American Dirt is an Oprah-recommended novel about Mexicans fleeing violence to find asylum in America. It’s also hugely controversial. The publisher and author are dealing with the blowback. It’s instructive to see how they’ve written about that experience. The unexpected challenge here is coming from Latino communities, some of whom feel that the author Jeanine…
Repeat after me: When a book goes to copy edit, the content should basically be done. I can’t hear you in the back, there. Are you sure you believe it? Say it again: When a book goes to copy edit, the content should basically be done. Here’s the challenge. Your creative work on the book…
A client of mine is planning on releasing a new book with a clever title. He asked “How can I protect the title so no one else can publish a book with the same title?” “You can’t,” I responded. (That didn’t make him happy.) You cannot copyright a book title. It is too short. You…
There’s a systematic way to get the best endorsements for your book. If you don’t prepare properly, your blurbs will fall flat. Here’s exactly how to do it. 1 Make your target list well in advance Timing is crucial here. Don’t make your list on the day you need blurbs. Start making it while you’re…
Illustrations, diagrams, and charts clarify. They’re worth including in your book. But every time I work with authors, they underestimate the challenge, delay, and cost that comes with graphics. If you’re going to use graphics, you need to be prepared. Let me put this simply: If something is going to trip up the production stages…
Neal Katyal decided to write a book on impeachment on October 5. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt published Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump less than two months later. This type of speed is very unusual for a well researched, professionally published book. I’ll talk about why it worked in this case. (This is not a post…
I’m soooo close to 200 responses in my author survey. If you didn’t already take it and you are (or plan to be) a nonfiction author, please help. This is the last chance to do that. It’s 8 minutes. Eight. It’s here. Everyone who takes it gets a summary of survey results (see where you…
In the monumental effort of writing a book, the biggest milestone is handing in your finished manuscript. Whew, that felt good. You’ve done 95% of the work. But you’re not done. Unless you prepare for the rest of the work, your book won’t be as good as it ought to be — and it might…
The advice is all over writing advice sites: If you’re having trouble getting your book going, set aside a specific time (like 6 to 7 a.m.) every day to write. This is bad advice, at least for nonfiction writers. You cannot write unless you have something to say. “Writing time” presumes that what you need…