When writing a book as part of your business growth strategy, your business will be judged on the quality of your book. As a result, your book quality should match your brand promise. Consider: When you shop for clothes, you likely visit different stores for different pieces. You go to the store whose brand, quality, […]
Speaking & Books: Magic Momentum
I recently realized that a full two-thirds of my book clients have been members of Toastmasters, the international organization that helps people learn public-speaking skills. It didn’t take long to figure out why: most of my clients are professional speakers or have public speaking as a significant part of their portfolio, along with consulting, coaching, […]
Book Quality: Lessons from Judging Jane
I’m in the midst of judging the student essay contest for the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA). When you read a lot of one thing at a time—essays, grant applications, poetry—you quickly start to see the differences. (Teachers know this!) I use a scoring rubric to test my impressions objectively, but the essays […]
Paying Attention to Distractions
I found myself distracted last week. A high school classmate died, and memories of school and church, basketball and softball, kept bubbling up. We were friends in certain settings, and not in others, and then we followed different paths. But still, she was someone I’d known for nigh on forty years, and she died before […]
How Long Should Your Nonfiction Book Be?
A common question I get is “How long should my book be?” There are different answers for different genres, of course, but for my clients, we’re usually talking about business, thought-leadership, self-help, or professional-development books. To answer the immediate question, let’s look at some numbers. Then, more importantly, let’s talk strategy and consider some case […]