Every guy in first set of books back for novelist's growing plot (9)
I believe the answer is:
allotment
'plot' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'every guy in first set of books' is the wordplay.
'every' becomes 'all' (similar in meaning).
'guy in' becomes 'ment' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'first' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'set of books' becomes 'OT' (abbreviation for the Old Testament).
'ment' put after 'ot' is 'otment'.
'all'+'otment'='ALLOTMENT'
'back for novelist's growing' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for allotment that I've seen before include "Rented garden plot" , "allocation" , "Allowance" , "Share - small piece of land rented for cultivation" , "Where vegetables may be produced" .)