I recently saw a Substack post from a technology analyst titled “Crowdstrike publicly confirms AI Caused worldwide computer outage.” Since none of the other coverage I’ve seen suggested that AI was the cause of the outage, I looked into it. My conclusion: AI did not cause the outage, and it’s irresponsible to suggest that it…
At my previous employer, Forrester, there was a dedicated commitment to both quality of analysis and quality of writing. This meant that your editor took what you wrote and critiqued the crap out of it, and you had to learn to make it better to meet that high bar. My boss at the time, Emily,…
I recently got a request on my site’s contact form to help an author with a book. Something about the request seemed to not match up to my usual clients, so I asked the author,”What kind of book are you writing?” “The genre is adult fiction, erotica thriller and dark romance,” the client responded. “Sorry,…
Election forecaster and statistics pundit Nate Silver has a new book out. It’s called On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything and it’s billed as an investigation of “the River,” the “community of like-minded people whose mastery of risk allows them to shape–and dominate–so much of modern life.” Like any author, Silver and his…
Newsletter 57: Is rewarding heroics making your workplace better? Plus, Project 2025 book delayed, AI’s marketing value is less than zero, Scottish WorldCon triumph, three people to follow and three books to read. Every heroic workplace act is a sign of failure I worked in companies for 33 years. I was often the hero, and…
Dear medical office: I’d like to thank you for sending me a survey about my recent experience at your medical office. You are extremely consistent. Every time I visit a doctor or interact with anyone at your office or any other, I get a survey. I’m sure you’re using those surveys to learn ways you…
When you get to be as old as I am, you learn to ask questions before buying anything. The biggest one is, how much is this thing going to cost to maintain? Is this $300 gadget really worth it? How often does it break down? How hard is it to fix? Who can fix it?…
The word “editor” conjures up a wizened little man or woman with a red pencil, finding all the places you wrote “which” when you should have used “that.” That is so far from what a good developmental editor does, which is to make a manuscript better. A great editor goes further, making a piece of…
If it’s a memoir or you’re a celebrity, yes. Otherwise, no. Why you shouldn’t put yourself on your book jacket Your book isn’t about you. If the book jacket is about you, you send the wrong message. Your book is about how you will solve your audience’s problem. The book title, subtitle, and cover image…