A whole bunch of reasons I might turn down your speaking invitation

A whole bunch of reasons I might turn down your speaking invitation

“I’d like you to speak at our event,” you ask, and I might agree. But there are ways to do this and appear professional, and ways that mark you as unserious and a questionable partner. A little context. There was a time, when I was a Forrester analyst, when people were paying $15,000 a speech…

What real writers say about using (or not using) AI
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What real writers say about using (or not using) AI

Most of what you read about writers using AI has a bias. It’s filled with writers who like to shout about what they think. Social media algorithms reward the shouting, and you get one of two impressions, depending on your friends: Everyone is using AI for everything, or AI is going to cause the downfall…

Writers choose pain; Open-source infrastructure; Remembering Shel Israel: Newsletter 13 August 2025
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Writers choose pain; Open-source infrastructure; Remembering Shel Israel: Newsletter 13 August 2025

Newsletter 106: Writing incurs pain, but it’s up to you which pain to suffer and when. Plus, a new survey on AI and the Writing Profession, Bookshop.org surges, three people to follow, and three books to read. Writing? Choose your pain. Writing, like anything else that requires effort and growth, involves pain. The good news…

Announcing the world’s largest survey on writers’ use of AI. Make your voice heard.
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Announcing the world’s largest survey on writers’ use of AI. Make your voice heard.

Starting today, you can participate in the “AI and the Writing Profession” survey. This survey is a joint project of Gotham Ghostwriters and Bernoff.com. Dan Gerstein, the CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, proposed this project to me and I enthusiastically agreed to become his partner in it. The web is filled with all manner of opinions…

Why AI won’t make copy editors obsolete

Why AI won’t make copy editors obsolete

I do developmental editing. That means I edit text for everything from meaning and connotation to rhetorical consistency to subject-verb agreement. Obviously (he wrote arrogantly) that requires judgment, and cannot be replaced by a machine. But what about copy editors (or as they are known in the UK, subeditors)? Copy editors check text for spelling…

Is your blog a book?

Is your blog a book?

Short answer: no. If you have a series of blog posts, podcasts, SubStacks, columns, or videos, turning them into a book seems like an obvious idea. After all, you have all this content teed up and ready. Why not just pour it into a book format and publish it? Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, and Mark…