by Rob Worth | 18 Jul 2021 | Marketing
3 questions your book blurb must answer for a reader to buy Your blurb is another stage in selling the book. No more, no less. The back cover or book description copy, called a blurb, is sales copy. It comes after your title, after your cover, and is the next step to...
by Rob Worth | 16 Jul 2021 | Writing tips
With my years of blogs, I have a book. Not yet you don’t. Recently, I found an author with a book they had made from the blogs they had written over the years. The blogs are a treasure trove of stories, insights and lessons they had learned. You could dive in anywhere...
by Rob Worth | 15 Jul 2021 | Writing tips
3 examples of making sentences clearer and smoother Three examples of making sentences read better. They are taken from a line edit of a book I worked on recently. The main aims are clarity and smooth reading. Example 1 Organizations are complex, while their models...
by Rob Worth | 14 Jul 2021 | Structure, Writing tips
Don’t crunch gears between chapters – Read your reader’s mind … and those are the lessons from chapter 7. (Reader: Wow, interesting!) (Flip page…) Welcome to chapter 8, which about something completely unconnected to chapter 7. (Reader: Are there some...
by Rob Worth | 13 Jul 2021 | Complexity, Systems Thinking
Does systems and complexity need new words? New words can be useful, but they can also mislead, confuse and turn people away. Complexity and systems thinking is a different way to look at the world. It is easy to argue that to express new ideas, we need new words....
by Rob Worth | 12 Jul 2021 | Systems Thinking
As a complexity or systems thinker, what kind of blind man are you? The Blind Men and the Elephant Version 1 A group of blind men came upon an elephant. One touched the side of the beast and thought it might be a wall. One felt a tusk and supposed he must have a spear...
by Rob Worth | 11 Jul 2021 | Structure, Writing tips
4 questions to make your complexity or systems book compelling If you are thinking about writing a book, make it relevant to readers with 4 questions. 1) What’s my unique position? List experiences, models, methods, stories and insights. 2) Think about the different...
by Rob Worth | 10 Jul 2021 | Writing tips
The easiest trick to get your prose to read better This week, I watched a live broadcast with two authors. She was just releasing an audiobook she had read herself. She said she had tripped over some sentences. He replied, “Writing to be read is different to writing...
by Rob Worth | 9 Jul 2021 | Change
Are you doing the biggest thing that holds complexity and systems back? Some practitioners seem to think that saying “… and I didn’t tell them we were using systems thinking” is a good thing. It’s not. If we don’t tell people what we are doing, how will the...
by Rob Worth | 8 Jul 2021 | Structure
3 structures using stories that keep readers turning the pages of your complexity and systems book Stories are a powerful tool for hooking a reader and keeping them reading. You can also use stories to structure your book. 3 book structures using story Simple...
