The photographer's project book - Jeanne Griffiths

This is an excellent collection of projects that you can follow to build your portfolio. Covering a wide range of assignments like "A Day at the Races" to "Shapes and Symbols", it guides you to take a professional approach to photo making, and emphasises planning and preparation before a photo shoot. The projects take the form of a picture essay or themed mosaic, and is accompanied by practical advice on problems that may be faced with tips on how to solve them. Both technical and non-technical issues are covered, although being an old book, it doesn't include any discussion of using digital cameras or modern techniques.
Sample work done by beginners and real professionals show actual results from doing a few of the projects in the book. A chapter on picture editing and selling your photos is briefly mentioned.
It requires both passion and discipline for you to take on a self-driven project, but the rewards are great.