The best way to create a footnote or citation in print or online (Ask Dr. Wobs)
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The best way to create a footnote or citation in print or online (Ask Dr. Wobs)

Here’s my fully-optimized technique for referencing sources, developed over many years of authoring. (Yes, I am a huge book nerd.) You get to read it thanks to today’s reader question: Dear Dr. Wobs, What is the best way to cite sources or give notes in a blog or book? What format do you use to cite sources/notes…

Preparation is the key to a great research interview (Ask Dr. Wobs)
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Preparation is the key to a great research interview (Ask Dr. Wobs)

Preparation is the key to a successful research interview. Deliberate planning makes sure your time isn’t wasted — which is the concern expressed in today’s reader question. Dear Dr. Wobs: Good analysis requires research: analyzing data and interviewing people. I know how to make my research data sing. But how do I prepare for and conduct…

A game that trains your writing brain: fictionary
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A game that trains your writing brain: fictionary

If you are spending time with family over the holidays, as I am, here’s an idea for something fun to do together (that won’t generate political arguments). It’s a game that requires nothing more than a dictionary, some slips of paper, and a desire to play with words, meanings, and people’s minds and prejudices. We…

Fast and good: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel’s amazing publishing model

Fast and good: Robert Scoble and Shel Israel’s amazing publishing model

Self-publishing is much faster than traditional publishing. But can you create a quality book that way? Yes, but only with a disciplined process and the right support team. Here’s my insider’s account of how Shel Israel and Robert Scoble pulled it off with their new book book, The Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence Change Everything. Shel…

The Fourth Transformation is your VR wake-up call

The Fourth Transformation is your VR wake-up call

Robert Scoble and Shel Israel just published The Fourth Transformation: How Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence Change Everything. It’s an indispensable guide to the future, and a gripping read. Get yourself a copy. This is not an unbiased review. While Scoble and Israel wrote this book and are responsible for the content, I edited it….

Join the groundswell for Writing Without Bullshit
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Join the groundswell for Writing Without Bullshit

A groundswell occurs when a large number of people each do something very small. Those people don’t even realize they’re part of a movement until they see something to get behind, and to share. If you’re against bullshit, I’d like to give you something to get behind, and a way to make a difference quickly. Here’s…

The “Will It Blend” experience of a book index

The “Will It Blend” experience of a book index

The joy of BlendTec’s “Will It Blend” videos is that they take expensive, painstakingly produced items — like iPhones — and reduce them to an undifferentiated mess. And that’s just what a book index does to the content in a book. Writing Without Bullshit covers a wide range of content, because everything is fodder for a writer….