The Best Business Book I’ve Read in a Long Time
Becoming an entrepreneur has done a lot more than pay the bills over the years, it’s saved my life.” That’s the first line of a wonderful little book by Inc. columnist Timothy Askew, The Poetry of Small Business: An Accidental Entrepreneur’s Search for Meaning. As I make my way into entrepreneurism, I find myself hungry […]
How to Be Yourself and Make Money
[guestpost]This is a guest post from my good friend Samir Selmanović, an executive coach, organizational consultant, and entrepreneur living in New York City. Connect with Samir on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.[/guestpost] The way we work is changing rapidly. The number of us who have opted out of traditional corporate or government employment is growing. According to […]
How to Stay Fresh and Create Your Best Content
Recently my family traveled to the Salt Lake City area to visit my dad. On the way to the airport following our visit, my eight-year-old son asked why the Salt Lake was full of salt water instead of fresh water. My dad explained the Salt Lake has no outlets. Water comes in, but it can’t […]
To My Son about His Tears
My son’s at an age when he has some difficulty maintaining his emotions. You can sense it in the crack of his voice or the quiver of his lip. When these times come, my wife and I know that if we can’t stem the tide quickly, the dam will overflow. The cause can be as inane […]
Why Blogging Might Be Your Fastest Way to Secure a Book Deal
If you have ever known a clean-shaven man who quickly grew a beard, you have a clue about changes in the publishing industry over the past five to ten years. Publishing today looks very different from how it looked a few years ago, and the transition can catch you off guard. Whether it’s the decline […]
10 Things I Learned from Hosting My First Webinar
Well, okay, it wasn’t quite my first. It was my second, but it was my first real shot at hosting a webinar by myself. I called it “3 Steps to Winning a Nonfiction Book Contract,” and here’s what I learned in no particular order. 1. Webinars are fun! I really enjoy the anticipation of the event […]
Why the Market Is Not Too Crowded for Your Message
A lot of other people have written about this. Is there room for one more? Does it make sense for me to write about it too?” As editorial director for a book publisher, I get this question a lot. In fact, I’ve asked it too. I remember emailing successful blogger and author Jeff Goins to ask about […]
Confessions of a Flawed Editor
Editing is a tricky business. What I want more than anything is for your book to hum. I want it to be such an engrossing experience that a reader would sooner take a bus than drive, just for a few more moments in your book. Legendary editor Sol Stein says the writer’s job is to […]
4 Ways to Make Sure Your Book Proposal Stands Out
Later today I’ll be discussing about fifteen book proposals with my editorial colleagues. We’ll review them with an eye toward deciding which ones should move on to our publishing board (where publishing decisions are made) and which ones should be declined. The reality is only a small number will move on. Imagine your book proposal […]
5 Steps for Coming Up with an Awesome Working Title for Your Nonfiction Book
Titles are important. At Baker Books, where I work, every publishing season (spring, summer, and fall) we schedule multiple titling meetings. First titling team members brainstorm individually. Then we come together and refine our options. We’re trying to come with the best possible title and subtitle combination—the one that will give a book its best […]