by Neil | Dec 14, 2016 | Book Publishing, Content Strategy, Writing Tips
Back in my Penguin days, my former boss made all of us a deal. If someone came up with an amazing title for a book we were meant to publish, he would give them five dollars. Yes, five whole dollars. But here’s the funny thing. It was the most coveted prize any of us...
by Neil | Nov 10, 2016 | Creative Productivity, Writing Tips
On one night in 2007 at 1:00 in the morning, I did something I never usually did. I began to read a book. Yes. At 1 in the morning, I began to read a book instead of, you know, going to bed. Of course, this was no ordinary book. Indeed, on that night, I had joined the...
by Neil | Oct 26, 2016 | Book Publishing, Content Strategy, Writing Tips
I was really excited to play King Louie in my fourth grade production of Jungle Book. This was a musical that was based on the Disney movie of the same name, and featured all of the songs that made that movie famous. Though King Louie wasn’t a big part, playing this...
by Neil | Oct 19, 2016 | Book Publishing, Writing Tips
As a fiction author, you have heard it many times before: before an agent or publisher will look at your manuscript, you must send them a synopsis. And why shouldn’t they want that? It will take hours to look at your content. Doesn’t it make sense that they want to...
by Neil | Sep 29, 2016 | Content Strategy, Ideas, Writing Tips
At 50 million copies sold, one book is considered the second bestselling book of the 20th century. It’s a book that many people know, or at least have seen referenced in movies and other aspects of pop culture. And something happens on page 1 of this book that also...
by Neil | Sep 14, 2016 | Book Publishing, Content Strategy, Writing Tips
The first book proposal I helped a client put together earned a six-figure advance. At the time, this kind of result was consistent with what I had known during my days as an editor at Penguin. The non-fiction projects we acquired were typically for six figures – and...