If you love books and you have a competitive streak, then a) we should probably meet up because we’d get on really well, and b) you might like the idea of the GoodReads 2017 Reading Challenge. Simply decide how many books you want to tick off the to-read list in 2017 and make your intention […]
Continue readingAre you still waiting for the secret of success, productivity, happiness? A significant – and significantly profitable – section of the publishing industry is given over to books promising to make us better versions of ourselves. I’ve now interviewed several of the authors in The Extraordinary Business Book Club. And what’s astonished me is how […]
Continue readingI’m a big fan of Reedsy, the publishing professionals online marketplace. I was on the panel of judges that awarded them the 2016 Quantum Innovation Award (against some VERY stiff competition) – we were impressed by the way they serve both the new indie author community and traditional publishers so effectively, a neat trick which […]
Continue readingOne of the first episodes of The Extraordinary Business Book Club podcast featured an interview with Michael E. Gerber talking about one of the most extraordinary business books of all time – The E-Myth Revisited. So it feels very appropriate that we end 2016 with Michael talking about his new book, Beyond the E-Myth: The Evolution of an Enterprise: From […]
Continue reading‘It was really useful. I came away with two or three ideas for a book and I’m clearer now about which one I’m going to pursue first and how it fits with my business.’ That was Glenda Shawley, speaking after the Year of the Book workshop back in January. She’d just spent an afternoon with […]
Continue readingWhen I interviewed Michael E. Gerber for the podcast on Tuesday, I went into the conversation better prepared than almost any other interview I’ve ever done. Not only had I read the book (it’s a short, readable book, my favourite kind) but I’d listened to an audio trailer while I was fixing lunch the day […]
Continue readingIt’s the season of dreadful cracker jokes, so in the spirit of ‘When is a door not a door?’* here’s a festive riddle for you: Q: When is a book not a book? A: When it’s a series. OK it’s a rubbish joke, but the point is very serious. One huge mistake that first-time authors […]
Continue readingI know it’s a bit early to be thinking about January, but you’ve got to plan ahead. What are you going to look forward to once the Christmas parties are over? Here are a few ideas. You’re welcome. 1. Use discarded wrapping paper to make a collage 2. Throw every scrap of left-over cheese into […]
Continue readingMy children don’t read this blog. So it’s safe to reveal here two of the presents they’ll be getting for Christmas: original framed illustrations from Judy Hayman’s Dragon Tales series. I published the sixth and last volume, The Dragons’ Call, in October, marking the end of two years of Dragon Tales. They began as bedtime […]
Continue reading…don’t just ask them. If you REALLY want to know if an idea has legs, the best way isn’t to ask people if they’d buy it, it’s to see if they DO buy it when they’re given the opportunity. This is an audacious technique, but Nicholas Lovell used it to great effect when he had […]
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