Not long ago my wife and I finished reading Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my son. A great feature of the particular edition we read him was an interview with the author in the back. One of the questions the interviewer posed to Dahl was, “How do you keep the momentum […]
Have you ever started writing a book but stalled? Do you have an unfinished manuscript or two on your hard drive? How about an unfinished book proposal? Here’s a question I heard recently: “How do I start my book project in a way that I’ll actually complete it?” That is such a good question. Writers […]
I’m so pleased to bring you this interview with my friend Daniel Harkavy. Daniel is the coauthor of the bestseller Living Forward: How to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want and the author of Becoming a Coaching Leader: The Proven System for Building Your Own Team of Champions. He’s the founder and CEO of […]
How long should my book proposal be?” I suspect writers ask this question because they want to know how much work they need to do for a solid chance at a book contract. The good news is often a shorter book proposal is better than a longer one. The bad news is it may take […]
By far the best thing I have ever done for myself is create a life plan. A life plan is a simple document that you create as an intentional way of envisioning and committing yourself to a future you desire–in every area of life. I wrote my life plan about seven months ago as I write […]
This is perhaps the most obvious question for a writer to ask a publishing insider: How do I get my book published? Funny thing is, people normally don’t ask it that boldly. More often I get questions like: How do find an agent? Is there some way for me to submit my proposal to you? What […]
Imagine driving around an unknown city for a while when suddenly your phone and all its GPS abilities goes dead. You smack it a few times. You look to the heavens. You yell “C’mon!” Nada. It’s a goner. What would you do next? Many writers find themselves in this situation. Here’s the kind of question […]
I’ve been reviewing book proposals for well over a decade, and I’ve noticed that for the most part proposals fall into one of two categories. Either publishers fight each other to publish your book, or they don’t give it much attention at all. That’s an oversimplification, but not as much as you might think. For […]
Why do we go to movies?” he asked the audience. “Escape!” someone shouted. “An experience!” “Yes,” the speaker said, “we go for those reasons, but we also go for clarity.” I’m here in Chicago for Donald Miller’s Storyline conference as I write this, and I think Don nails it in the above exchange. We go to […]
I’ve got a platform,” writers sometimes tell me. “I’m on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve got a blog.” But here’s the litmus test for whether you have a platform: If a publisher sent a pallet of books to your garage, how many of them could you move on the strength of your own connections? This question puts […]
