Writing the Book: Some Logistics Questions
Background
I’m writing a book. I’ve submitted the first version of the book proposal. I’ve received some excellent feedback and I’m working on the second iteration now. I’m happy to report that I am seeing eye to eye with the publisher and we’re both excited about it.
Topic of the Book?
I’m reluctant to give it away just yet because I’m still working the proposal. I will tell you that it is all about getting user experience (UX) into organizations. You will learn how to make the magic happen. This is unlike any book you have seen on UX and you’ll be foaming at the mouth to get it. ;-)
Questions
1. At what point does it make sense to kick off a book blog? What would you expect to see? Are you going to provide questions, comments and feedback?
2. Does it make sense to set up a new book blog site or just make it a new blog under WebWord? I like the idea of setting up another domain but does that make sense to you?
3. How much should I give away, especially if I want your feedback, anecdotes, and war stories? Do you feel that will harm sales or drive them up?
4. What is the best way to provide case studies, feedback, anecdotes in a book? What do you like to see? What is the best example of this you have seen in a book?
5. Best book blogs? Matthew Oliphant pointed me to an example: Naked Conversations (Authors: Robert Scoble, Shel Israel). It has been a challenge to find other good book blogs.
Throw me some bones, folks!
February 7th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Joe Wikert’s Book Publisher Blog — Looks like a good resource.
Opening Shot: Blogging Books (Steve O’Keefe) — Interesting comments.
Looking for more resources, particular blogs that are tied to books (before, during, after publication).
February 7th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
Hey, my last comment was flagged as spam. Guess I wrote too much?…: “Sorry, but your comment has been flagged as spam by the beta version of the spam filter running on this blog: this might be an error, in which case all apologies. Your comment will be presented to the blog admin who will be able to restore it immediately.”.
I’ve copied the the text of it to a file on my pc - let me know if you need it back. email: gruskada@hotmail.com
February 8th, 2006 at 5:00 am
I believe Steve Denning’s Leaders’ Guide to Storytelling started out as a blog while it was a book-in-training. http://stevedenning.typepad.com/
Another alternative is publishing a chapter or two as a manifesto on http://www.changethis.com
Hope this helps,
Simon Young
February 10th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Tufte often publishes screenshots of his upcoming book on his ASK E.T. column. See http://www.google.com.ar/search?q=site%3Aedwardtufte.com+Beautiful+Evidence
February 15th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
I’m not too sure that a separate book blog would be worth it, especially before the book is published. I know about Naked Conversations but I visited the site once and that was it. I think a book blog after the book is published would be helpful. I think the Freakonomics guys did it that way.
There’s a science fiction writer called John Scalzi ( http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/ ) who wrote about his upcoming book on his blog. He’s using some of his blog posts in a new non-fiction book and he solicited reader feedback on what to include, etc. You might want to check out his blog.
I think Scott Berkun also blogged about his book but I am not sure whether it was before or after.