Trademarks in books and other prose: how to mark and when to claim them
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Trademarks in books and other prose: how to mark and when to claim them

Trademarks confuse writers. Here are some tips on how to address trademarks in prose — and whether you ought to protect your own special names for things with them. Start with this: I’m not a lawyer. I hope you find this helpful — it’s based on decades of experience as a writer — but if…

Was Bob Woodward wrong to keep his book interviews quiet until now?

Was Bob Woodward wrong to keep his book interviews quiet until now?

The author and former Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward interviewed Trump 18 times for his new book Rage. In a February interview, Trump revealed that he knew how serious a threat there was from COVID-19. Many commentators say Woodward should he have said something as soon as he learned this. I disagree. What Woodward knew…

All self-help books are basically the same. Here’s how yours can be different.

All self-help books are basically the same. Here’s how yours can be different.

I’m grateful to Chris Taylor, who wrote a piece on Mashable that breaks down everything you learn from self-help books — and why they’re all the same. If you’re an author, you may find it depressing. Especially if your ideas are ordinary. The piece is called “Every self-help book ever, boiled down to 11 simple…

Parts, chapters, sections, and  subsections: how to organize your nonfiction book

Parts, chapters, sections, and subsections: how to organize your nonfiction book

You’ve written (or plan to write) 40,000 to 70,000 words of brilliant prose. Publishers — and readers — will bring a set of expectations regarding structure to the work. Publishers expect you to know how books are organized, but they rarely discuss those conventions explicitly. So let’s break down how nonfiction books are organized. Chapters…