I periodically get bored while writing—bored, that is, while I’m actually composing. I can be disciplined when I have to be. So if my yawning and disinterest persist, I force myself to commit words to the screen, however uninspiring, laying down one outline point after another. Some caffeine always helps, of course. Over the years [...]

In my upcoming book, Stairway to Earth, I urge authors to write not only a proposal for publishers. I also urge them to write a pitch. If you’re going to submit a proposal to a publisher yourself—or your agent is going to do it for you—you’ll need to pitch your idea in a cover letter [...]

Have you ever noticed how, when people talk about “writer’s block,” they seem to be referring to a single thing. But if you listen closely you realize they are talking about many things? “Writer’s block” is like “the flu.” It is a catchall phrase. It is also like the flu in that the only way [...]

A few notorious books published as nonfiction in the last few years have brought to light a little known fact: Publishers don’t fact-check their books. They take their authors’ words for the truth. The latest brouhaha came in the spring over Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea. Mortenson and his coauthor allegedly stretched and fabricated [...]

I’ve spent many years on both sides of the editorial fence, as writer and editor. And the editor, whatever else his or her skills, has a big advantage in working with a manuscript because he or she comes at text without mental baggage. The writer carries steamer trunks’ worth of baggage – and tends to [...]

When I wrote an article in 1998 for CFO magazine about Herman Miller, Inc., I interviewed CFO Brian Walker and his top people. At the time, I didn’t record my interviews. I figured it was too much of a hassle to deal with the tape machine. Too much work to listen to the tapes. Too [...]

In the Wall Street Journal magazine, superagent Andrew Wylie recently wrote, “Fifty percent of American writers’ sales should be outside the U.S.” (See Wylie’s article by clicking here.) This notion would sound familiar to business people. For many years, business leaders have been saying their companies should reap 50 percent of their revenues from abroad. [...]

One of the first big surprises on the road to publication may come after you submit your proposal. Here you are, you’re all ready to write the book you’ve dreamed of and lovingly developed. Then you get a call from an acquisition editor: She likes your topic but not the treatment. “How about turning your [...]

So you’ve heard that, if you plan to self-publish a book, you can upload a manuscript via the web and have books in hand “almost overnight.” Yes, that’s true. In theory. If by “almost overnight” you actually mean a week or so. But no, that’s not true in practice. At least not if, by “book,” [...]

I’m pleased to announce that galleys for Stairway to Earth arrived last week. Since I’m using print-on-demand publishing, the galleys, or “uncorrected proofs,” look pretty much the same as the final book. I’m now sending out copies to a select group of people for an early reading. The official publication date is October 3. This [...]