Here’s a simple four-question test of whether the idea in your head is an advice book: If you can answer all four questions with a resounding “Yes,” you’ve got the potential to write a book that can help make you more successful. If you cannot answer all four questions “Yes,” you have work to do….
Imagine a company that has successfully integrated AI into its workflows. It will include these kinds of workers: The QC challenge All the other types of workers exist in today’s companies. They’ll need to learn new skills, but managers are manager, engineers are engineers, and implementors are the rank and file that get work done…
Nonfiction authors rarely define success by book sales. Their objectives usually relate to generating influence or boosting their business. That said, books have a cost. That cost includes paying for book promotion, editorial help, design help, and sometimes hybrid publishing fees or ghostwriters. And that doesn’t include the largest actual cost, which is the author’s…
I’m spoiled. As an editor, I prefer to help humans write things that communicate ideas to other humans. That’s exciting and fun, and at least as important, improves the lot of both the writer and the reader. It’s work, sure, but it’s work that matters. I’m good at it, and I love it. Take away…
Newsletter 147. If you want to build business, go out on the edge where it’s not completely safe. Plus, book launch weariness, 100,000 Anthropic plaintiffs, three people to follow, three books to read, and how to connect with me at the IBPA conference. Get to the edge. That’s where the heat is. As an analyst,…
For freelancers like me, chasing every potential lead is counterproductive. It results in three kinds of problems: (Pro tip: problem number three is the biggest risk with the greatest downsides.) That covers the problems. The flip side is the opportunities. I would prefer to spend my time projects that: I try not to let the…
It’s land-grab time. The land in question is your digital experience — your productivity, your messages, your to-do list, your social media and of course, your identity. Every app or piece of software that you interact with is escaping its box. Every one has its own messaging system, its own hooks into your life, and…
I take enormous pride in my writing and editing projects. I like to take on projects that look extremely challenging and succeed anyway, and to charge accordingly. Sometimes those risks pay off; sometimes they don’t. Editorial work is more about making other people look good, which is mostly a behind the scenes effort. But I…
I work on book projects for hire. Nonfiction authors pay me to help with ideas, get coaching, edit their books, or ghostwrite their books. There are three approaches people take when reaching out to me. The three approaches Imagine my inbox, which is stuffed with all sorts of publishing news, people who want me to…