Suggestions for my next book?

[Thomas H]

I'd like to see you explore a topic that there's not a lot of information on already. With a time management book you'd have a lot less to add because that topic is so saturated. With subjective reality or polarity you'd be covering new ground so you'd have a lot more to add because there's not a wealth of knowledge already out there on those subjects.

You're right about both topics being possible commercial flops, but since when do you care about that??

Maybe you could publish books on subjective reality and polarity in an e-book format so you don't have to charge commercial publisher prices..?

[Savage]

If I'm going to pitch a book that I suspect may be a commercial flop, I have to be honest with the publisher about that. And most likely they'll just reject the proposal. Every new book is a risk, so I need a good way of showing it's a worthwhile risk.

It wouldn't be a good use of my time to write a book that relatively few people would read. I'd be better off skipping the book and devoting more attention to blogging, speaking, and other media.

Writing a book is a lot of work, so if I'm going to make the effort, I want the end result to be impactful.

Subjective reality and polarity would be interesting topics, but it may be better to cover them with ebooks or audio programs that I release direct. Then if there seems to be some decent interest over time, I may further develop the ideas into a book for a publisher.

[RRR]

If you simply apply the principle of Love by itself and surround yourself with positive, highly effective people for a few weeks, you won't even need techniques (Power). You'll become much more effective through osmosis. Effective people are more likely to respect your time as well. Simple idea... but one which most time management books largely ignore. I might devote as much as 1/3 of such a book to social strategies that help you build a network of effective people.

A problem people often have is that they know what to do to be more productive, but they're surrounded with unproductive, unmotivated people. So no matter how hard they try or how many techniques they learn, they always get sucked back down again.

TLP advice on social drag would be very helpful for me personally. I feel the expectations placed on me and the opportunities offered are so menial and disheartening. Surrounded by depressed, stressed, lower-middle class, psuedo-theists, is a problem not just for me, but for everyone my generation and below to have reasonable role models. It is hard to see the potential in yourself when you are surrounded by people you consider failures.

[Brutha]

After the feedback on this forum about polarity , I don't think that a lot of people "get it". It probably isn't a good choice for a book for the masses.

A while ago you didn't release your videos about your blogging workshop to not get publically seem as somebody who teaches blogging. If you didn't change that intention, I don't think that you have a reason to start going down that path. If you don't have a problem with being seen that way anymore, there no reason to hold back those videos.

Conscious Business - I don't think that your four year experience is enough, for that topic. If you wanted to write that book, I think you should interview a lot of other people with Conscious Businesses.
That would be a different style of working than most of your blog and your book.

I would also vote like Bruce, for developing your ideas of TLP into more practical day to day applications. Time Management & Productivity from a TLP perspective.

I think that their a lot to gain from developing your ideas of TLP.
Another interesting book might be:
Truth, which would go into even more depth.
The same could also go for Love or Power.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Brutha

After the feedback on this forum about polarity , I don't think that a lot of people "get it". It probably isn't a good choice for a book for the masses.

The polarity book may not be for the millions out there, however, the polarity book may make a huge difference in a smaller group of people. That smaller group of people may polarize much more, and thus create much more impact in the world. In other words, if we put this to numbers with hypothetical situation:

Time Management: 1,000,000 books sold x average effect of 10 units of good per book = 10,000,000 units of good produced in the world.

Polarity: 100,000 books sold x average effect of 1,000 units of good per book = 100,000,000 units of good produced in the world.

In this case, the polarity book may create 10x more good overall in the world even if it sold 10x less copies.

Of course, there's no way for me to know whether the situation above exists, it's possible that the Time Management book will affect the average person as much as the polarity book, thus negating my nice little equation.

[Sindre]

I would like to read a book about Conscious Business, but that might be just me. I also like the topic of Subjective Reality.

Personally I'm not so interested in a book about Polarity (yet) but if you wrote it, I would read it.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by seeker5

The polarity book may not be for the millions out there, however, the polarity book may make a huge difference in a smaller group of people. That smaller group of people may polarize much more, and thus create much more impact in the world.

I very much agree with Seeker here. Steve clearly said his goal is to help the 1-2% smart people who will make a difference in the World. I strongly believe that these 1-2% already are or would become interested in polarity and would read the book. If the book helps them polarize and apply polarization in their lives more consistently, then they (thus, Steve's book) will have a huge impact in the long run. It's more long term and more indirect impact, but it is impact.

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

It wouldn't be a good use of my time to write a book that relatively few people would read.

I don't agree with you. I think it would be an excellent use of your time to write a book that would help the 1-2% smart people make a difference in the World. Is it personal development for smart people, or personal development for the masses?

I can understand your concern about the publisher (maybe an eBook instead of a book is a good idea), but I don't understand why your goal suddenly seems to shift to be read by as many people as possible. Helping those who will help others may be a way to delegate.

I'd be better off skipping the book and devoting more attention to blogging, speaking, and other media.

You said polarity is something you'd need a book for. Can it be addressed through blogging, speaking or other media?

Writing a book is a lot of work, so if I'm going to make the effort, I want the end result to be impactful.

I understand this. The question is how you define impactful. I don't think measuring impact by the number of sold books is a good idea.

As I see it, the question is: is it more important to create more (or more efficiently polarized) lightworkers, or to help the average person get more productive and manage their time better?

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by RRR

TLP advice on social drag would be very helpful for me personally. I feel the expectations placed on me and the opportunities offered are so menial and disheartening. Surrounded by depressed, stressed, lower-middle class, psuedo-theists, is a problem not just for me, but for everyone my generation and below to have reasonable role models. It is hard to see the potential in yourself when you are surrounded by people you consider failures.

I used to live in Dayton -- know just how you feel RRR. Let me tell you though, the whole country isn't like that. You should check out the Bay area sometime. It's very progressive here.

Social drag is sort of an interesting idea for a book. Thematically, it makes sense to me that the next book would be about how to interact with one's environment from a TLP perspective. Social drag is one aspect of that. Relationships and career might be a couple more areas that people would appreciate more specific analysis on.

[Dan.Linehan]

How about personal development case studies? That would be interesting.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

To me it looks like you already made your choice, Steve.

He's probably just checking on the external reflections of the internal choice he's made.

A useful exercise when done consciously, although pretty useful regardless (so long as there is some awareness in there; otherwise the usefulness is lost on you).

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

If I'm going to pitch a book that I suspect may be a commercial flop, I have to be honest with the publisher about that. And most likely they'll just reject the proposal. Every new book is a risk, so I need a good way of showing it's a worthwhile risk.

It wouldn't be a good use of my time to write a book that relatively few people would read. I'd be better off skipping the book and devoting more attention to blogging, speaking, and other media.

Writing a book is a lot of work, so if I'm going to make the effort, I want the end result to be impactful.

Subjective reality and polarity would be interesting topics, but it may be better to cover them with ebooks or audio programs that I release direct. Then if there seems to be some decent interest over time, I may further develop the ideas into a book for a publisher.

That's a great way of looking at it.

Publisher = useful for working with to improve distribution. Win/win.

You = good for creating and publishing crazy fringe things that will really benefit 1% of the population and probably have a massive net influence, but not really directly benefit anybody else.

Edit: updated parts are in bold.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by seeker5

If you do the Time Management and Productivity, you could call the book

"Time Management for Smart People
Consciously Aligning your Time with Truth, Love, and Power"

Or something like that

"Time Management for Smart People" sounds good to me. "[...]: how to live consciously and effectively" or "[...]: how to live consciously and effectively in everyday life" seem appropriate, but there are lots of ways to do it.

I'd avoid using truth, love, and power in the title since it's jargony. You (and I) understand it, but will anybody else who isn't really aware of Steve's book? Probably not. They won't really understand the essence of what Steve is trying to express when he says "truth, love, and power." Realise that terms we use are real conceptual representations.

Originally Posted by seeker5

Can you write more then one book in a year? If so, maybe you can do 3 books this year - one on Time Management & Productivity, one on Polarity and the last one on Subjective Reality.

Steve is pretty good, but I'm not quite sure he's reached "uber machine" yet in terms of his ability to churn out quality material.

At least let him become a solar gazer first.

[Gene]

Of the titles you suggested I like most Time Management & Productivity and Conscious Business. Either of these books would be a read for me, but then most books you might write would have an interest to me.

[Savage]

If I work with a publisher, then sales are important. If the book doesn't sell well due to lack of interest, distributors won't stock it, and people won't see it on the shelves. Eventually the book goes out of print. IMO creating a book for a niche audience defeats the purpose of working with a mass market publisher. Better off self-publishing in that situation.

Since this thread started with the idea of doing another book for Hay House, that was the context. However, I have no problem doing an ebook on a topic that may not appeal to a smaller number of people buy which could still be very impactful for its readers.

Right now, however, I'm thinking about what sort of book might be good for mass market distribution.

[Dan.Linehan]

Mass appeal would be relationships.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

If I work with a publisher, then sales are important. If the book doesn't sell well due to lack of interest, distributors won't stock it, and people won't see it on the shelves. Eventually the book goes out of print. IMO creating a book for a niche audience defeats the purpose of working with a mass market publisher. Better off self-publishing in that situation.

Since this thread started with the idea of doing another book for Hay House, that was the context. However, I have no problem doing an ebook on a topic that may not appeal to a smaller number of people buy which could still be very impactful for its readers.

Right now, however, I'm thinking about what sort of book might be good for mass market distribution.

Not sure if you were replying to me, but yeah, I concur.

I edited my above post to be more clear.

I get the need for anything you do to be effective. I wouldn't even consider you creating something that wouldn't be effective. (Although effectiveness, as you allude to, is situational.)

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Right now, however, I'm thinking about what sort of book might be good for mass market distribution.

IMO, any book that has "by" and "Steve Pavlina" on the cover.

[Bruce Achterberg]

The good news is that your current book is, as far as I've seen, typo-free. That's a plus when it comes to having another book done with Hay House. Not many books I read are typo-free.

The only typo-like issues I can find in PDSP are things that make me cringe, but they're probably just a side effect of in-house Hay House editing (I want to speak with their editors; Elements of Style! Elements of Style! Elements of Style! (Anybody get the inside joke there? ))

Now I'm going to go browse some Websites. Then maybe later I'll play some videogames. (That was for you, English-loving, idea-respecting Sirlin.net fans.)

*cringe*

[Anna Conlan]

I'd definitely buy the book on time management.

I'd also be interested in reading about how to run a conscious business, I don't care if Steve only has four years experience

[Brutha]

I'd also be interested in reading about how to run a conscious business, I don't care if Steve only has four years experience

I would be interested in any of those books. The question is: Where can Steve add the most value and have real impact?

[Lena Carpenter]

I would be most interested in Time Management book, that takes a more holistic and conscious approach, rather than a typical one, covering a bunch of techniques. Just reading your post about it made me want to buy it!

[supertom]

Dharma to discipline - Time management and productivity for smart people

[Miss Moo]

I'd love to see your take on Time Management and Productivity. The way I see GTD and the 7 habits in my mind is like quantum mechanics and the relativity theory: there's no unified 'theory of everything' that connects them together. I think that a PDSP approach could fill the gap there.

[Algernon]

Originally Posted by Sindre

I would like to read a book about Conscious Business, but that might be just me.

Amazon.com: Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values: Fred Kofman: Books

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Algernon

Amazon.com: Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values: Fred Kofman: Books

I guess Steve's business book will instead have to be titled "Conscious Business for Smart People"

[supertom]

Originally Posted by Algernon

Amazon.com: Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values: Fred Kofman: Books

just when you think you know all the great books out there, another one comes along


"To be conscious means to be awake, mindful. To live consciously means to be open to perceiving the world around and within us, to understand our circumstances, and to decide how to respond to them in ways that honor our needs, values, and goals." ~Fred Kofman, Ph.D.

What brings authentic happiness?
What is my real life purpose?
What are the seven main differences between conscious and unconscious employees?
Why should our education system include teaching about Emotional Intelligence?
How can emotional energy be channeled into creativity?
What are the three most relevant cognitive distortions?
What is true success?

Just read the reviews he sounds like he knows what hes talking about

[Niki]

Personally I think Time Management is a good choice. Maybe a combination of Time Management and conscious business. Something like Kick Start And Maintain Your Own Business For Smart People :-D. I would buy it!

[dancer]

Conscious Leadership is a very interesting topic. I was inspired and curious about what you wrote in the Coaching and Consultations discussion. A book would compliment your consulting work and also reach out to individuals and smaller businesses. I would definitely be excited about reading it.

Coaching and Consultations (Blog)

If not your next book, please consider it for a future book.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Miss Moo

I'd love to see your take on Time Management and Productivity. The way I see GTD and the 7 habits in my mind is like quantum mechanics and the relativity theory: there's no unified 'theory of everything' that connects them together. I think that a PDSP approach could fill the gap there.

There already is one, although it's what you could call "secret Steve content" that you can only see once you see the relationships between all of the content he's made (primarily, articles).

Explaining it is kind of challenging. Implementing the framework is pretty easy, but developing all the components to slot into is challenging.

Hopefully Steve's book would address that. One of the reasons I don't have Steve's "smart people" time management system fully implemented is because it's just really hard (although no doubt he'd explain it better than the parallels between and various fragments from his articles do).

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by dancer

Conscious Leadership is a very interesting topic. I was inspired and curious about what you wrote in the Coaching and Consultations discussion. A book would compliment your consulting work and also reach out to individuals and smaller businesses. I would definitely be excited about reading it.

Coaching and Consultations (Blog)

If not your next book, please consider it for a future book.

Yeah, I was just thinking today that Steve really has many of the traits of a leader. He refines his message through iterative blogging and inspires us with clarity. Clarity is the tool of a leader.

Leading consciously is a whole other issue, but Steve's certainly competent at it. Not sure if you could consider him to be an authority, though.

* * *

Another book idea I had was one on purpose. But perhaps Steve isn't an expert there, either (although he has been living his purpose for a while).

I think people need aid in discovering their purpose, or rather, aligning with a state which makes it easy for them to discover their purpose.

I'd certainly buy such a book, even if I did know my purpose, simply because I feel it'd have some useful best practices and inspiring examples. I think such a book would have mass market appeal. We really need a smart person treatment of the subject of purpose in a way that addresses the entire issue, not just an exercise that will work only when you have a certain amount of ducks in the row. Why have a purpose, preparation for discovery, discovering your purpose, honing your purpose, implementing your purpose into all life areas, blocks to living your purpose, etc.

I know there is already Bad Swifts Life On Purpose book, but I think there's room for a smart people approach to this subject, especially as it relates to truth, love, and power. TL&P are the keys to making anything Steve writes very unique and interesting, and as such, valuable.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Steve, if you're looking for something with mass market appeal, you could always write that book about sex that people are always begging you for. I think it's only fair, since you've had adequate time for research (I bet you're all curious what that links to, hehehe) and it's been such a long time since you've written about it.

Title ideas:
- Intercourse for smart people.
- Fornication in alignment with intelligence
- How to have more ahaaaaa moments



(I file this post under the category of "fun to write.")