As editorial director for a major trade book publisher, I regularly receive questions like this: Is it okay to blog content that I want to use in my book? Will publishers mind if my blog content ends up in my book? If my book proposal is for a book based on my blog, will publishers […]
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 […]
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 such sources as Forbes and Public Sector Digest, by the year 2020, 40 to 50 percent of the workforce in the U.S. will be freelancers. By 2030 we will be the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
In the world of nonfiction publishing, the book proposal is king. Writers, agents, and editors may have conversations before the book proposal. But all the real action takes place when the proposal hits publishers’ inboxes. If you’re a nonfiction writer who wants traditional publishing houses to take you seriously, a strong proposal is the place to invest […]
