Yes, YOU.

Am I the only bookseller whose favorite section is “business”? Maybe.

Am I the only person who can’t sleep on a red-eye if I start a business book, because I have to know how the CEO saved the company? Probably.

Am I the only one who wishes publishers did special “sprayed edge” editions for business books instead of just sexy dragon novels? DEFINITELY.

It’s not an exaggeration to say business books have changed my life: Reading them, writing them, and selling them.  

If your dream is to write one that changes your life– or at least defines it– this newsletter is for you. 

If you want to make money from writing business books, this newsletter is for you.

If you do not know where to start, this newsletter is definitely for you. 

There is a TON OF TERRIBLE ADVICE ON THIS TOPIC. So, why should you listen to me? 

• I have written three business books for major publishers, all with large advances. I have made close to seven figures when you consider advances and speaking tours for those books. What’s more: I’ve used those books to define each shift in my career. I have been nominated for national awards, reviewed in the New York Times, been featured on national TV, critically acclaimed, and gotten to travel to five continents and at least 18 countries speaking about my books. It’s been life changing financially, professionally, and emotionally. 

• I had thirty years as a top business journalist in Silicon Valley being pitched by everyone. I can tell you in a split second what is the story the market wants, and what is the story that only serves you. 

• I own a bookstore. Palm Springs only has 40,000 residents but 10 million people come through every year to read by a pool. So we get an awesome cross section of what folks want to read. It’s fascinating to see what the trends are month by month, what resonates, what definitely does not, what we can’t keep in stock, and what I cannot get someone to buy even when I give it the most glowing recommendation. (My partner, Paul, says I can sell a business book like it’s a thriller.) 

• I get paid six figures (per book) to help people write the business book of their dreams now. Collaborative writers are secret thought partners for authors. I get involved at the earliest points with authors and work with them all the way through marketing and promotion of their books. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. I love every aspect of it. Collaborative writers like me also get paid a small fortune. If you cannot afford a ghost writer or collaborative writer, or just aren’t yet ready for that step, read this newsletter because I will give you a lot of tips for free. 

• I am f*cking up every week. I am so good at my job, y’all. Thanks to so many decades on deadline, I write outrageously fast. I can see books in people, the way Haley Joel Osmond sees dead people in The Sixth Sense. Thanks to the bookstore, I know a ton of people in publishing and am a rare collaborative writer, who can also often make intros to agents and other people in the business. I can tell you all the reasons I am amazing at this and earn every penny. And yet, books are hard. They are subjective. What editors want changes constantly and varies by editor. What agents want changes constantly and varies by agent. And as William Goldman wrote in “Adventures in the Screen Trade” “Nobody Knows Anything.” There is no such thing as a “perfect” proposal. Anyone who tells you they have all the answers is lying. I’m always learning what the industry wants and how to do it better in part because the industry is always changing what it wants. I can think of three huge lessons I’ve already learned this week as I write this. Those will be some of my favorite posts to write. 

• I am that rare breed of author who actually enjoys and excels at the marketing part. Every author will tell you their publisher let them down when it came to marketing. No they didn’t. Authors just always have unrealistic expectations of what publishers will do, and hate hate hate the reality of how much they have to promote themselves. All too often, authors start thinking about marketing and promotion once the book is in, and you are exhausted. I start thinking about it at the very beginning when we are conceiving of the idea. Especially for a business book, the marketing plan is as important as the table of contents, the cover, or any other part of the book. Why? BECAUSE OTHERWISE PEOPLE WILL NOT READ IT. And if people don’t read it. . . what did you do all that work for? 

• For better or worse, I am honest to a fault. It’s really hard to be honest when it comes to a book, because books are so deeply personal and having written three, I know that. But the New York Times is going to tell you how ugly your baby is, so you’d probably rather hear it from me first while you have a chance to fix it. 

I will write two to three posts per week. It’ll be very tactical things you need to know from life in the business book trenches. Things I wish I’d known. Send me questions. Don’t be shy. This industry can be weirdly opaque. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find someone who does. 

I will also recommend some of my favorite business books to read, because THE BEST thing you can do if you want to write a book is to READ LOTS OF THEM. You also need to change the way you read them. I’ll explain what I mean by that too. 

Much of this content will be free. Some of the best stuff will be for subscribers, so I encourage you to subscribe. I’ll also prioritize answering subscribers' questions. I hope you will share this with anyone you know who has said they are thinking about writing a book, for three reasons.

The first is, like any writer, I like to be read. 

The second is I hate when would-be authors get terrible advice, fall for scams, or spend money on things that won’t help them. There’s a lot of that out there. (I get pay-for-play publishing spam emails weekly, and no, AI probably won’t write you a bestseller. . .) 

The third reason is this: If you send this to someone who is thinking about writing a book, it will be a sign you believe in them. Back in my early 20s, when I first confessed to some coworkers I dreamed of writing a book, I was laughed at. It stung and I felt stupid, but I’m glad I didn’t let it stop me. Don’t let it stop you either. 

I believe that everyone has a book in them. The question is whether the book you want to write is the book the market wants from you. And whether you are willing to put in the agony and time to write it.