Fractional author; AI on trial; trademark your name: Newsletter 2 April 2025
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Fractional author; AI on trial; trademark your name: Newsletter 2 April 2025

Newsletter 88: Find the missing piece of your author self. Plus, business books jump the shark, AI threatens our humanity, three people to follow, and three books to read. What is a fractional author? There’s an huge pool of editorial talent now working freelance. Like many of those folks, I’ve filled varied roles working with…

Chaotic balance; grammar movie; LibGen ripoff: Newsletter 26 March 2025
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Chaotic balance; grammar movie; LibGen ripoff: Newsletter 26 March 2025

Newsletter 87. While life is an unending battle against chaos, chaos is where all creativity comes from. Plus, Meta rips off every author on the planet, AI “insights” are anything but, three people to follow and three books to read. Chaos in perspective Do you love chaos? Of course not. No one wants to be…

Idea theft normalized; library funding cut; AI citation screwups: Newsletter 19 March 2025
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Idea theft normalized; library funding cut; AI citation screwups: Newsletter 19 March 2025

Newsletter 86: Insisting on crediting idea creators, AI can’t cite articles properly, a new business hybrid publisher, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Fight the rip-off culture I recently accepted a job to write a book chapter. The clients were expert business thinkers. The topic was a business discipline that should…

Book as startup; Meta’s Streisand Effect; AI antimarketing: Newsletter 12 March 2025
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Book as startup; Meta’s Streisand Effect; AI antimarketing: Newsletter 12 March 2025

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….

Better stories; digital audiobooks boom; tariffs raise book costs: Newsletter 5 March 2025
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Better stories; digital audiobooks boom; tariffs raise book costs: Newsletter 5 March 2025

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…

Better beta readers; grant-killing words; A-listers reply all: Newsletter 19 February 2025
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Better beta readers; grant-killing words; A-listers reply all: Newsletter 19 February 2025

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…

Brinskmanship; The You You Are; AI-generated research: Newsletter 5 February 2025
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Brinskmanship; The You You Are; AI-generated research: Newsletter 5 February 2025

Newsletter 81. Can you really win by threatening your negotiating partners? Plus, Simon & Schuster ditches blurbs, Ray Dalio dribbles out insights, three books to read and three people to follow. The price of brinksmanship Our president Donald Trump is adept at brinksmanship. Look at his actions over time and you can see a pattern:…

Disruptors disrupted; Bookshop.org ebooks; Krugman’s lament: Newsletter 29 January 2025
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Disruptors disrupted; Bookshop.org ebooks; Krugman’s lament: Newsletter 29 January 2025

Newsletter 79: American tech pirates want protection from Chinese tech pirates, patent examiner crisis, data infrastructure erosion, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Nobody whines louder than a disrupted disruptor Chinese AI model Deepseek has thundered onto the scene, competing effectively with existing players like OpenAI and Meta while using far…

Start strong, write well, finish strong; Serialized Ferris; AI predicts bestsellers: Newsletter 22 January 2025
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Start strong, write well, finish strong; Serialized Ferris; AI predicts bestsellers: Newsletter 22 January 2025

Newsletter 78: How to be nice to yourself while writing a book, un-weaponizing free speech; book sales creep upward, plus three people to follow and three books to read. When it comes to books, concentration matters from start to finish The best part of writing books, for most people, is the writing. When they’re writing,…