Posts filed as “writing”
How preparing a 5-minute Ignite talk is like writing a short book
Riddle: how is a 5-minute Ignite talk like a short eBook? Both are condensed, both are challenging to create. Giving a five-minute Ignite talk (they’re like mini TED talks) is a tricky performance: your slides advance automatically every 15 seconds and your words have to match up. Five minutes – and 20 slides – is not much time to get across your idea. […]
If you’re an author, how often should you blog?
I’ve been seriously remiss in blogging this summer. Lots of excuses. I’m spending the summer on the coast of Maine and it is a lovely place. We’ve been swamped by visitors, both family and friends. My delicious four-month-old granddaughter kept us up at night. But who cares. How lucky – how blessed we were – to have my daughter bring her […]
3 productivity tools to help you write a short book
Although the beauty of writing a short book is that it is do-able, your censorious, procrastinating, lizard brain can still make it hard to sit down and, er, write on a daily basis. Here are a few tools we’ve gathered to make the process easier. Just Do It From delightful author Dan Pink comes an iPhone app suggestion, Wonderful Day. It’s marvelously […]
On writing and productivity: do you have a Not-To-Do list?
I have a confession: most Monday mornings I wake up in a fog of procrastination. A wall of inertia throws itself up as soon as I open my eyes. It’s not that I don’t love my work. Because I do. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I felt this excited. It seems everyone wants to write and publish a […]
Best blogs to read about the publishing revolution
The new rules of publishing for up-and-coming nonfiction authors are changing at breathtaking speed. It’s an exciting time – perhaps the best ever – to become an author. To stay on top of what’s happening in digital publishing and book publishing, we’ve put together a list of the best blogs and sites. Some focus on self- and indie publishing. Feel free […]
Help! I need a book editor
Whether you are an experienced nonfiction author or a first-time Beta Author, you need an editor. It doesn’t really matter where you are in the process of writing your book. It could be an idea stuck in the back of your throat. Maybe you’ve written a dozen or 300 blog posts (yay Michele!) and you know they could be turned into a […]
Can you really write a short book in 8 weeks?
Yes, if you start with a bunch of great content you can draw from: blog posts, articles, notes, lists, research. And are ruthlessly focused on shipping something in 8 weeks. But the fact is, it probably does take 10,000 hours to learn how to write well. If not 10,000, then a lot of time over a period of years.
Why a short book? Hint: quicker to write and delivers same business benefits
The cool thing about writing a short book and publishing immediately on Amazon Kindle is that you can think of yourself as a Beta Author. Why Beta? Think of it as an Agile Book Launch. Your short book will be provocative, smart and well-written. It will have a sizzling title and a click-inducing cover. But it may be the first in […]
Want to reinvent your life and work after age 60? Follow Sam and me as we reinvent a yin yang life on the coast of Maine and in Brooklyn.
