Week 10: writers, authors, and credit; top AI tool tips; poorly written book ban undone, plus 3 people to follow, 3 books to read, and plugcasting. Let’s stop pretending that writing books is a solitary activity The actress Millie Bobby Brown has written a book, Nineteen Steps, based on her family’s experience during World War II. She…
Week 9: George Colony nails it: reading stuff for us is AI’s job. Also: leveraged burnout at Simon & Schuster, KDP spies on your toolbox, plus 3 people to follow, 3 books to read, and pluggerating. Why A.I. upends everything, according to George Colony There are two common perspectives on the rise of generative A.I.,…
Week 8: Food shouldn’t lie and neither should you. Also: blurbing out of context, media’s redux, plus 3 people to follow, 3 books to read, and a plug just for women authors. Lies on food labels are deplorable. So are lies on people’s labels. Food shouldn’t lie. Understanding the food you eat is essential to…
Week 7: Prepare to quit, blurb ethically, op-ed opportunity, three people to follow, three books to read, and plugging away. Change your job? Maybe. Change your mind? Definitely. The US unemployment rate is 3.5%. And it’s been that low for months. So it’s time for you to start looking. If you love everything about your…
Week 6: Railing against automation, purloined corpus, everybody’s -ificiationizing, plus 3 people to follow, 3 great reads, and plugliness. Automation: how to eliminate employees and annoy customers There’s a massive technology industry — both big old tech companies and startups alike — dedicated to the idea that all humans must be eliminated. This is automation,…
Week 5: Why books are worth doing, Canadian social media sites eschew news, the revenge of copyright, plus 3 people to follow, 3 great reads, and how to ghostwrite a business book. Work on a project with heft: a book, for example Some people dream of singing on stage or teaching in a classroom —…
How to grow a great career by not following your passion, private equity and AI roil publishing, plus 3 people to follow, 3 great reads, and plug nuts Don’t follow your passion “Follow your passion” is terrible advice. Your career develops over years and decades. As you live through it, you have to make a living. People…
Newsletter week three, thanks for hanging with me. This week: an essay on COVID’s viral storytellers, how Tesla faked out its drivers (including me), more snarky news takes, people to follow, books to read, and explugation. Stories are easier to invent and spread than messy scientific truth David Quammen has been writing books on science,…
Last week I started a LinkedIn newsletter for authors. From now on I’ll be posting it every Wednesday here as well. The format is: short essay, snarky news takes, people to follow, books to read, and an obligatory but lovable plug. This week I cover bullshit, McGraw-Hill’s exit from the business book market, a thief…