38 books for Community Managers

Check out our updated (and extended) popular list of 38 books for Community Managers with the latest, greatest and some of our faves.

• The Indispensable Community: Why Some Brand Communities Thrive When Others Perish Richard Millington (2018)
• The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging Charles H Vogl (2016)
• Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities Amy Jo Kim (2000)
• The Cluetrain Manifesto: 10th Anniversary EditionRick Levine, Doc Searls, Christopher Locke, Jake Mckee
• Buzzing Communities Rich Millington (2012)
• The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation Jono Bacon (2009)
• Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards Patrick O’Keefe (2008)
• Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities Etienne Wenger (2009)
• Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott and William Synder (2002)
• Groundswell, Expanded and Revised Edition: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies Charlene Li & Joshua Bernoff (revised ed 2011)
• Cognitive Surplus: How Technology Makes Consumers into Collaborators Clay Shirky (2011)
• Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations Clay Shirky (2009)
• 18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online Angela Connor (2009)
• Threadless: Ten Years of T-shirts from the World’s Most Inspiring Online Design Community(2010)
• Companies and Communities: Participating without being sleazy Dawn M. Foster (2009)
• Online Community Management For Dummies Deborah Ng
• Social Networking for Nonprofits: Increasing Engagement in a Mobile and Web 2.0 World Andy Steggles (2010). Thanks to Anne-Margaret Olsson for this addition.
• Building Successful Online Communities: Evidence-Based Social Design Robert E. Kraut and Paul Resnick. (Updated 2016)

For Community Designers, Programmers, UI/UX peeps etc.

• Building Web Reputation Systems Randy Farmer, Bryce Glass (2010)
• Design for Community Derek Powazek (2001)
• Design to Thrive: Creating Social Networks and Online Communities that Last Tharon Howard (2010)
• Designing Social Interfaces: Principles, Patterns, and Practices for Improving the User Experience (Animal Guide) Cristian Crumlish and Erin Malone (2009). Another one from Anne, thanks!
• The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web and Beyond (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter) Jesse James Garrett (2010)
• Actionable Gamification – Beyond Points, Badges and Leaderboards You-kai Chow (2015)
• Gamify: How Gamification Motivates People to Do Extraordinary Things Brian Burke (2015)

For MMO, Virtual Worlds & Gamers (but fascinating insight regardless)

• The Guild Leader’s Handbook: Strategies and Guidance from a Battle-Scarred MMO Veteran Scott F Andrews (2010)
• Players and Their Pets: Gaming Communities from Beta to Sunset Mia Consalvo and Jason Begy (2015)
• Communities of Play: Emergent Cultures in Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds (The MIT Press) Celia Pearce (2011)

Broader social media & marketing makes for a long list, but here are some popular ones with crossover below:

• Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions That Shape Social Media Tarleton Gillespie (2018)
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us Seth Godin (2008)
• The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web Tamar Weinberg (2009)
• Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust Chris Brogan (2010)
• The Thank You Economy Gary Vaynerchuk (2011)
• The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business Tara Hunt (2009)
• Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose Tony Hseih (2010). Thanks to Nima Patel for the addition.
• Community: The Structure of Belonging Peter Block (2018)
• Evergreen: Cultivate the Enduring Customer Loyalty that Keeps Your Business Thriving Noah Fleming and Alan Weiss (2015)
• Online Community Management: Grow and Develop an Active Audience on Social Media Dr. Amy Jauman (2017)

If you want to delve into further into designing for community, virtual worlds, gaming or more, there’s plenty more to read. If you have recommendations you’d like to see added drop us an email or tweet us @quiip.