The reality of my current book draft is that I need to cut a lot. Thanks to my not understanding the difference between pages in Word and printed pages, my last manuscript was about twice the length the book needs to be.
The organizing principle for the book is my tag line: Work Less and Do More.
My editor just unveiled to me her suggestion that we cut two of the longest chapters entirely: Building stronger relationships and Persuading People.
Her argument is that those topics have the least to do directly with Working Less and Doing More. While I see a clear connection between engaging and persuading others and rallying them to your cause (I am, after all, a leadership development guy), in a book on personal productivity, they just might not be a close fit, especially if I’m 30,000 words over my word limit.
I’m emotionally invested.
Yet some of the material in these chapters is near and dear to my heart. I have some tips in both areas developed from my years involved with social psychology, cognitive psych, and NLP that I think people will find very valuable. But … maybe not quite on topic with the book.
I think deep down inside, I’m afraid if I take these out, people will think of me as too much of just a “label your file folders” kind of guy. To me, the people side of the equation is really key to living a good life (that’s the “do more” part), and when I go out to talk about the book, I’d like to be able to make it clear that I’m not just about sorting your paper clips. To me, that’s “work less” and is the least important part of working less and doing more.
Having a fulfilling life, however you define it, is “do more,” the most important part. For some people, that may mean sorting their paper clips. For others, it may mean building a multinational consortium to develop clean energy. For others, it may mean being a good spousal equivalent and parental unit. For others, it may be about catching the perfect wave, regardless of whether anyone else is even there to see.
My inner motivation is all about helping people reach their full potential. Being organized and efficient is only part of what that’s about for me.
What do you think?
- Do the topics fit?
- Should I cut them entirely?
- Can I eliminate them from the book without slotting myself into a narrow, “clean your office” type niche? (David Allen, for example, is very much about having a Zen mind, even though his techniques live in the details. Very much like mine.)
- Should I save them for a future book?
- Maybe they become part of my speeches based on the book, even though they’re not directly the book.
I’d value your feedback, because I’m a bit too emotionally attached to the material to be objective.
My thought: Save the two chapters as a whole for the next book. I think you’ll avoid being labeled a “file folder guy” if your values are infused throughout the other chapters. You’ve done a good job of that in your podcast, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
Okay, let me preface this opinion with the disclaimer that I have NEVER WRITTEN A BOOK, so take this for what it’s worth.
When I’m trying to build a better grasp of a concept or skill, I appreciate a book that is focused specifically around that. I appreciate a book that is short and to the point because that gives me a chance to internalize the concept before I try to take it to the next level. Ultimately, I prefer reading five well-focused books over reading one book that tries to do everything.
My suggestion is to allude to the relationship skills in this book and point readers to where they can learn more (e.g., in a future book by you). Every good management book I have read has pointed me to other good books rather than go into detail on every topic.
Keep in mind that you see the connections between these concepts and understand that their relationship because you already have the big picture. Giving readers a chance to internalize concepts gives them stronger bricks for their big picture. That’s definitely the teacher in me talking; but in a way, writing a book *is* teaching since you’re working to convey understanding. Good luck!
Stever, perhaps you could save the chapters for the second book, while still presenting the ideas that motivate you– somewhere in the first book. From all of your work that’s out there so far, it’s obvious that you’re not going for the “slacker” angle for working less, or the “perky perfectionist” for doing more. Maybe I’m the only one who reads the Forewords and Introductions in books, but it would be nice to see the content of your post as part of that.
Not sure how to express this… I think you can keep the message from these chapters without keeping all of the content. All of the life hacks I have implemented have allowed me time to be smarter about relationships and planning how I will enroll others’ in helping get the job done (how I think of persuasion). The result is “do more.” You have communicated that in this post very succinctly and you can frame the book with this to get around the “clean office” stereotype. Your two chapters will make a logical next book.
I am echoing what has been said already, I realize, but wanted to share my 2 cents.
I vote for cutting the chapters and leaving behind a solid motivation for the importance of the topics. Lead them to another resource for the info (preferably yours!
, add a supplement on the book website, use it as a loss leader for generating buzz about the book, show people the reasons for the paper clip counting and point them to the WM-DL details in this book, make it a bonus for buying on a specific day/week (you are going to do an Amazon ”bum rush”, ne?), use it to spread the tips book into a niche that wouldn’t originally have sought it out, etc.
I read Gay Hendricks book The Big Leap recently and it was great up until the chapter or two that he was obviously passionate about and were a potential next step for readers but were disjointed from the main thesis of the book. Maybe he could have pulled it off by making them an appendix. It sounds like you’ve got too much bulk to make that work.
Good luck with the emotional attachment. Have you taken second position for your ideal reader to check out how the book works with and without those two chapters?
Save the chapters in their entirety for your next book. But…
Pull the best Work Less / Do More info from the two chapters to combine in into one “People Power”-type chapter that (hopefully) your editor will feel flows with the rest of the book. Rework (ugh) as necessary to connect concepts in this combined chapter with topics in other chapters.
When this book is a best seller, you can say that you’ve already started your next book, which will expand on the People Power concepts you introduced in the first book. A literary one-two punch.
Could make them into an audio product and up-sell them in the back of your book.
Either way I (and many, many other people) will gladly pay to read them.
Save them for your next book.
my view would be cut the chapters as suggested by the editor and keep the book as focusd as possible.
Provide the missing chapters as value added ‘free’ down loadable content – which you could reference in other parts of the book as ‘see here for more details on the subject of relationships’ for example.
You could also then use them, maybe with updated info, in your next book. Everyone’s a winner? Would not have thought that people who buy the next book would fel that short changed if a couple of the chpaters had been made available online previously. Guess thought you would loose the financial reward for those 2 chapters – but those 2 free chapters could be a good marketing move so maybe think longer term.
Best of luck whatever you do – love the podcast dude!
Steve
Apply the two other chapters towards a second manuscript. They’ll make fascinating reading, especially if you include material on organizational behavior & navigating workplace relationships.
If you are really about ‘Work less-Do more’ you have already completed two chapters of your next book. Let this book become a hit, and your next one will flow quicker and easier. Listen to your editor and have a great life.
IMOH people skills are relevant for your overall topic. You have invested your time in the work and that cannot be taken away, so not including them means they will be useable later.
How about an alternative approach – you want to share the information, editor doesnt want to print them – how about using the Internet? I am expecting the publishing and print media to become more integrated to the Internet rather than competing. Set-up a web page that will be protected for people who puchase the book to then access this further information (and extra credit). The info stays secure to you for use in another book (offr dicsount to Stever fans who buy both books) and you get to share in the info in new format that you are laready championing with podcast, Twitter and blog.
Stever…
I would suggest that the removed chapters are subjects for TWO more books at the “Do More” end of your scale, even as you can probably think of other items in the “Work Less” end. … i e. specific organizational skills for various professions… Doctors, Realtors, etc.
Think the brilliance of the Chicken Soup books. It started out as just for the soul, then branched out to every other soul. Same with “Do More”… different areas of life… “Do More With Your Relationships”, “Do More With Your Persuasive Power”, etc. etc.
The trick is to build trust and build a following, then you have your ready-made market. Start with a good niche wedge, then you can branch out.
As for me, once we get a little settled here in FL, I plan to do something similar with my new book “Fun With Metaphysics: TheWay It Is (Unless It’s Something Else)”