every topic.
WordPress for dummies is no exception, and is a great guide for users who are starting their first blog, or switching to WP from another platform. The book covers the set-up and maintenance of a WordPress blog, how to use all of the platform’s key features, and also covers the changes and improvements to the latest release of WordPress.
Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, by Thord Daniel Hedengren
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”1119942713″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zSVwwVXLL._SL160_.jpg” width=”128″]Brought to users by the folks behind Smashing Magazine – one of the world’s most popular resource for web designers and developers – Smashing WordPress offers the information users need to maximize the potential and power of WordPress, and leverage the capabilities of WordPress to power advanced websites.
Topics include everything from theming options and creating amazing navigations, to integrating WP with social media, building a WP project for SEO, and much more.
On blogging
ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income, by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”1118199553″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H77G6txGL._SL160_.jpg” width=”106″]Darren Rowse’ ProBlogger website is one of the most successful and popular blogging resources on the web – so it’s no surprise his book is a firm favourite with serious and aspiring bloggers alike. The latest edition is an update of one of the bestselling blogging books, written by two of the world’s most successful professional bloggers, and is credited as being one of the clearest books available on earning an income from your blog.
Essentially, ProBlogger tells you exactly how to launch and maintain a blog that makes money, with topics including everything from choosing a blog topic and analysing the market, to advice on why niches matter, how to optimise advertising, and techniques for attracting and growing an audience.
31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo, by Bryan Allain
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B005MGUFX4″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oSUTSitnL._SL160_.jpg” width=”100″]31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo is all about honing your blogging voice, finding your true audience, and developing a strong community of readers. Structured over the course of one month with a chapter each day to keep you on track, this guide offers insights for quick wins as well as long-term growth.
Intelligently written with a hefty dose of humour, you’ll learn about focusing the core elements of your blog, ‘cheater’ posts, guest posts, compelling people to comment, using old content to generate new ideas, and much more.
101 Blogging Tips, by Tristan Higbee
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B007144URW” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Im%2BOAAFsL._SL160_.jpg” width=”120″]Written primarily for people who are relatively new to the world of blogging – but also with some great tips for veteran bloggers as well – 101 Blogging Tips is about creating a blog that people will find, read and share.
Written by Tristan Higbee, who has been blogging for nearly a decade, this ebook condenses his most essential nuggets of blogging wisdom into one easy-to-digest package.
Expert Briefs: Blogging for Profit, by Nicole Dean
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”0988562707″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GQ2POEiGL._SL160_.jpg” width=”104″]Nicole Dean’s Expert Briefs: Blogging for Profit proclaims itself to be the stripped-down naked truth from 26 rockin’ online business owners, exposing how readers can create a profitable blog.
Read about identifing what you already have inside your head (and your heart) to define your blogging niche, mistakes to avoid getting readers and a following, and how to make the world a better place through blogging.
The Blogger Abides: A Practical Guide to Writing Well and Not Starving, by Chris Higgins
[simpleazon-image align=”right” asin=”B00AV2FZZW” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iysVIvvjL._SL160_.jpg” width=”100″]Utilising his five-year experience as a paid blogger and magazine freelancer, Chris Higgins’ book, A Blogger Abides, outlines everything he knows about the art and science of freelance writing.
The extensive subject matter includes going pro and living small, professional winging it, routines and daily goals, knowing your audience, the value of a post (in dollars), contarcts and taxes, writing invoices, lawyers and agents, pitching magazines, quitting your day job, and much more.
Do you have a dog-eared WordPress or blogging book or resource? Share your favourites blogger book club picks here or on Twitter.
