One of the first books I ever read when I became a copywriter, in my first iteration of being a business owner, was A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young.
It’s a teeny tiny little book of just 60-odd pages, a handful of which are (slightly overblown) prefaces by ad industry dudes.
But when you get into the guts of the book, it packs a real punch.
It’s simply JWY’s technique for producing ideas, funnily enough — and it’s really helpful. It’s extremely short and practical, and that’s one of the reasons I love it. It lives on my desk and I flip through it every now and then when my brain feels like it isn’t braining properly, and remind myself just where ideas really come from.
Another favourite that lives on my desk is Nick Parker’s On Reading, which I also dip in and out of when I’m feeling flat.
He wrote a series of tweets about how he reads, and his philosophy of reading, and his thoughts on reading, and someone suggested he collect them into a book and so he did. This, too, is just 101 pages long.
Another MicroBook.
They could be manifestos — ways of looking at the world, at creativity, at reading, specific to those writers.
And a long time before I ever started my own business, I read George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language, more an extended essay in a pamphlet than a book, but it got me thinking even back then about what books could be.
What they are, and what they’re not.
And what they don’t have to be — which is a giant doorstep of 500 pages.
I think a lot of people are put off reading nonfiction after they’ve encountered yet another business book that is little more than an extended sales letter or ego-fest, with an idea that might be pretty good, but it’s buried under the weight of publisher’s expectations of a required page count.
Or a book that takes so long to get to the point, that the point is lost.
And I think even more people are put off writing a book because they believe it has to be like those doorstep books that they couldn’t get through themselves.
They want to write a powerful book that people will read, love, and use — but they worry they don’t have enough to say to fill a book.
Well, they do.
YOU do.
You have plenty to say — enough to fill one of those 300-page books for sure, but you don’t have to say that much.
Some of the most powerful books focus on a single, spectacular idea — presented through the unique lens and voice of the writer, and they change lives.
They really do.
You can write ‘em real quick, too, without compromising quality or integrity.
And they’re fun.
Just something to think about if you’ve been thinking of writing a book but the idea of a massive project puts you right off.
I feel ya — I struggle with huge projects because they feel endless, and I don’t do well with a lack of boundaries.
But a MicroBook?
THAT, I can get my teeth, eyeballs, fingers, and toes right into.
How about it?
How to work with The MicroBook Magician
Nonfiction Book Ghostwriting: Idea to book in just 20 weeks
Buy My Book: How the hell do you write a book?
VIP Book Breakthrough Day: Make a quantum leap in book progress in just one day
Book Coach In Your Pocket: Your first draft done (or all but) in just 30 days
MicroBook Magic: Write your MicroBook in just 8 weeks
Creative Playground: Write every day + get advice, support, and bonus access to my workshops! (1 week trial for £1)
p.s. I’m throwing open the trapdoor to MicroBook Magic Season 6. But as you’re on my list, you can sneak in early: