Category: Editing and writing

Here is your proof.

(Thanks to Dave in Tucson for alerting me to this.)

I’d better write this blog very carefully, omitting all needless words.

Today we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, affectionally shorthanded by its disciples as Strunk & White. In an age of chronic blogging, constant Facebook updating and compulsive Twittering, we need fewer words more than ever. No doubt Strunk and White have saved us from millions.
Continue reading “Strunk and White at 50”

There is a misconception abroad that white folk have no ethnic culture. We are, well, plain vanilla folk who lack the distinctive zest and pizazz of other groups. Not so. Here is a fun eye-opener squashing that myth which folks in publishing will no doubt especially enjoy.

The other day one of our editors, Dave Zimmerman, came to me with a proposal from a prospective author for a book. It was on prayer, mission, evangelism, the history of global Christianity, the future of Christianity, the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God and justice.

I looked at Dave and said, “First-Book Syndrome.” He grimly nodded in agreement.

What is First-Book Syndrome?
Continue reading “The First-Book Syndrome”

Forget everything you learned about English in grade school. None of it is true.

Want to find out why? Read what I’ve got to say in Behind the Books.

Since I’m writing a blog, I suppose it is obvious that I think they have value. But how valuable are they for publishers and authors in particular?
Continue reading “How Valuable the Blog?”

The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman is quite a good book about the rapid change in world economics. No longer are the US and the West at the top of the hill looking down on everyone else. The world is flattening and the advantages of the West are rapidly eroding. To put it another way, everyone has an increasingly equal opportunity to succeed due to a variety of very significant technological, systems and political changes. He explains the changes by example and description.
Continue reading “The World Is Flat”