Yesterday was an exciting day for me. I got to experience the highs and lows of a book launch within half an hour — and learn what a truly committed publisher will do for you. I spent much of the last two years working with the CEO of [24]7.ai, P.V. Kannan, on a book on…
If you’re famous you don’t have to be useful. A while ago, I had an assignment to present to a small group: the CMOs of a massive media company. Since this company had a dozen major media brands, there were about twelve people in the room. They had tapped me after having me speak to…
Deadlines are a key feature of book production. At each deadline, making changes becomes more difficult. Let’s talk about why you should do everything possible to avoid making late changes. A typical book production timeline might look like this: Author’s manuscript to publisher: Jan 1Copy editor’s comments to author: Jan 20Author’s response to copy edits…
Authors love to complain. (Well, everybody loves to complain, but the complaints of authors are more erudite and literate.) From my post as editor and coach, I get to hear it all. And I take your whines seriously, friends. So here’s a call-and-response that may help you cope. I cannot believe how much work it is to be an author. This is so hard. Art is hard. Being a smartass…
Benjamin Dreyer is a master copy editor. He wrote a book on correct English. You might find it amusing. Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style is currently at No. 12 on the Amazon bestseller list. That is absurd (and based on Dreyer’s comment’s on Twitter, he agrees with me). Here’s what…
Here’s a syllogism for you: A book will boost your reputation. It’s easy to self-publish a book. Therefore, a self-published book will boost your reputation. Not so fast. The problem is, most self-published books reveal themselves to be crappy and do more harm than good. Self-publishing is faster than working with a traditional publisher and…
It’s easy to tell people “I have a book idea.” But before you invest your time in writing, you need to make sure that idea is powerful enough to build a book on. Here are 11 questions to ask yourself before you exert significant effort towards becoming a nonfiction author. If you can’t answer these…
Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times, published a book on media called Merchants of Truth. Many passages appear to be plagiarized. I’ll explain why authors do this and how you can make sure you never do. I can already feel your outrage. Plagiarize? I would never do that! No respectable author…
I’ve been working with brilliant thinkers this month. Their brilliance doesn’t make them great writers — in fact, it sometimes gets in the way. The brilliant thinker often falls into what you might call the professor mode. After studying a subject in great deal — and often after accumulating massive amounts of experience — they…