Reading time: 1.00 238 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, I love it when a piece of tangible evidence arrives to support something I know and feel to be true. Like ā nobody is going to remember any of your LinkedIn posts or Instagram posts or Tweets in 10 years. Sorry, theyāre not. Because social media is designed to be hooky, addictive, and instantly forgettable, like cheap candy. But a long-form piece of writing or media? That, they might remember. On Friday, during my...
2 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 1 min read
Reading time: 4.20 1,028 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Cue trumpets šŗ Please be upstanding and create a massive amount of noise for Tricia Nichols and her brand spanking new book The Currencies of Wellness, out now and available for pre-order! I can never decide whether my favourite moment of working with someone to write their book is a) when I see the light go on behind their eyes when they realise they have a good idea, they CAN write, and they really believe they can...
5 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Reading time: 1.42 403 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Have you ever been faced with a task SO huge that instead of getting started, you just kind of spin in place, getting more and more dizzy? Like, for example, tackling an overgrown garden? Or renovating a house? Orā¦ writing a book? I mean, letās be honest, sometimes I feel like that about starting my day. Especially if Iām a bit tangled in the duvet. Getting out of bed feels more unachievable than a triple backflip on the...
7 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Reading time: 3.10 751 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, One of my LinkedIn contacts asked me a perfectly reasonable question once: āIām not asking for a guarantee carved in stone, but what percentage of your students make enough off of their MicroBook to make back the cost of the class?ā Itās an interesting question because although itās reasonable on the surface, itās not quite the right question to ask. First of all: I donāt make any guarantees about what the book will do...
9 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Reading time: 2.42 642 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Dolly Parton. If everyone in the world was even 1% more Dolly, I do believe everything would be okay. She reached the very top of her world, then she set up a ladder and reached down to help the rest of us up there too. I donāt even know where to start with what a huge loss she is to the world and Iām really surprised at how hard this has hit me. I didnāt know her. But she changed everything for everyone. And especially...
12 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Reading time: 2.32 599 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Wanna know a secret that will either delight you and change your life or have you cursing my name? Of course you do, and here it is: The words you use are the least important part of your book. They get in the way. A great book isnāt dependent on the words. Itās dependent on the connection you create. Now before you sit upright in your chair and ready your reply arm, let me explain: of course words matter. They matter...
14 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Reading time: 1.38 385 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Thereās this guy called Peter Elbow. Isnāt that a great name? Itās the third brilliant name Iāve encountered in the past week, the other two being Bob Whopper and Jim Bumgardner. The delight Iāve had in these names has been large and ongoing. Anyway, his name isnāt the point. His book is. He wrote a book called Writing Without Teachers and itās a challenge against traditional writing methods, and especially those taught...
16 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 2 min read
Reading time: 4.59 1,067 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Good LORD my windows were filthy. You know how things just deteriorate in your immediate surroundings over time, and you just get used to it, and donāt notice? Until one day, you do? And then you simply HAVE to deal with it immediately or the world will end? That happened to me this morning. Coincidentally, while I was sitting at my desk lamenting the fact I had absolutely NOTHING to write about. Not a sausage. I...
19 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Reading time: 2.17 543 words Read this email in your browser Hey Reader, Do you ever look around you and think My god what have I done? Did that this morning as I stood in the early sunshine with my cup of tea. Iād just walked down the stairs, under the tarpaulin, and out through the gaping hole in the back of the house where the shower room and kitchen used to be. Over the past week, our builders have shifted 1,200 tonnes of earth and reshaped the path in our woodland with it, saving us...
21 days agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read