I’m a huge Keynote (boo to PowerPoint!) fan. It’s so simple to integrate video and pictures in my presentations that I can’t imagine having to go back to the cumbersome import features of Microsoft presentation tools.

While I love digital media and believe in its research, I’m saddened by the loss of the art of the interior design when it comes to publishing on platforms like Amazon. iBooks Author App–at least in a small way–empowers users to protect the art of a book, which should provide an experience as well as inspiration and knowledge.

Check out how easy artful interior design and book publishing just became with this preview video.

In one of Seth’s recent posts, he outlines what he believes will be the deciding factor on your success as a writer and author in this new world:

The quality is going to remain in the writing and in the bravery of ideas, not in teams of people making expensive digital books.

I have always believed what makes or breaks a book is not the form in which it takes shape–whether that is bits and bytes on my iPad or paper and ink on my bookshelf–but in the ability of the writing itself to move people emotionally, even inspire them to take action in some measurable way. That possibility is what made me fall in love with writing and publishing in college, and it is the dream I bring to every freelance project I accept.

What do you want to say? How do you want people to respond? In what ways will your message and the response of others change the world? These are the questions that should guide anyone with the audacity to sit down at a keyboard and put words on a page.

Do the words quality and bravery resonate with you, too? Why?

–Thomas A Kempis, Imitation of Christ

“I divide my time in this way: Half the time I sleep, the other half I dream.”

–Soren Kierkegaard

“The mystery is this: There is one right thing to do at every moment. We can either follow or resist.”

–Robert Johnson, Balancing Heaven and Earth

“The choices we make, the curves we are thrown, the chances we take, the hunches we follow are all part of our mysterious journey in the direction of who we were whispered into being to become.”

–Robert Benson, The Echo Within

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”

–Ayn Rand

“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”

–Voltaire

“You are a Christian only so long as you constantly pose critical questions to the society you live in…so long as you stay unsatisfied with the status quo and keep saying that a new world is yet to come.”

–Henri Nouwen

“We do not see things as they are; we see them as we are.”

–The Talmud

“I love any writer who is serious about getting to the deep heart core but is loving enough to want you to get there, too.”

–Jeff Nunokawa

“Breathe. Pray. Be kind. Stop grabbing.”

–Anne Lamott

“The personality of every man and woman is sacred.”

–William Temple

What are some of your favorite quotes?

It’s as easy as…1 – 2 – 3.

1. Write.
2. Edit.
3. Publish.

Writing a book is easy. The trick…the catch…the killer…the reason why more people don’t write books is because it takes discipline…

• …the discipline of observing the world around you.
• …the discipline of being quiet long enough to write a sentence more than 140 characters.
• …the discipline of editing so the reader never feels the urge to do anything other than read and react.
• …the discipline of writing when no one cares what you’ve written.
• …the discipline of writing even when everyone else is playing.

Writing a book is easy. It’s the words, sentences, and paragraphs that will get you every time.

What’s keeping you from writing your book?

(If you’ve never heard of Phyllis Tickle, click here.)

Phyllis, Sam (her husband), Robert Benson, and I were meeting to talk about a few new publishing initiatives that we’ve been working on at BenStroup.com. Our conversation affirmed many of the things that Robert and I have been thinking and observing. It also confirmed that the hunches we are following are the right ones. And even though none of us have all the answers or completely understand what it will look like in the next five years, we all agreed that change is already taking place. Not “under new management” type change. But “charting new territory” change.

Enough about business. Here is what I loved most about meeting Phyllis Tickle:

• She is full of life.
• She embraces technology as a legitimate platform for publishing.
• She is a writer, first, and loves reading and writing great sentences.
• She is more concerned with relevance than process.
• She and Sam love fried chicken (which is what we had for lunch).

We have already exchanged notes and plan on meeting again. I hope that when I’m on the other end of my career, I will have had the same influence and reach Phyllis has had on an industry she has fought for and fought with her entire life. She is a pioneer whose courage and audacity made it possible for people like me to do what I do.

Who has been significant figure in your industry or work? What can you learn from them?

Here is what I highlighted:

Have you read Content Rules? What did you learn?

These 35 social media insights are a great reminder of how powerful social media can be for businesses looking to expand their reach, engage with a specific audience, and move people in a specific direction. Here are some of my favorite:

1. Our opportunity with social media is to do something more meaningful than just “marketing”.

6. Social media is an earned privilege. It’s not a right, but a rite of passage. We have to compete for that Like or Follow every single day.

12. Social consumers spend 1.5x than regular online consumers. They see the world differently and bring it to life through use of social technologies. They connect what you do as brands to their networks of influence.

24. Influence is the capacity to change behavior, affect outcomes. Your job is to bridge cause and effect.

34. The future of business is not created, it’s co-created.

Which of the 35 insights jumped off the screen for you?

1. I knew the expectations of the client before I signed the contract. This is essential. Know what you’re committing to also means knowing you have have the bandwidth to get it done. The reason editors, agents, publishers, and agencies tell me they keep coming back to me is that I give them what they want, when they want it, and in the form they want it. It always begins with the expectations of the client.
2. I knew the contract was highly likely, so I began doing some research in advance of executing an agreement. I already had some experience with the subject matter, so that helped me know where to look. My research was not just about overall concepts but keywords, key influencers, and key ideas that have surfaced about subjects similar to that of the project.
3. I spent the first week perfecting a very detailed outline. This is more than just a few scribbles on a napkin. It has become some of the best advice I’ve ever taken from a veteran writer who is a friend and mentor. This step always takes longer than you might think but saves a tremendous amount of pressure on the back end. There is nothing worse that turning in a project only to have the client say, “This is good but not at all what we had in mind.”
4. I broke the project down into specific word count deadlines and imposed those on myself. It’s systematic, predictable, and measurable. I know it sounds crazy for a creative guy to be so focused on numbers, but working the plan is the only way you know you’re getting closer to or farther away from the goal.
5. I disciplined myself to write. The copy is a very important part of the puzzle of any publishing project, but it’s not the only one. There are typically multiple people involved in one project. If copy is at the front of the line, any delay impacts everyone else.

None of this is rocket science. The secret to writing 50k words in five weeks is about uncovering expectations, setting goals, understanding your role in relation to others working with you to finalize the project, and delivering on what you promise. I’m amazed that simply doing these things (which I assumed for a long time that everyone does) has set me apart from much of my competition and is the very reason I have a steady stream of business.

What steps do you take when you tackle complex projects like this one?

If there was ever a doubt that I’m not normal, then let me put your fears to rest. I was so excited to get a Livescribe pen for Christmas that I just about stopped everything to figure out how it worked. Since then, it has become something that I use regularly. Let me tell you why.

There are four distinct advantages that the Livescribe pen offers me:

1. I can write notes which keeps an interview or meeting personal. I’ve gone back and forth about taking notes using my laptop, iPad, etc. I feel most comfortable with a pen and paper. It’s keeps things simple.
2. I don’t have to worry about keeping the notebook after I’m done. I’m committed to a paperless environment. So what am I supposed do with notebooks once they are full? With Livescribe, I can download the notes onto my laptop and dump them into Evernote. Then I can trash (umm…I mean recycle) my notebook.)
3. I can capture audio at the same time. Then, I just have to tap on the word to begin replaying the audio recorded at the same time I capture my note. Ever written something down and can’t quite remember what was being said at the time? Now you never have to worry about that again. It works!
4. I can share my notes and/or audio with whomever I want (the whole world or one person) through a Pencast. I’ve used this when I’m working with a partner on a client project or to remind a client what we discussed.

I’m definiely a Livescribe fan! Check it out. It won’t disappoint.

Whatever time it takes you read them and whatever cost that comes with acquiring them is well worth it. The impact of the information you’ll read in these books will be felt in the nonprofit (that includes churches) world for many years to come.

Uncharitable by Dan Pallotta (Tufts, 2008)
ROI for Nonprofits by Tom Ralser (John Wiley and Sons, 2007)
Strategic Giving by Peter Frumkin (Chicago, 2006)
Growing Givers Hearts by Thomas H. Jeavons and Rebekah Basinger (Jossey-Bass, 2000)
The Networked Nonprofit by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine (Jossey-Bass, 2010)
In Pursuit of the Almighty’s Dollar by James Hudnut-Beumler (University of North Carolina, 2007)