There are four things you must master to be known for your ideas: (If you’re seeking a guide on how to do these things well, I recommend Vanessa Errecarte’s new book Valuable & Visible). You learn these things by observing How can you get better at these things? A certain amount is instinct. Some people…
If you’re writing a nonfiction book, ask yourself two questions. Is your idea unique? What do you know that nobody else knows? If you can’t answer that question, you don’t have a book (or if you do, it is not worth writing). The unique qualities of your book could include: Here’s a complete list of…
Newsletter 155. Why it pays to beat up an idea until it reveals its true self. Plus, publishers’ AI paranoia, Wikipedia editors threaten to strike, three people to follow, and three books to read. Hard on ideas I am a professionally compensated pain in the ass. People hire me to help develop their ideas. What…
I work with authors. That means my clients are idea people . . . and boy do they have a lot of ideas. I take it as my sacred duty to give honest feedback on those ideas. I am the author’s first sounding board. I can keep them from wasting time on a dumb idea,…
When two or more people collaborate on a book, there’s often a primary writer and a primary idea person. There are lots of ways that collaboration can work, but it pays to think about it before you get started, and adjust it while you’re working together. And it’s also important to for all the collaborators…
Are you contemplating starting the journey to writing a new book? It’s intimidating, I know. If you have some idea of what you want to write, here are five steps you can take to move that idea forward. 1 Talk to smart people Who do you know that’s knowledgeable about your topic? If you’re writing…
Did you try to start writing your book on page 1 of chapter 1? Wondering why you’ve got reams of repetitive material that doesn’t fit together? Of course you’re stuck. You started out without a plan! If you are going on a trip, you don’t start by just walking out the front door and seeing…
In the past month, I helped four diverse authors to develop ideas and titles for their books. They varied in age, gender, topic, and type of book. But they had one thing in common: I had to annoy and frustrate them to get to the core of their book ideas. How idea development works When…
I help authors. They’re all over the map. Some are experiencing the earliest glimmerings of author ambitions, while others have written hundreds of pages (possibly in a productive way, possibly not). By the time they get to me, I become their therapist. It’s my job to figure out their problems and recommend the best course…