My 2020 Annual Review

As I start writing this year-end review, the latest in a long line of year-end rituals, I’m filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Even more than usual. In 2020 so many people around the world got sick, lost their jobs or businesses, or their lives. I want to start this ritual grounded in that…

The Second Brain Manifesto

We believe that ideas represent one of the most powerful forces in the world today Ideas are not mere playthings. They are the building blocks of the modern world. Ideas inform our thinking and behavior every day. We depend on new ideas to improve our health, productivity, and relationships. To understand culture, politics, science, and…

The Dawn of Personal Documentaries: Democratized Storytelling in an Age of Narrative Disruption

I recently discovered a treasure trove of family home videos stretching back almost 40 years. The earliest video was from my parents wedding in 1981 in São Paulo. The footage was grainy and barely in color, and looked like it was taken by a professional crew. Consumer camcorders hadn’t even been invented yet. The more…

My Interview on Noah Kagan Presents: Behind the Scenes of a $5,000,000 Online Productivity Course

I was very happy to receive an invitation to join Noah Kagan, influential online marketer and founder of Sumo Group, on his podcast. I’m officially on hiatus from interviews this year while I write my book, but I couldn’t say no. I remember back in 2012 when I first arrived in San Francisco to start…

Announcing the Praxis Fellowship

It is my pleasure to announce the new Praxis Fellowship, a writing residency for emerging thought leaders at the frontier of modern productivity, creativity, and knowledge management. In December of 2015 I was invited to become a Writer-in-Residence for Ribbonfarm, a niche but influential blog that had made a big impact on my own intellectual journey….

Tiago’s 21 Notes for Documentary Filmmaking

FOR PRAXIS MEMBERS ONLY In my in-depth case study How I Made a Documentary Film with Digital Notes, I shared excerpts from the 21 notes I used to complete my first film project. As a perk of Praxis membership, you can download the full content of all those notes in two formats: Evernote (.enex format) and Notion (table).

My Complete Gear Kit for Filming a Personal Documentary

This guide details the exact gear I used to make my personal documentary film Wayne Lacson Forte: On My Way To Me. For the full story behind the film, read here. My priorities were: The most minimal and affordable gear possible, since this was an experiment Products that were highly adaptable and could be repurposed for other…

Launching Your Book

Everything you’ve done up to this point has been preparation for this singular moment: the launch of your book.

An incredible amount of time, energy, money, and attention has been invested by many different people. The foundation has been laid for sales of your book to reach thousands, or tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of copies.

Writing the Book

After all this work and finally signing a deal…it’s time to do the thing you’ve been asking for, and write the book.

Leave plenty of time to do this — more than you think you need. And then, add additional time for unexpected rewrites, reviewer feedback, finding photos and illustrations, securing permissions, doing followup research, and interviewing people.

Negotiating Your Contract

Once you’ve accepted an offer for the publishing rights to your book, it’s time to draw up and sign a binding contract.

Many of these contract details have standard provisions, but you can always ask about and negotiate for them. The more you understand about the implications and subtleties of these clauses, the more empowered you’ll be in your negotiations.