My online bootcamp for graduates of the proposal challenge begins tomorrow, and you can almost taste the anxiety and excitement in the group. Suddenly it’s just got real: having crystallised their vision for their book in the proposal, now it’s time to step up and start writing. One of the comments that participants in […]
Continue readingToday’s blog is a guest post over at BookMachine, on building the platform before writing the book, with observations from both author (Kelly Pietrangeli) and publisher (Adrian Zackheim). While you’re there, why not take a moment to cast your vote in their blogging award?
Continue readingDay 3 is probably the hardest day of the entire 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge. I ask challengers to distil their complex, nuanced book idea down into a single sentence or two, the summary. I’m not a monster, I give them a process to help them do it, but process or no process it’s a […]
Continue readingCommunity, that is. It’s Day 1 of the 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge and one of the first tasks – an ease-you-in-gently sort of a task – is to introduce yourself, your business and your book idea in the group. I’ve spent much of the day responding to each one, but then after a few […]
Continue readingToday’s blog is a guest post over at Birds on the Blog: http://birdsontheblog.co.uk/writing-book-first-build-platform/. ‘…a book is part of your bigger platform, not a standalone. To get readers, let alone publishers, interested in your book to the point where they’re willing to spend time and money on it, you have to secure their attention and trust. And […]
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 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 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 readingToday I started putting together the Extraordinary Business Book Club ‘Best Bits’ episode (Episode 40, which will go live on 19 December). Every 10 episodes, I take the opportunity to look back over the previous 9 and showcase the bits that I love best. (And those that others request too – it’s always lovely when […]
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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