Rebecca Jones was told at school that she’d better hope she made ‘pretty babies’, because she’d never amount to anything. She left aged 16 with a handful of non-academic O-levels to her name. By her mid-twenties she was running her second company, and now she’s a world-famous expert in training and business growth. She believes the dyslexia that had her labelled ‘hopeless’ at school has been the driver behind her entrepreneurial success, but when it came to writing a book, it meant a whole new set of challenges. In this week’s conversation Rebecca tells me how she overcame those challenges, why red shoes matter, how she fixes businesses, and how her new book, Enterprise Within, could make possible a whole new phase for her own business.

Dan Underwood is part of the ArtOf team, whose mission is to use diagrams and drawings to help people and organisations see their challenges and opportunities in a fresh and powerful way. He talked to me about how the ArtOf team have used the process of developing a book to explore and extend their own thinking and to engage with their clients - it's a great example of how books can be used playfully and dynamically in a business, as a live project rather than a static output.

'You have to open yourself up... away from making money from something and understand that nowadays you make money because of something, and that's a very different phenomenon.' As a journalist, Dorie Clark used to make her living by writing content. But now she writes for free, and makes a much better living off the back of it. In this interview we explore the opportunities out there for anyone entrepreneurial enough to seize them, and the central role that writing and books play in this new world of attention and engagement. I'm utterly in awe of this woman.

My personal favourite moments from the last 9 episodes of The Extraordinary Business Book Club. It's an incredible selection: Daniel Priestley (Key Person of Influence) on making the book work with the business Warren Knight (Think #Digital First) on what it means to be in control of publishing your book Orna Ross (Head of ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors) on making the most of your publishing options Sara Kelly (journalist and academic) on why we're all entrepreneurs now Antony Mayfield (Brilliant Noise) on why small is beautiful when it comes to marketing Bridget Shine (CEO of the Independent Publishers Group) on what it means to publish with a small independent press Matt Watkinson (The Grid) on the big press experience and why it's OK if you're finding it hard to write your book Pam Didner (Global Content Marketing) on why writing is her extreme sport of choice Amanda Setili (Fearless Growth) on how not taking yourself too seriously can seriously improve your writing. Make a cup of tea and settle down. Heck, grab a biscuit too.  

Antony Mayfield runs marketing and communications agency Brilliant Noise, helping some of the biggest brands in the world transform their approach to getting their message out. He's got some fascinating stuff to say about how advertising and marketing are changing, and what it means to be digitally literate, with tips that work for microbusinesses as well as multinationals (in fact he says the reason he works with the big companies is that they need more help getting this right!).  But he also talks about Brilliant Noise's own approach to marketing, and particularly the way they create and use books within the company.  'Those books are like little avatars, little bits of you that you sent out into the world and they've got a life of their own and they're going round telling people what you think.' A fascinating, inspiring conversation with one of the world's leading thinkers in digital marketing. 

'I'm actually shocked at what writing now means to me relative to what it would have meant before I wrote two books. I used to dread writing... now it's a way to structure my learning, it's a place to put my creativity. It's a place to create a sense of intellectual flow in my life.' Amanda Setili runs a consulting business, and she very deliberately uses her books to explore what fascinates her and what she loves to work on in order to attract the clients she's most interested in working with. In this interview she reveals how she goes about creating the models and tools that accompany her books, and how she learned to shift from dry, technical writing to a more creative, story-led approach.  This is an episode full of practical, usable insights for anyone wanting to make their book not only more useful to read, but more enjoyable to write. 

Bridget Shine, CEO of the Independent Publishers Guild in the UK, is at the forefront of the revolution taking place in publishing today. In this week's episode we discuss what it means to be an independent publisher, and from the author's perspective, what it's like to be published by an independent publisher. The old rules and divisions are breaking down, and there are fantastic opportunities for those with the will and the energy to explore them. She also has some great tips for approaching independent publishers, and advice for those considering setting up as publishers themselves. And if you get lost in the definitions - indie authors, independent publishers, partner publishing - she takes a reassuringly pragmatic and positive approach: 'The point about the IPG... is we're all about helping one another and supporting each other and if you start getting a bit too ground down by those definitions you would get stuck very easily. For us, it's about people sharing, it's about the spirit of independence.'  

Warren Knight isn't your traditional entrepreneur (whatever that is). He began as a hip hop dancer, and quite simply saw the opportunities that presented themselves at each step and grabbed them with both hands. Today he helps companies around the world transform themselves into digital organisations. His book Think #Digital First came out of those conversations. First published in 2015, it's now in its second edition, but what's even more interesting to EBBC listeners is the way that Warren has created 'micro-niche' editions to serve specific market sectors. This is a great example here of creating a book that's completely tuned to its readers' needs: 'I wanted to tell my story... all of these stories of closing doors, turning over 30 million dollars. All of those stories that I needed to put down in a book, but it needed to have a purpose and a goal... I was doing a lot of coaching, working with businesses. And the thing that they kept saying was, "Oh, Warren, I know I really need to be thinking digital first with what I'm doing, with my business. I have a great offline business but how can I take it online?" So their thinking needs to shift. "We've got a good business and we know what we do well, but my thinking needs to be about what we can do from an online perspective." And I came out of having a meeting and I went, "That's it." I'd written it down three times in three different meetings. I went, "That's the title of the book.... I now know what my purpose is, I know where it needs to start. And now I know where it needs to finish."'

The internet may be international, but is your content? Pam Didner shares the secrets of global content marketing for businesses of all sizes, and reveals the story behind her bestselling book (spoiler alert: she wanted to write a novel but it didn't work out).  She also explains how writing fits with her speaking and consulting activities:  'Working, writing and speaking, from my perspective they are interconnected and they are all related. The way I see it, if I can put an idea in writing, it means I understand that idea well enough to write it. If I can speak about it, it means that I can put the ideas in the right context to explain to my clients or attendees who come to the conference, and if I can actually apply that idea into some sort of framework or the process that I created, it means the idea is valid and can apply to real life.' If you're tempted to procrastinate and if you've tried getting up at 5am to write and failed miserably, you'll find lots to encourage you here. 

'If you want to be a good designer, you don't really bring an ego to the work, you listen to what people say and you try and design the most customer-centric thing that you can and I've tried my best to bring that mentality to writing. A book ultimately is a product.' Matt Watkinson's first book, The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences, won the CMI Management Book of the Year award, so it's clear this approach is working well for him.  In this interview he explains how he set about writing his new book The Grid: The Decision‑Making Tool for Every Business (Including Yours). When he was asked at a conference what his second book would be, Matt answered "Oh it's a single model that's going to explain all the factors that make a business succeed or fail and it'll fit on a single page." The entire audience burst into hysterical laughter, but he was quite serious.  This is a superb example of how a distinctive model can underpin a book, and also a generous, entertaining interview.  You'll also hear the suppressed squeal in my voice as I announce some big news of my own... 

While publishing's been going through massive disruption over recent years, journalism has had its own problems. Ironically, in a world that runs on content, it's harder than ever to be a professional journalist.  'It's not that people aren't reading newspapers. It's just that they're not paying to read them anymore, so everybody wants content, but nobody is prepared to pay for it.' So to succeed in journalism today, or indeed in any type of content creation, it's not enough simply to write well: you have to develop an entrepreneurial capability, and part of that is developing and marketing your personal brand.  In this week's episode I talk about these changes with Sara Kelly, associate professor and chair of the Department of Journalism, Film and Entertainment Arts at the School of Professional Studies, the National University in San Diego, a former newspaper editor who's also written two books, The Entrepreneurial Journalist's Toolkit and Personal Branding for Entrepreneurial Journalists and Creative Professionals.

'One of the drawbacks of working in the traditional publishing world is that they're very, very big on the idea that you need to go out and sell books. I've always thought of a book as something that should go out and sell the author, so the reason I write books is to get a message out there to connect with a lot of people. For me, it's more important that the book is out there doing its job, as opposed to just simply trying to sell the book. The book, for us, fits within a broader context of a bigger business.' For Daniel Priestley, author of bestsellers such as Key Person of Influence, The Entrepreneur Revolution and Oversubscribed, a book is the ultimate business development tool. It costs a fraction of a business development manager, it never gets tired or leaves to join the competition, and it never goes off sick or off-message. His own books sit at the heart of his businesses, and in this episode he reveals the strategies he's used to integrate the two so successfully, and goes under the hood to share how he developed and wrote his new book, 24 Assets.  This is one to listen to again and again. 

'Creative writing, creative publishing, creative living' That's Orna Ross's byline, and it sums up her empowered approach to life as an independent author. Having 'won the literary lottery' and secured a deal with a major publisher, she didn't expect to get involved in self-publishing. But when she became frustrated with the way things were going, she decided to experiment with self-publishing. 'I loved self-publishing from the start. I love creative freedom, and the control that you get. Yes, there is responsibility that goes with that. Yes, it is not for those who don't like good, hard work, but if you do like good, hard work, and if you have a clear vision of who you are as an author, then I think it really is the most creative possible way you can publish.' And from her own experience, and wanting to create a community to support others on the same journey, she founded ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors.  In this interview she talks about her experiences with both traditional and self-publishing, the power of writing for personal development, and the need to embrace the commercial along with the creative.  Oh, and yoga.

Pure gold from the last nine episodes of The Extraordinary Business Book Club - insights, ideas and inspiration from some of the world's leading writers and some who've just begun the journey. Hear from: Christian Madsbjerg (Sensemaking) on creativity Roman Krznaric (Carpe Diem) on an innovative way to use your book's content Bernadette Jiwa (Hunch) on making time Cory Doctorow (author, blogger and activist) on the writing habit John Hall (Influence & Co) on discipline and content strategy Tim Harford (Messy, The Undercover Economist) on how speaking and writing work together  Helen Kogan (MD of Kogan Page) on what publishers are looking for  Glenda Shawley (Founded After Forty) on how her first book changed her, personally and professionally Louise Wiles (Thriving Abroad) on how fear and self-doubt nearly stopped her submitting her winning proposal It's an extraordinarily broad and deep compilation from an extraordinary group of people. As you've come to expect.   

John Hall practically invented content marketing. As CEO of Influence & Co he has helped companies of all sizes, from startup to Fortune 50, become 'top of mind' with their customers by establishing trust through useful, engaging content.  In this episode we discuss what it means to have a content strategy, and how a book fits with that. He also explains the thinking behind his substantial appendix and his offer to connect directly with readers, and gives his tips on writing a book for anyone still struggling with making it happen.

Louise Wiles took part in the very first 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge. As the deadline approached to submit the completed proposal for a chance to win a publishing deal, she hesitated. "I haven't sent it in. Am I going to send it in? Oh, I'm not sure." In the end, encouraged by her husband, she submitted it. Which is lucky, as it turned out to be one of the winners.  In this week's episode, Louise describes how she and her business partner and coauthor Evelyn Simpson set up Thriving Abroad without ever having met in person, how she overcame the resistance and fear of putting the book out into the world at every stage, from initial proposal to just three weeks before publication, and what she'd do differently next time round. If you're struggling with self-doubt and resistance as you write your book, this is for you.   

'Computers and the networks that we connect to them, they're the nervous system of the 21st century.' And yet Cory Doctorow argues passionately that right now, the way we legislate the internet isn't serving the creators, or even the consumers.  If you care more about people seeing and using your content than you do about restrictive copyright law, there are alternatives. Cory released several of his own books under Creative Commons licences, and in this inerview he explains why, and why it matters.  He also gives us an insight into his own prolific writing practice, with some practical tips for getting a writing habit established and sustaining it.  This man is a hero of the internet - author, blogger, campaigner, visionary - and this is a powerful analysis of what's wrong with the creative ecosystem and what we can do about it. 

What does 'Carpe Diem' mean to you? In his fascinating new book, Roman Krznaric reveals how the meaning of this famous phrase has changed over time, and how it's been pressed into service as a rallying cry for both hard work and hedonism, mindfulness and political activism.  He also talks about crowdfunding - he rejected a traditional publishing deal to publish this book through Unbound - footnotes, developing new ways to share ideas online, and creating a movement rather than just publishing a book.  'I've always wanted my books to turn into art projects and social movements... My advice is to write your business book about something that you care about, that you're passionate about, that you consider is important. Do it in such a way that anyone can understand it and work with it and make it practical, but don't necessarily try and make it fit too much into being relevant to a particular industry, or for a particular product.' I defy anyone to listen to this interview and not be inspired. 

'I wanted to write a book about how magical people are, as opposed to machines. How enormously efficient we are at understanding things, particularly each other, in a way that no machine will ever come close to doing.' Through his work with ReD Associates, Christian Madsbjerg helps companies make better decisions by better understanding what is meaningful to their customers. In a world of Big Data and machine intelligence, he argues, it's vital to remember the extraordinary power of human intelligence: the humanities, he argues, are the best starting point for business thinking. He also offers a refreshing take on writing a book, as something which can and should create controversy, provoke a reaction, and acknowledges just how hard it is: 'I find writing delightful sometimes, but most of the times I just find it quite tough.' A thought-provoking and insightful discussion that reminded me, at least, of what really matters in life.

Kogan Page is one of the world's leading business book publishers and one of the last big independents. The company has just celebrated its 50th birthday, and in this episode I talk to MD Helen Kogan - daughter of founder Philip - about what it means to be independent, what commissioning editors look for in a proposal, and some hands-on, down-and-dirty tips for writing a business book that sells. This is a fascinating glimpse into the workings of one of the truly great publishing houses, and to hear from the very top what they look for in the authors and books they take on.  

'How can I write books that people will read all the way to the end, they can open at any page and find something interesting or useful or inspiring or actionable, and they'll come back to again?' And with that question, Bernadette Jiwa - author of Difference: The one-page method for reimagining your business and reinventing your marketing, Marketing: A Love Story and most recently Hunch: Turn Your Everyday Insights Into the Next Big Thing - nails the question for any business book author.  Discover how she goes about answering it, and particularly how she uses the principles of storytelling and the backstory to write such compelling, generous books, in this fascinating interview.   

I first met Glenda Shawley in January 2016 when she came along to my 'The Year of the Book' workshop, in which writing productivity guru Bec Evans and I helped a small group of entrepreneurs get clear on the book they wanted to write and plan how they were going to achieve it.  By Christmas of that year, she was holding in her hand advance copies of Founded After 40: How to start a business when you haven't got time to waste, the first of the books to come out of that session (another one was self-published earlier this year, and I'm publishing another two shortly). In this episode, Glenda reveals how she did it, with lots of practical tips for linking the book with the business and building a community around it, and reflects on what the impact has been for her, personally and professionally. It's a masterclass in how to Get Stuff Done and create an experience that not only helps but delights the reader.   If you ever find yourself thinking, 'Well, of course it's easy for THEM...' as you listen to illustrious best-selling author celebrities on this show and others, this will be a refreshing and challenging insight into how a small business owner without a big existing platform got on and did the work, and is reaping the benefits.  

You've heard the mantra: 'Focus!' You know you need to niche. You understand that multi-tasking is inefficient, and you curse yourself every time your attention wanders from the one thing you know you should be working on. You're trying to put in place systems and processes to optimise how you work, and when things go wrong it feels like the universe is conspiring against you.  Sound familiar?  The good news is that it's not that simple. Tim Harford, the Undercover Economist and author of Messy: How to Be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World, argues that a tidy mind is unlikely to be a creative mind, and it's when things go wrong that we're likely to step fully into our genius.  This is heartening stuff for me, at least, and a great insight to have in your back pocket next time someone criticises the state of your desk...  Tim also reveals how moving between different modes of communication - from writing a book to writing articles to speaking to presenting on Radio 4 - helps him clarify his own thinking, and he has some brilliantly practical advice for anyone writing their first business book.   

It's time for another collection of The Extraordinary Business Book Club's Best Bits! Sit back and listen to half and hour of jaw-droppingly practical and powerful tips from the top writers and publishers featured in episodes 51-59, with some fascinating differences of opinion and approach:  Mark Levy (Accidental Genius) on organising your ideas Lucy McCarraher (How to Write Your Book Without the Fuss) on the importance of structuring before you start Lisa Earle McLeod (Selling with Noble Purpose) on forgetting all about structure and just starting Ross Lovelock (ScQUARE) on writing for the reader Alan Weiss (Million Dollar Consulting) on writing for yourself  Caroline Webb (How to Have a Good Day) on her writing playlist Melissa Romo (Head of Global Content, Sage) on creating a writing ritual (and specifically how her frog helps...) Adrian Zackhemi (Portfolio Penguin) on how publishers evaluate an author's proposal Louis Rosenfeld on why publishing is about so much more than the book I guarantee there's something here that will inspire you, restore your writing mojo, get you unstuck, or at the very least make you feel like you're not in this alone. 

Lou Rosenfeld is in the ideas business. He's a writer himself, and a speaker and trainer, and now with Rosenfeld Media he's created a distinctive approach to publishing that's based around ideas - and the community engaged with them - rather than books per se.  His company supports the 'three-legged stool' of the ideas business, which Lou himself discovered as an author: 'I found that I really couldn't succeed with writing if I wasn't presenting, and I couldn't succeed with presenting if I wasn't teaching, and couldn't succeed with teaching if I wasn't writing so it's a virtuous circle.'  So the publishing company he created is format-agnostic, and devotes an extraordinary amount of time and energy to supporting its authors as a co-collaborator and focus for the community. 'I still think we're reinventing publishing,' he says. 'I'm not even sure the word publish means anything like it did 10 or 15 years ago. It shouldn't really. I felt like the traditional publishing model, which to my mind emphasised quantity over quantity, is really broken. It's not anything I really want to be affiliated with so we've very studiously avoided that approach and taken a very different one.' Find out more, including his advice to authors, in this fascinating interview.

Caroline Webb writes about the everyday, the little things that make a big difference to how we feel: being interrupted, boring meetings, feeling stressed, late-night emails, giving directions to someone who's lost. So on one level, How to Have a Good Day is an everyday book. What makes it remarkable is the way that she explores these everyday experiences through a rigorous research-based framework encompassing psychology, behavioural economics and neuroscience. So now not only do you know why you feel so bad when someone interrupts you, you know why, which also allows you to deal with it and continue having a good day. It's a great example of one of the most important skills in business book writing: synthesising experience, research and stories to create a distinctive framework that not only helps people understand why things are as they are but gives them tools for making things better.  'Take a step back and think, "What is my system of thought here? What is my grand theory of how this all knits together?"' advises Caroline, and you can find out more about she achieved it herself in this fascinating interview. Also revealed, her writing playlist. I guarantee it's not what you expect.

'The best idea in the world is useless if you can't sell it,' says Ross Lovelock. He learned that the hard way in his 20s at Pepsi, when he was forced to scrap the 'data dump' he'd put together as a strategic plan for his sales unit and rework it as a story to present to the President of PepsiCo.  He realised pretty quickly that nobody was teaching people how to do this work: not just to assemble the facts, but to interpret them, articulate the problem, find the solution and craft the whole into a persuasive narrative to sell the solution upwards. That's why he set up SCQuARE, a strategic consultancy that supports clients to build the complete plan and present it effectively. And out of this journey too came first the self-published book Getting Everyone on the Same Page and then The One Thing You Need to Know, published by Wiley. Not bad for the kid who left school at 16.  In this episode, Ross sets out his own extraordinary journey and the secrets of taking your idea and turning it into a story you can sell to the world. 

This is not just any frog. This is the frog that gets Melissa Romo into writing mode. Usually he sits atop the antique writing desk in her bedroom, but if she's travelling he comes along and perches wherever he can, so that even on a plane or in an anonymous hotel room, he quietly sends the signal to her brain: 'It's time to write.'  Melissa has a unique perspective on writing: she's a novelist, a publisher, and also Head of Global Content at Sage, so she comes at the issue of connecting with people through content from multiple angles, bringing a fascinating insight to the business of writing business books.   In this week's episode as well as discussing her own writing routines and tips we touch on bots, voice assistants, interactive content and AI stories - it's a fascinating glimpse into how one of the world's biggest companies sees the future of content marketing. 

One of the most common pieces of advice for business book authors - and one that I often repeat myself - is to focus on the reader. What problem do they have, what is it that they're seeking, what language will resonate with them?  That's important, but it's not the whole story. As Henry Ford famously said, if he'd asked people what they wanted they'd have said faster horses.  In this week's episode writer and positioning expert Mark Levy reveals how to balance what the readers want with what you as the author want to achieve and what you are uniquely positioned to create.  He describes how you can capture your unique meaning and fascination pile, your own mix of insights from the various experience and areas of expertise you've devleoped over the years, from which you can write something genuinely original that will establish you as a thought leader. And how it works to develop your own thinking too: 'You need to use the writing itself as a discovery process.' Inspiring, illuminating and incredibly practical advice for writers who want to make a difference in the world. 

'Noble embodies what we're trying to do here because it is about being in the service of others but in this case in business... Noble Purpose is about the impact you have on customers.' Or, in this case, readers. Lisa Earle McLeod writes from two key drivers: frustration and passion. Her book Selling with Noble Purpose embodied everything she'd learned and passionately believed in her career as a sales consultant, that selling is for the benefit and the maximum impact for the customer, not just giving them what they think they want. 'It gives you more courage with your customers,' she explains. And there's a very clear parallel with writing for your readers, too.  There are some great examples too of how the book works with the business, with a useful taxonomy of ways in which she as the author can work with clients who've read the book and want more.  And if you're bored of me banging on about structure, you'll love Lisa's top tip for would-be business book authors: 'Think about what you're excited about and think about what you're angry about and just start writing. Everyone thinks they have to have this big outline for a book, you don't. Just sit at the keyboard, bang it out. Don't start at the beginning. If you've got something for the end in mind, start there. If you've got the middle in mind, start there. Just start.'

'There's an awful lot of talk about platform in the media business these days,' admits Adrian Zackheim, the founder of Portfolio, Penguin's prestigious business book list. 'It's an obvious strategy for publishers to seek out people with pre-existing platforms and attempt to extend them, [but] one of the attractions of this work, for me at least, is that there is this calculation that one has to make about where is that platform? How significant, how important is the platform, and how good is this person as a communicator? Then how significant are the ideas that are being developed here? You have to triangulate those three considerations in order to determine the prospects for an author.' This is a fascinating insight into how one of the world's most famous publishers of business books makes his acquisition decisions, and where he sees the industry heading. 

How to Write Your Book Without the Fuss is just a brilliant title. And Lucy McCarraher is equally brilliant. Cofounder of Rethink press and the 'Publish' mentor for Daniel Priestly's Key Person of Influence programme, she uses the WRITER model to support her clients through the process and sets it out in this interview, along with her thoughts on how business owners can use their book to build their business.  Packed full of practical advice and expert tips - without any fuss - this is essential listening for business book authors. 

'There's no such thing as writer's block. It's a myth. What you do is you sit down at a keyboard and you type a letter, and then you type some more letters, you have a word. Then you type some more words, you have a sentence. A few more sentences, you have a paragraph. What you write is better than you think, but what stops people is the self-editing, this little person in your head who keeps critiquing you. You got to kill that person, you just got to flick them off your shoulder, stomp on them 'til they're bloody. You have to sit down and write, and stop worrying whether people will like it. Just write for yourself.' Alan Weiss's approach to writing is bracing. If you're getting bogged down in endless rewriting or self-critiquing, this is going to be uncomfortable listening. Uncomfortable, but essential. 

It's The Extraordinary Business Book Club's half-century episode! And we're celebrating with an extraordinary selection of Best Bits from episodes 41-49:  Michael E. Gerber on creating a legacy David Taylor on being the best you Martin Goodyer on the single strong idea Heather McGowan on visualizing information Emma Serlin on the psychology of speaking Susan Heaton Wright on overcoming the fear of speaking in public Kelly Pietrangeli on building the platform before the book Scott Pack on what it takes to crowdfund a book successfully Guy Kawasaki on crowdsourcing feedback to improve the book  It's an incredible line-up, and the themes reflect the very best of The Extraordinary Business Book Club, from the big picture to the tactical details of communicating your unique message in a multiplatform world.  Plug in and play, and lose yourself in half an hour of inspiration, ideas and insight. And cake. 

Susan Heaton-Wright has performed on many of the world's greatest stages as an opera singer, but it was only after she'd had her baby that she realised the skills she'd developed - being able to walk into a room with confidence, to project her voice clearly and perform in front of an audience - could be invaluable to business people.  A whole new business emerged, and now Susan helps people speak in public effectively (she also has a side-line in providing live music for events, but that's a whole other podcast...).  In this episode we talk about the beautiful synergy between writing and speaking, and how authors can create and use speaking opportunities strategically to promote their book and build their business. There's a bit of podcasting love going on too: Susan is the host of top podcast Superstar Communicator, and occasionally the interviewer/interviewee roles get a bit muddled...

'I don't think many authors would put themselves through what I put myself through. How many authors are confident enough or stupid enough to send their manuscript to a thousand people who they have no idea who they are, and just say, "Okay, just tell me what you don't like."' But over the course of 13 bestselling books, Guy Kawasaki has discovered that this is in fact the best way to create his best book.  'There's no doubt in my mind that the crowd improves my books,' he says. It began when he sent out his first manuscripts to a select few beta readers and noticed how invaluable their feedback was. 'Then I figured out that... maybe you don't know all the intelligent people in the world firsthand, so maybe you should broaden your net.' Now he puts up publicly the table of contents and then the full first draft, turning on the comments function and inviting anyone who's interested to give their opinion. The feedback helps in the rewriting, and it also completely changes his relationship with his readers, who become invested in the book and its success.  An incredibly inspiring episode, and Guy keeps it real with his advice on getting the darn thing done and not messing up your cover. 

When Emma Serlin founded the London Speech Workshop, she came at the science of effective communication from two perspectives: her professsional background in the theatre as an actor and director, and her academic background in psychology. The result is a powerful theory and practice of communication - The Communication Equation. At its simplest it's an equation:  Authenticity + Connection = Engagement In this episode we explore how understanding the principles of both performance and psychology can help you communicate more effectively, with important lessons for writers as well as speakers, and how bringing together diverse perspectives and experiences can generate creative insights for your business and your book.  There's also some practical advice on adapting face-to-face exercises for a book and the power of stories. And, as you'd expect, Emma has a really, really nice voice. 

One of the many opportunities open to authors today is the chance to crowdfund their book: to whip up enthusiasm for the project and get friends, relatives, ex-girlfriends (yes, really) and total strangers who want to see this book happen put their hands in their pockets and pledge to support it. And one of the leading crowdfunding platforms out there for books is Unbound. But what's really involved in crowdfunding, and is it a good use of your time? In this week's episode Scott Pack, Associate Editor at Unbound - and Associate Lecturer with me on the MA in Publishing at Brookes University, where we recorded this interview - talks about how it works (and what happens when it doesn't), and who it's for (and who it's really NOT for).

If you're struggling to write your book, here's an idea: try drawing it instead. That's how Heather McGowan, academic entrepreneur and futurist, gets started.  'I don't usually start writing anything. I start drawing a lot of things. My starting process is: how would I put this on a single page so that people can understand it with very few words using shapes and different types of frameworks? I usually start with a series of frameworks that tell the story to me in my head and then after that I write.' Visualising your ideas has a double benefit: for you as author, to help you get clear on what it is you're saying, how your ideas fit together and flow, but also for the reader.  'When you look at text, you turn those texts into symbols that you store in your mind visually. When you look at a picture, you can be something like 30,000 times faster reading all the same information... if [blogs or books] have visuals in them, they are much more often read and understood than if they're just plain text because it breaks it up, it allows you to process things differently.' And given the astonishing quantity of information that comes at us on a daily basis, demanding our attention - the equivalent of over 280 newspapers a day - this shortcut to communicating complex ideas is a powerful competitive advantage for writers who want to be heard.   Heather and I also discuss the future of reading and writing and the skills we need to teach our young people to equip them for the future of work. A fascinating, thought-provoking episode.

'Anyone can read those things, whether they've met me or whether they haven't and go, "Yeah, that's about me," because the stories are relevant to so many people.' Coaching psychologist Martin Goodyer has a very simple idea he wants to get across to as many people as possible: we can all do better if we ask ourselves better questions. To get that idea through to the reader, he uses stories. WTF Just Happened? is a collection of stories about individuals in all sorts of situations, from losing weight (or rather, failing to lose weight) to making disastrous relationship choices to bombing in business. I guarantee you'll read at least one of them and say: 'Oh my goodness, that's me." In this interview we discuss the art and science of telling stories, particularly the tricky issues of truth and confidentiality, and explore why they work so well in engaging our attention and changing our behaviour. Martin believes most 'self-help' books don't work, no matter how brilliant the advice, because fundamentally we don't like being told what to do. Stories, on the other hand, engage our emotions, they smuggle big ideas into our brain because we let our guard down - the book is 'a form of open-eye hypnosis'. There's also a brilliant idea for an attention-grabbing book launch and an incredibly powerful question for you to ask yourself as a business-book author. 

Back in 2012, Kelly Pietrangeli and her friends had a brilliant idea for a book. Project Me was all about helping busy mothers balance their lives with more effective time management, productivity skills and goal-setting, using tools techniques they'd developed for their own lives.  They began to write, but then: 'It just occurred to me one day, how are we going to get a book deal on this book called Project Me, when we have no website, no social media platform whatsoever, like who are we, you know? We're just a couple of mothers who are writing this book.' She persuaded her friends to do it backwards, taking the content they'd written and putting it out on a website. She built a blog, a community and an online programme, and before too long she found herself the focus of a bidding war with several publishers vying to sign her up. 'That's what the book has come from, from a book idea into a website, into online programs and coaching, and now full circle.' Kelly's story might just transform the way you think about your book and your platform, and how they work together. 

Perhaps the most powerful thing you can do as the writer of a business book is to cut through the fluff and change people's lives. Many of us feel uncomfortable making grand claims for our ideas. We hedge them around with qualifiers and we're anxious to cover off all the objections we imagine readers might have, or all the various different ways our message might apply to people in different situations.  And very often, the message gets lost along the way.  David Taylor writes in a completely different way to any other writer I've interviewed. He calls it predictive persuasion, and he's refreshingly unapologetic about the simplicity of his message and the directness of his style.  Here's why - he cares more about what people do than what people think of him.   'I don't really mind what they think of The Naked Leader or the message. I just want people to fulfil their own potential in their own way in the very short time that we each have on this planet and it is a very short time indeed.' There's so much here to inspire and challenge you about how and why you write. And even more to challenge you about how you live. 

One 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 a Company of One to a Company of 1000.  Michael turned 80 in 2016, but both the book and the interview demonstrate that his passion for helping small business owners achieve success hasn't dimmed since the E-Myth was first published in 1985, in fact the sense of urgency and passion is if anything greater.  There are big questions in this episode, and the turn of the year is the perfect time to face them.  "Look at yourself more seriously. Stop thinking about how you're going to get by and start pondering what you're going to leave behind."

New to the Club? Missed a few episodes? Or just want to revisit some of the most mind-tingling insights from recent guests? This is the place to start. A few selected highlights from episodes 31-39, including: Bec Evans of WriteTrack on establishing your writing habit (may or may not involve champagne) Productivity Ninja Grace Marshall on why procrastination is an inevitable part of writing a book and how to beat it UX legend Steve Krug on applying usability principles to writing your book Robbie Kellman Baxter with a brilliantly practical tip on using writing as a thinking tool Business coach and web strategist Robin Waite on the book as part of the personal brand ecosystem Nicholas Lovell on the Curve - using the power of free to turn followers into superfans Patrick Vlaskovits on hustle and the art of not waiting for permission The Creator's Code author Amy Wilkinson on the myth of overnight success in both business and writing, and the importance of discomfort Andy Cope on his life-changing epiphany in the Tesco's checkout queue (warning: this is the bit where I cry laughing) Think of it as an early Christmas present. You're welcome. 

You know about the Curve, even if you don’t think of it in those terms. You’ve noticed how successful businesses have been developing offerings at a wide variety of price points, and how they’ve been focusing particularly on giving stuff away in order to get people’s attention and engagement. You probably do it yourself – it’s the entire principle behind content marketing, in fact. But have you thought strategically about how and where your book fits in? Nicholas Lovell, this week’s guest in The Extraordinary Business Book Club and author of The Curve: Freeloaders, Superfans and the Future of Business, explains it further: ‘The Curve comes in three parts. You have to find an audience. That probably, but doesn't necessarily, involve free. You have to earn the right to talk to them again. It's no good having a newsletter that you get people to sign up for if they immediately unsubscribe because your content is boring and rubbish. Then, having done those two things, found them and got the right to talk to them again, you have to let those people who really want to spend money with you, the people who love what you do, the Superfans, spend lots of money on things they really value.’ Your job, and your book's job, is to move people along that curve. Your potential superfans will finish your book and say to themselves, ‘That was great! Now what?’ This week's episode will help you give them a good answer. 

I'm fed up with saying, 'I haven't got enough time. I want to have a different conversation about time.' Grace Marshall was naturally disorganised, but also incurably impatient. She therefore decided the only way to make sure she was able to develop her business while raising a young family was to get really, really good at managing her time more effectively.  She got so good at it that she became the first female Productivity Ninja with Think Productive and has written two books on the subject. As you might expect, she has some kick-ass tips for writers to overcome procrastination and get the book written (and you'll be glad to hear she found it hard too!).  Essential listening for anyone who has 'write book' on their to-do list. 

Robin Waite was a web designer who got increasingly frustrated with clients who only thought about websites. He understood, although they didn't, that your website is only part of your online strategy and your personal brand. Online Business Startup was written out of frustration, but the result was the transformation of Rob's own personal brand.  This is also a masterclass in how to write a book at speed: despite having a new baby and a full-time job, Rob managed to dictate, transcribe and edit his bestselling book in just six weeks, and he shares the full details of how he did it in this interview.  'My book's sold several thousand copies, my videos are going into tens of thousands of views across Facebook and Youtube and Vimeo. I've couldn't have had that impact, without having the book and the personal brand and this whole ecosystem set around it.' This is an interview packed with practical ideas: don't listen unless you're ready to be challenged and to take action.  

In business today it's personal. Across every sector, businesses are shifting their emphasis from the transaction to the relationship, from simple communication to community. Membership, says Robbie Kellman Baxter, is a transformational trend.  In this episode we talk about the implications of that trend, but we also explore Robbie's own approach to writing her book The Membership Economy - how she discovered the power of writing as a problem-solving tool and how she used the research period to extend her network upwards and outwards.  Robbie's approach to her own book is refreshingly and challengingly direct: 'I didn't write the book to sell a lot of books and make money as a book author. I wrote the book because I'm a consultant, and I wanted people to have that kind of one pound business card to understand this is Robbie Baxter and this is how she frames the challenges in the business world, and if we worked with her this is how she looks at things.' There's SO much good stuff in this interview for you if you're running a business and writing about it.