The Extraordinary Business Book Club

A great way to celebrate a new year and a tricentenary episode: a 'best bits' compilation of wisdom from recent guests talking about one of the most important and rewarding aspects of writing a business book.  Whether you need to focus on building your following or your partnerships, or simply be a bit braver at making new connections, there's inspiration and ideas for you here. Hear from: Eloise...

'We're designed as cyclical creatures, from the most basic microcycle of breathing in and out to the annual cycle of the seasons, and if the New Year to come is our time for resolutions and purposeful action, the days before it, these Twixtmas days, are a time for gathering our resources quietly, relaxing and massaging our tightly bunched cognitive muscles so that we're ready to pick up the weight...

What DO commissioning editors look for in business book proposals? Eloise Cook is the publisher responsible for Pearson's business list, and in this conversation she reveals what makes a proposal worth pursuing (and also what makes her quietly file it under B for Bin).  We also talk about the future for business books, and how authors extend their idea beyond the book to maximise engagement.  If y...

'No one wants to be preached at or talked down to, or made to believe it's fancier than it is. This is not rocket science. This is just good, plain common sense. You need a framework. There are lots of them out there. This is the one that works for me. And I think there are some good reasons it will work for you. And I'll just explain that to you.' Discovering the 12-week year approach saved Trevo...

'What's the worst that can happen?' It might not sound like the most positive of mantras, but that simple question lies behind Sonya Barlow's astonishing success: one of 2020's Most Influential Women in Tech, a top 50 BAME entrepreneur, LinkedIn's Changemaker 2021 for Gender Diversity and Inclusion and Marie Claire's Future Shaper 2020.  Her determination to learn from failure and her remarkable r...

What's the magic by which the Word document you've been working on for so many weeks and months is transformed into a book? Jo Bottrill, head of Newgen UK, is a book production expert who's worked with thousands of authors to perform exactly that magic, and in this conversation he not only demystifies the production process but also explains what you as the author can do to make it as smooth and e...

"Talk to anybody who will listen about your idea. That's the way that you improve it." Michael Buckworth is an anomaly: a lawyer who's also an entrepreneur. He founded the only UK law firm working exclusively with startups, and he's the author of Built on Rock: The busy entrepreneur's legal guide to start-up success.  If you're setting up a new business, you're already interested, amiright? But ev...

'You have to be good enough and you have to be persistent, [and] if you combine those two things together, then if you keep putting yourself in new situations, eventually there is going to be something that clicks.' Dorie Clark is very clear that creating content - sharing your ideas - is an essential part of building your reputation as an expert. But she's living proof that it doesn't happen over...

'I came to writing really late. I was told I couldn't write... I had no first degree. I came to learning at 40 plus with an idea that I couldn't write, but I still loved learning. So it's been a total joy. It's like, wow, you can do that too, you can learn in another way. Writing... gets more and more joyous.' Dr Lucy Ryan started writing Lunchtime Learning for Leaders mid-pandemic, in response to...

'It's not that you're wrong. You're just no longer right. And that's a big difference.' Michael Leckie has built his career on asking good questions at the right time, and in his book The Heart of Transformation he talks about 'operationalizing curiosity' as one of the capabilities that drive successful transformation in organizations.  Questions are also core to creating a powerful business book:...

"We sometimes forget the value, or the power, or the impact of words because, 'Hey, we're speaking the whole time, or we're writing the whole time... it's only me, how powerful can it be?' So we say things that are the wrong things to say, or we miss our opportunities. If you have an opportunity to get a message across and you just treat it casually or you fluff it or you don't prepare, then that'...

'Why would you write 28 books? To get good at some of the stuff that you're writing about.' As well as writing those 28 books, Jeremy Kourdi has experience of senior leadership at The Economist, Duke University and the CMI. It's fair to say he has an all-round perspective on the value of content in business thinking, and in this fascinating conversation he reveals his own approach to writing as we...

'I would encourage every author to have their own-book-shaped plan and their own-marketing-shape plan that is theirs, because that is what creates the books that really reflect our own message and that are really full of integrity.' If you're tired of formulaic approaches or cynical marketing tactics, this will be a breath of fresh air. Alice Sheldon had a powerful message to share but found the o...

'The individual is a research project, every time we try something new we're being a kind of scientist in our own life.' Megan Hayes studied the links between writing and happiness, and the first thing she discovered is that it's both more powerful and more complex than we think. Yes, 'getting it all down on paper' is a great way to process a difficult experience, but it turns out a writing habit...

When you're writing a business book - or indeed any business writing - WHAT you're saying is the most important thing, of course.  But HOW you say it can make all the difference as to how people read it. I asked a group of editors what really pushed their buttons, and compiled this run-down of mistakes to avoid if you want to make a good impression. This is especially important if you're submittin...

'They need to be able to 'get' the concepts that I'm trying to convey in whatever space they have available on the top of their phone screen.' Used to writing for an academic audience, Dr Jen O'Ryan quickly realised that she needed take a very different approach for her business book if she wanted it to make a difference. And she really wanted it to make a difference.  In this episode we talk abou...

'How can we fall back in love with the idea of enough as a way of living, so that we stop striving and start thriving?' The Art of Enough is the challenge of our age, says Becky Hall: as individuals and as a society we're beset on the one hand by scarcity (feeling inadequate, being under-resourced) and on the other by excess (overwhelm, over-consumption). Our personal and business goals are dictat...

Humans don't easily 'get' exponential growth - we've evolved in a linear world, and the pace of change we're facing now can leave us wrong-footed and disoriented. But Azeem Azhar argues that we need to get to grips with it, and fast, if we're to thrive in the modern world.  We also talk about synergistification, aligning your content creation and community to build your brand and your business (ok...

'Author-speakers... are often people who are true thought leaders, on a mission to share their knowledge. And yes, there are people who blog and there are people who post on social media and there are people who do podcasts. But... to really achieve that thought leadership, visionary status, there's got to be a book.' Speaking and writing go together naturally, but how can you make the most of bot...

'There's something about the writing process, the words on the page, just holding you accountable in some way to your thinking.' Jodie Rogers has identified the real competitive advantage for today's organisations: the mental fitness of the people working there. But as she points out, it takes more than an elearning module on how to take an afternoon walk to unlock the benefits of a workforce that...

We talk a lot on this show about the grind of writing business books, and indeed of business in general, but there's a lot of joy to be found in the process too. This Best Bits episode celebrates all those moments, from the creative peace of the early morning start to the excitement of the book launch. Wherever you're at, there's a bit of raw joy here to inspire you on your journey.  With joyful m...

'We wanted to explore how books, which seem to be a real missing link in the corporate world, could be brought in and really used to enhance people's development... If I could step away from everything and invest in myself, what does that look like?' If there's one experience common to pretty much every business sector in every industry over the last 18 months, it's screen fatigue. Which is a chal...

'Be a bit braver with what you define to be a business book, you don't need to follow a template.' Why is B2B marketing typically so dull? Whereas consumer marketing is focused on creativity, engagement and originality, B2B marketing all too often consists of a features list. Mark Choueke is here to change all that. His passionate call for bravery in B2B marketing is transforming the industry, and...

Penny Pullan was talking about virtual leadership and running virtual events long before it was fashionable - now that the rest of the world has caught up, she's leading the way in making virtual and hybrid events (which are surely the future) not just possible, but powerful. Most people at work have sat through interminable Zoom meetings over the last 18 months, few of us have experienced the kin...

Earlier this year, I passed the 1,000-day mark in my #goldenyear running streak. In this week's episode, I reflect on what I've learned from building that habit, and what it's taught me about writing, resilience and when NOT to wear shorts.  A short episode this week, but I hope you'll enjoy it.