Evaluating Your Book Idea
In the beginning, is a message.
You have something to say. A message that wants to get out of you. That needs to get out of you or else it will keep you up every night and drive you crazy.
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The Complete Guide to Landing a Book Deal
I recently signed a six-figure book deal with Simon & Schuster for my book Building a Second Brain.
As a first-time author, and in the midst of the greatest economic crisis in a generation, this is a spectacular outcome. It took a year of hard work, a team of editors and advisors, and countless proposal drafts and revisions, along with a heavy dose of luck.
I Got a Book Deal for Building a Second Brain!
I couldn’t be more proud to announce that I’ve signed a six-figure book deal with Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, to publish my book Building a Second Brain. Subscribe below to get updates on my progress, sneak peeks at early chapters, and bonus resources to help you build your Second Brain now:…
Virtual Workshop with Srini Rao: Transform Information into Wisdom with Progressive Summarization
On Thursday, March 26 at 5pm ET I joined Srini Rao for an in-depth workshop on Progressive Summarization, my technique for highlighting the information you consume and turning it into bite-sized nuggets of wisdom. Srini is the founder of The Unmistakable Creative, a blog and podcast for creative people who don’t accept the status quo. He’s…
Interview and Q&A with Sönke Ahrens on How to Take Smart Notes
On Thursday, March 19, at 9am ET, I will be interviewing Sönke Ahrens, author of the breakout book How To Take Smart Notes. This is your chance to ask him your burning questions on note-taking and non-fiction writing. Ahrens is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Duisburg-Essen and also coaches students,…
How To Take Smart Notes: 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing
I long ago stopped reading books on note-taking. They were always too vague and boring, full of platitudes that had little to do with the world outside academia. I especially avoided “how-to” style books on the subject. They would often list dozens of tips and tricks that had little to do with each other. There…
The Heart is the Bottleneck
I’m proud to announce my new book, The Heart is the Bottleneck. In this book, I explore and dissect a wide range of topics related to productivity and personal effectiveness. From note-taking and writing, to creativity and curation, to being a digital nomad and working with a virtual assistant. Tying together these topics is the…
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Treatment of Trauma (Book Summary)
This post is also available in Ukrainian When I first picked up this book, I wasn’t quite sure what it had to do with me. It is a book about trauma – what it is, where it comes from, and how to treat it. But I had never experienced abuse, or been caught in a…
Pleasure as an Organizing Principle
This essay was originally posted on the Ribbonfarm blog. The organizing principle of the modern world is pain. Avoiding it, yes. But also trading in it, taking refuge in it, and using it to justify our actions. Pain has so many uses. Why would you ever give up such a versatile tool? We trade in…
The BASB Customer Persona
I recently compiled all my notes, findings, and ideas about the “ideal customer” for Building a Second Brain, and put them into a single document. I’m working with my editor to narrow down and refine this customer profile from here, so I can have a crystal clear person in mind as I write the sample…
How Emotions Are Made: The Theory of Constructed Emotion
This post now available in German. The Theory of Constructed Emotion offers a radical new take on what emotions are, where they come from, and how they shape our lives. Presented by psychology professor and neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett in her best-selling book How Emotions Are Made (affiliate link), it also contradicts many of…
5 Things I Learned From the Anti-Book Club
Last year I launched the Anti-Book Club, my own take on the tradition of book clubs. The idea is simple: instead of everyone in the group reading the same book, duplicating time and effort, we each read a different book on the same topic. Then each person summarizes the book they read, and I compile…