We’re not in a recession yet, but the signs are all there. If you’re a nonfiction author, it’s prudent to prepare. Authors typically make money from speaking, workshops, and consulting — all types of work that may become harder to secure in a recession. What you should do now depends on how secure you are…
Authors believe they should get free copies of their own books. But for the most part, they don’t. In fact, the cost and terms of fulfillment of author copies are part of the negotiation with the publisher. Pay attention to this when the contract is in process or it could cost you quite a bit…
Newsletter 85: Questions to ask when you treat your book as a startup venture. Plus paperbacks in decline, authors reveal their secrets, three people to follow, and three books to read. A book is a startup venture I help authors with nonfiction books. I’ve also been studying the principles and culture of startups of late….
If you’re trying to get a book contract, publishing may seem like a monolith. But it’s not. The typical quest of a nonfiction author seeking a publisher is filled with rejection. You connect through friends of friends, send in your query or proposal, and then mostly hear nothing or curt rejections. But you’ll also hear…
Newsletter 84. Why well-told case study stories are here to stay, another Gathering of the Ghosts, a section 230 podcast, plus three people to follow and three books to read. About those case study stories . . . “Tell me a story, Daddy . . .” My kids are well into their twenties now, but…
Books are team efforts. People involved in your book project, like editors and publishers, have vested interests in doing things a certain way. There’s nothing malign about that, but as you work with these professionals, it can be helpful to know what motivates their decisions. How the people on your book team are biased (and…
Newsletter 83: The coming backlash against Trump, deep research for 20 bucks a month, Amazon restricts downloads, plus three people to follow and three books to read. The silent resistance I’m not a politician, a political commentator, or a historian. I’m a business book writer and editor. Business books aren’t about politics, they’re about success….
Editors often ask writers to do things they’d rather not do. I once edited a book for a brilliant thinker. He’d written the book stream of consciousness. It was full of great insights as well as infuriating, distracting, and self-serving asides. I found that if we deleted the asides, the rest was great — so…
Newsletter 82: How to manage beta readers, who’s licensing what to which AI, how not to blurb, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Benefiting from beta Software that’s finished enough to use, but not complete, is in the beta testing stage. And lately it’s been similarly fashionable for authors to recruit…