Books for an Editor's Wish List

Christmas is coming, and the relatives you see only once a year are asking you to tell them precisely what to buy for you. If you're like me, you're too busy trying to get your own shopping done to really come up with anything you want (well, everything you want is too expensive for Aunt Gladys to buy, isn't it?). So might I suggest a few books?

• 2008 Writer's Market: A great place to look for target publishing companies and contact names of people who work there.
• On Writing, by Stephen King: I'm not a horror fan, but I highly respect the way this man tells a story. This book has lots of insights into how he got started. The second part of the book is his own attempt at The Elements of Style, so it tends to plod along. (Ironic, too, coming from someone who won't suffer being edited.)
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero-Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss: Have you ever found yourself editing poorly done signs in public? Lynne Truss is your girl. A very funny book, although I don't think I managed to finish it. I like to edit a lot more than I like to read about editing.
• Stet: An Editor's Life, by Diana Athill: A memoir of a celebrated fiction editor. It's been on my Amazon wish list for five years and nobody's bought it for me yet.