In several recent conversations, new nonfiction authors and consultants asked how to best use their time to promote their book or consulting business. Some people asked if they should run ads or otherwise promote their books. (Promotion works differently for fiction. This post is just for nonfiction.) That’s when I asked if they knew the […]
My podcast this week is from Effective Public Speaking. He said the book was good as it was (it helped the ideal reader, etc.). However, it didn’t specifically speak to my intended audience: writers and consultants who realize they are entrepreneurs. Face palm!! So I’m cycling back through the book and threading those ideas into
If you plan to add a feature or create a new product, there is one overall guideline that might make your efforts more useful. That is this: Know who this feature or product is for. What does that user want to do? How does your product support that user in solving their problem(s)? If you
My podcast this week is from a short story I expect to finish today. I am sure the title will change. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for March 14, 2025, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
In my first post, Why We Have Too Much Pressure and Planning & Too Little Delivery, I discussed the issue of too much planning and how that reduced delivery. In this post, I’ll address how to increase delivery by planning less. (I have a draft post of the system view of how too much planning reduces
I work with many teams that have extensive product backlogs. Each iteration has a backlog of more items than the team can typically finish. Worse, some organizations want many quarters’ worth of backlogs, as in the image in this post. There are several problems with long and extensive backlogs: They tend to be wishlists of
My podcast this week is from the Effective Public Speaking book. My editor is almost done with his first pass. That’s the pass that offers feedback on the book’s organization. Then, I get to fix everything. Then, he’ll copyedit the manuscript and I can finish. Getting closer! As for the tags here and the previous
Too many of my clients confuse two specific terms: rank order and prioritization. Too often, that means the team works on too many items at the same time. That leads to high WIP, low cycle time, and low throughput. So here are some visuals and an explanation. See the image labeled “Rank Order.” When we
In my most recent writing workshop, one writer, Suzy, had a little trouble staying focused for an entire 15-minute writing session. (For my recommended writing process, see Writing Secret 12: Subheadings Help Guide Readers Through Your Content for how I use 15-minute timeboxes.) Suzy realized she could not always write forward. Sometimes, she had to
Because I’m trying very hard to avoid starting another book before I finish Effective Public Speaking, my podcast this week is from a fiction story: historical mystery, to be precise. Enjoy! The Podcast: The Transcript: I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for February 28, 2025, where I read an