Episode 368 – Centennials with Professor Alex Hill

Episode 368 - Centennials with Professor Alex Hill

‘What you leave behind is what you write… no one talks about the article that changed their life, and they’re not read for decades after they’ve been written. [Books are] foundational.’ Working at the intersection of research and application, Professor Alex Hill has learned that it’s not enough to have…

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Episode 348 – Written with Bec Evans and Chris Smith

Episode 348 - Written with Bec Evans and Chris Smith

‘How can you get to more people beyond coaching courses and beyond webinars? Well, you write a book.’ Bec Evans and Chris Smith met in a bookshop and have worked with books, writing and authors ever since. As co-founders of Prolifiko they coach writers to be more productive, and as…

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Episode 347 – Slow journalism with Rob Orchard

Episode 347 - Slow journalism with Rob Orchard

‘Slow journalism for us was just a way of encapsulating that feeling that when you take your time, you can do something more quality.’ In a media landscape dominated by the white-hot, reactive world of social media and rolling news, it can be hard to keep a sense of perspective.…

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Episode 340 – The joy of constraints

Episode 340 - The joy of constraints

We don’t live in a perfect world. If you’re hoping to write a business book, I bet there’s something that’s getting in your way. Not enough time, lack of focus, morning sickness, a global pandemic…  We can’t get rid of these constraints, but we CAN get smarter about them, and…

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Episode 327 – Rebuilding with Sara Tate

Episode 327 - Rebuilding with Sara Tate

“How often does anyone really start with a blank sheet of paper? Certainly not at my age, you know? You don’t, you start from where you are… we want to make the effort to rebuild something that we love and we’ve invested in, a business or a relationship, whatever it…

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Episode 320 – We can do hard things

Episode 320 - We can do hard things

In 1907, pioneering psychologist William James wrote this: ‘The human individual lives usually far within his limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and he behaves below his optimum.’ That insight reflects the message of my guests on this podcast…

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Episode 302 – Writing it all down with Cathy Rentzenbrink

Episode 302 - Writing it all down with Cathy Rentzenbrink

‘It starts off as me working out what I think, and then it becomes something I’m going to share with other people… The point at which I allow myself to start imagining a reader is really important.’ Writing isn’t just a tool for communication, and your book isn’t just a…

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Episode 299 – A Twixtmas meditation

Episode 299 - A Twixtmas meditation

‘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…

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Episode 298 – The commissioning editor’s view with Eloise Cook

Episode 298 - The commissioning editor's view with Eloise Cook

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…

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Episode 295 – Book production secrets with Jo Bottrill

Episode 295 - Book production secrets with Jo Bottrill

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…

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