A whole book on apostrophes?
Sounds unlikely. And boring. Right?
Well, someone — I can’t remember who — gifted me a splendid little MicroBook called Fucking Apostrophes, written by Simon Griffin.
(thank you if it was you)
It’s a 62-page, cloth-bound hard-back, beautifully designed, and just 105 x 158 mm.
Pocket sized.
It’s the content, though, that makes it a true MicroBook.
It’s a book on grammar… but that’s far too broad a description.
There are many, many books on grammar out there.
Many, many of them are deeply boring.
And out of date.
(because grammar changes, and if you don’t like that, tough titties)
This little book, though, is a delight because it focuses on those most rage-inducing of punctuation marks — the apostrophe.
There are 4 chapters, an introduction, and a conclusion, and by the time you’re done you’ll know exactly how to use apostrophes and have some interesting new sentences to try out.
I use this book as an example when I talk about MicroBooks because:
- It’s extremely specific.
- It’s not a book on grammar; it’s a book on apostrophes: a brief history in the intro, then how to use them in every situation.
- By the time you’ve finished reading it, you know how to use a fucking apostrophe and where to stick one.
- The author, Simon Griffin, has smothered it in his personality and it’s very amusing and most enjoyable to read.
How many grammar books can you say that about?
This is an absolutely stealable idea.
I don’t mean copy Simon Griffin and write a MicroBook about Fucking Apostrophes.
I mean, take a look at what he’s done, and see how you can apply it to an idea you might have.
When we look at teeny tiny books, I think we often think “stocking filler” and that’s as far as we get.
And, yes, some of them are stocking fillers and never get looked at beyond Christmas.
But when I talk about MicroBooks, I mean mighty ideas in a micro package — a transformative idea you want to share, that the reader can devour in a couple of hours, and emerge a changed human.
An amuse-bouche that introduces the reader to a new way of looking at the world.
And introduces them to you.
I know it can be difficult to narrow down a book idea; it’s the number 1 challenge I help my clients deal with, actually.
Okay, maybe it’s number 2 after the whole “who am I to write a book, I can’t do this” malarkey.
But that’s what MicroBook Magic is here for.
Your ideas are blazing.
They’re mind-changers.
And they should be out there transforming people’s thinking!