In 2009, Ted Schadler and I had a problem. The back half of our book Empowered wasn’t working. This is how we fixed it. We were nearing the manuscript deadline for Empowered, Ted’s and my book about strategies to deal with empowered consumers and workers. The front half of the book, about consumers (and marketing), was holding together pretty…
BenBella Books occupies a unique position in the publishing business. Rather than pay high advances, BenBella offers a collaborative process with more upside for the author. It’s an attractive alternative to the publishing options I’ve showcased before. Here’s an interview with BenBella’s CEO and publisher, Glenn Yeffeth. What sets BenBella Books apart from other publishers? BenBella…
If you are an author, you need to promote yourself on social media. There ought to be a manual on how to do that, and now there is. It’s Chris Syme’s book “SMART Social Media for Authors,” and at $3.99 for the Kindle edition, you really ought to get a copy. This is the book…
I spent the last month pitching publishers. I spent Monday biting my nails and weighing offers. Today I announce the results and share what I’ve learned. HarperBusiness will publish Writing Without Bullshit in September 2016. My editor will be the estimable Hollis Heimbouch, who in an ironic twist was the editor in charge of acquiring Groundswell for Harvard Business…
Shel Israel wrote a followup to his book with Robert Scoble, The Age of Context. Lethal Generosity: Contextual Technology & The Competitive Edge explains what companies need to do now that everything in the world is getting smarter. You really should read it. Shel and I have been on parallel paths for about eight years. He…
I need to decide how to publish my upcoming book Writing Without Bullshit. Here’s what I want from a publishing model: everything. I’m not going to get it, of course. But you can help me figure out which imperfect model is best. So far I don’t have a book, I have an outline. I’ll finish the manuscript by December….
I just finished Steven Pinker’s book on writing style. I like Pinker’s take on writing; I learned a lot from it. It’s a great guide and you should read it, but be aware that business writers need to bring a different and more practical perspective to the advice in this book. Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker is…
If you want to publish a non-fiction book, don’t start by writing it. Start by writing a proposal. Tell the editor at a publishing house what’s in it and why it will sell. If you can’t do this, you’ll never be able to write (or sell) a book. Nobody writes a book first and then…
Today, I unveil the plan for my book. I’ll be pitching it to publishers soon. Here’s the title, subtitle, and table of contents. I took a shot at the flap copy, too. I’m avidly interested in your reaction. (I wrote the title, subtitle, and flap copy as they would appear on the book. I enhanced the…