Do You Have What it Takes?
Writing a book not easy, and it definitely isn’t for everybody.
We’ve worked with a lot of book authors over the past eight years, and here’s what it takes to be successful:
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Do you know your subject well? Knowing your subject well is the most important part. Readers expect our authors to be extremely knowledgeable in their area, having learned from the “school of hard knocks.”
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Are you in tune with industry news and trends? Do you frequently read articles, papers, or blogs related to your subject, and constantly keep your domain knowledge up-to-date? We expect our authors to be fully informed about the latest and greatest.
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Can you make this a top priority in your life? Writing a book requires a lot of time, and will require sacrifices in your life, such as writing chapters after a tiring day of book, or having to miss out out on events for writing, and so on. Do you want to be an author badly enough to make those sacrifices?
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Can you meet deadlines? We have hard deadlines to meet as a book author, and it’s critical that you stay on track for the success of the project. Are you the type of person who is good at meeting deadlines?
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Are you a reliable communicator? If someone sends you an email, a Slack message, or a comment on Trello, can you be counted on to respond? We expect if we ask our authors a question that they get back within 1-2 business days without having to be chased.
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Are you able to follow our guides? We have detailed guides on every aspect of the writing process, and expect our authors to follow them. Are you good at following guidelines and making a best effort to fit in with the rest of the team?
If this sounds like you, we think you’d make an amazing book author for our site. Keep reading to find out how to apply!
Where to Go From Here?
If you are interested in working on this project, please email me with answers to the following questions:
- Why do you want to work on this project?
- Please describe your design experience.
- Please share your design portfolio.
- Making a book on an advanced topic like this isn’t easy and will take a lot of time and energy. What adjustments can you make to your schedule to allow regular time to work on this project over the next 3-6 months, and are you sure you can commit to this workload?
And even if you’re not a designer, please forward this to someone you think would be excellent for this book. We want to hear from as many amazing designers as possible!
Thanks all — and we look forward to creating a book with one of you (or one of your favorite designers)!
