My Top 10 Creative and Marketing Books to Transform your Creative Business
Heal Creatively and Market Authentically with These Must-Reads
I’m often asked about the books I’d recommend for creativity and marketing.
And, being a huge bookworm, I have a decent collection of books across many topics and genres. So, I’ve pulled together my top 10 list of books on both creativity and marketing from all my research, studying, marketing experience and my creative journey.
Each has a unique perspective and a positive view that will help you heal creatively so you can build your business and get that marketing done in a way that feels genuine and right for you.
So, let’s dive in and see which books you can get stuck into today.
My Top Five Creativity Books
1. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
If there’s one book that’s been a benchmark it’s definitely this one. Cameron’s 12 week ‘course’ is a journey of healing your relationship with creativity itself and how you can become more creative.
The morning pages concept is one I’ve found helps me so much, despite the fact that I found it difficult to stick to at first, but that’s okay as long as you pick it up and try again. It involves writing three pages of longhand stream of consciousness to clear your mind and tap into deeper insights.
What I love about this book is its gentle yet persistent approach to creative recovery. Cameron understands that creativity isn’t just about high levels of production, it’s about nurturing the creative soul to be able to be productive.
It’s perfect for you if you want to heal your creative spirit from years of suppression and outside bashing, so you can get to a deeper level.
2. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
While The Artist’s Way is gentle this one is its tough love companion. Pressfield is a no-nonsense creative mentor and names the greatest creative enemy as resistance. He highlights exactly how resistance manifests and calls out everything from procrastination to self-doubt as resistance, before explaining how we can combat them as creative professionals.
What makes this book important is it’s the no nonsense lesson that helps us to realise that sometimes we need some tough love and Pressfield’s concept of showing up regardless of inspiration is definitely something I try to practice myself.
It’s perfect for you if you need some tough love and to understand how and why ‘resistance’ shows up in your creative life.
3. Turning Pro by Steve Pressfield
This is the follow up book to The War of Art and this dives deeper into what it means to take your creative life seriously. This book addresses the mindset shift needed to build a sustainable creative practice and become a professional.
What’s important in this book is how it strips away the romantic expectations surrounding creativity and replaces it with something far more valuable - a more practical approach to doing the work.
Pressfield has many insights into the transition from amateur to professional, in terms of mindset and is thought provoking when taking creative work seriously.
It’s perfect for you if you want to take your creative work and business more seriously and become more professional.
4. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
This book is one of my essential books and I just love it. It combines advice with a cosy warm hug feel. Lamott’s approach is hilarious and profound at the same time, and makes the creative journey feel less lonely and more manageable.
The important thing about this book is Lamott’s concept of short assignments and “shitty first drafts”. She gives permission to write badly and aims at freeing creatives from perfectionism paralysis. The humour alone in this book is worth the read. And, although this is primarily aimed at writers, it can easily be used for other creative professionals too.
It’s perfect for you if you want to free yourself from perfectionism and allow yourself to be creatively free.
5. Wild Mind by Natalie Goldberg
This author’s creative approach is deeply rooted in zen practice, which makes this a unique guide to accessing creative depths. Her techniques for creative practice are insightful and useful.
What I love about this book is the emphasis on writing as a practice of presence. Goldberg’s exercises for accessing “wild mind” have helped many people break creative blocks and find their authentic voice.
It’s perfect for you if you want to head deeper to the fundamental core of your creative spirit and nurture that ability to descend into inspiration.
My Top Five Marketing Books
6. Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
This book is a great way of transforming the often overwhelming world of marketing into a clear story-driven framework. I find Miller’s seven part framework important for helping creative professionals find what their unique value is. His approach is to position your client as the hero of the story.
The importance of storybrand is its simplicity and it’s been designed to help many different businesses, whether you’re an artist, writer, designer, or other creative business, to cut the noise and connect with your audience in a way that feels genuine and engaging. This book is great for crafting messages without feeling salesy.
It’s perfect for you if you need to build your brand story and want to market in a way that feels honest, genuine and follows the path of story structure to engage.
7. This is Marketing by Seth Godin
This book speaks directly to the heart of creative professionals. Godin’s approach is to emphasise serving your audience rather than manipulating them. His concept is to find your minimum viable audience.
The book’s focus on creating meaningful change and connecting with the right people, rather than chasing numbers is perfect for creative professionals. Godin’s insights into permission marketing and being remarkable have helped many to shift perspective and see marketing as an extension of their creative practice rather than a necessary evil.
It’s perfect for you if you’d like to find a genuine way to market your creativity and focus on serving and helping creatively.
8. Contagious by Jonah Berger
This book has a really great scientific approach to understanding why things catch on. Berger’s STEPPS framework has been important in helping people understand why some creative work spreads and some doesn’t.
I love how this book combines extensive research with practical ideas. For creative professionals struggling to gain visibility, the insights about emotional resonance and the power of stories, give strategies that don’t compromise artistic integrity. The focus on authentic storytelling makes it particularly valuable for creative entrepreneurs.
It’s perfect for you if you need to find something that shows you how to resonate emotionally, use the power of stories and not compromise creative integrity.
9. Everybody Writes by Ann Handley
As someone who bridges the world of creative writing and marketing this book is important to me. Handley’s approach to marketing writing is both practical and inspiring, making it perfect for creative professionals who need to write about their work but find marketing copy hard.
What’s important about this book is that it demystifies marketing writing while maintaining respect for the craft of writing itself. Her guidelines for creating great content have helped many overcome resistance and showed them how to keep their voice authentic, while still communicating their value.
It’s perfect for you if you need to learn how to write about your business in a way that fits your voice and brand authentically.
10. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
This book starts with six principles of influence - reciprocity, commitment/consistency, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity. They give an ethical framework for understanding how people make decisions.
What I love about this book is how it helps creative professionals understand the psychology behind pricing their work and presenting their services. It’s particularly valuable for those struggling with imposter syndrome or undervaluing their creative work. The principles here have helped many confidently price services and create marketing messages that resonate.
It’s perfect for you if you want to learn the psychology behind how and why people make decisions to buy and how you can stop undervaluing and start pricing correctly.
Why these books matter now
In our modern world creativity is often reduced to metrics and algorithms, our value and inspiration taken as we spend less and less time with our thoughts and more and more time doing busy-work. These 10 books remind us of something fundamental - creativity is a natural part of who we are, but not only that, is something essential for balance within ourselves as humans.
So whatever creative business you have you will find practical tools, spiritual nourishment and the ability to see marketing as more than just a necessary evil in these 10 works.
Your next creative steps
I encourage you to start with the book that calls to you most. Don’t feel pressured to read them all at once, as each is rich enough to give you some help. Try keeping a journal as you read and note which exercises and insights resonate with you most.
Remember your creative journey isn’t linear, and these books aren’t quick fixes. They’re companions for the long-term, giving you wisdom and guidance whenever you might need to hear it.
Let me know if you’ve read any and what you thought. Just hit reply.
Don’t forget to download my BRAND NEW FREE Blockbuster Workbook to help ditch the creative blocks and help you move into more productivity, more output and more creative fun.