Authors know things that other thinkers, no matter how accomplished, don’t. You can tell by the knowing looks when we get together. To a certain extent this is like sex: it’s hard to explain to virgins what’s different. Even so, I’ll try. What authors know People with ideas think they know all about those ideas….
Newsletter 100: A smarter way to go on holiday. Plus, Anthropic’s training on books rules “transformative,” defamation by blurbs, three people to follow and three books to read. How to go away Everyone needs time off. And people tend to disagree on how to do it. There’s the “disconnect entirely” camp. They don’t check email,…
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….
Newsletter 77. The relationship between timing and success, an audio-only imprint for self-publishers, how to license your book for AI, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Thoughts on timing If I’ve learned one thing in 50 years in business, it is that timing matters. Great ideas need good timing to succeed….
I hope you are having a relaxing time and sharing experiences with family over this week. This is a great time to relax, recharge, and reconnect. But once you’re stuffed with holiday treats, you might enjoy turning your attention to your writing. This is a rare chance to concentrate exclusively on your own content, at…
Today, a little something different. Look at the graphic below. It includes the names of 16 writers I admire. Can you classify them into four groups of four? In true New York Times Connections style, there are maddening overlaps, on purpose. I’ve embedded the code for this below — if it works, you can play…
When you’re writing a book for multiple reviewers, it’s a minefield. One false step and all your work can get blown up. Right now, I’m ghostwriting a book in a process that includes four reviewers (including the author) and a publisher. Any one of them could make my life miserable by saying “No, no, this…
How to do your work perfectly and why that matters, plus why mobile phones aren’t destroying our youth’s mental health, why centrism isn’t really neopopulism, three people to follow, and three books to read. Why perfection matters — to authors and all creative workers Authors get maybe one chance every couple of years to put…
In her article “Everyone’s a sellout now,” Vox’s Rebecca Jennings laments the poor, sad situation of authors who’ve found that only by selling out and promoting themselves can they generate books sales. Some notable excerpts: The internet has made it so that no matter who you are or what you do — from nine-to-five middle…