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Good editing means trusting yourself
While editing certainly involves a lot of hard skills—structuring a piece, making it flow, continuing to draw the eye onward—it equally requires understanding what the author is trying to do. It means listening closely to them, helping them see their options, and advising them on making the best decisions. It doesn’t always look like that,…
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Get rich or die tryin’
It’s good to be willing to take the leap, to step up. Most people won’t. Sometimes though, when you’re willing to take drastic action, you can also get in your own way. Shane Parrish writes in Clear Thinking, “When you are well positioned, there are many paths to victory. If you are poorly positioned, there…
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The effort is the point
When I was working with an executive assistant, one of their tasks was scheduling meetings with my clients. I considered having them schedule meetings with my friends too, and that never felt right for me. Sometimes, scheduling is just about meeting to discuss business, which is where tools such as Calendly or SavvyCal or Vimcal…
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What AI won’t change in art
Google launched 25 years ago. While it has become one of the biggest, most powerful companies in the world, it hasn’t changed everything about us. For example, while we search a lot, we still ask each other questions. (Partially because Google search has deteriorated.) We still meet up at events, ask for coffees, and sign…
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Thin rewards vs. thick rewards
When you cave in to your impulses—to check social media, to engage an overwhelming emotion, to eat delicious food of little nutritional value, to not speak up, to people please, to follow a default path, etc.—you will feel good in the moment. Unfortunately, the feeling usually disappears very quickly. These are thin rewards, and you…
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The brand signature litmus test
One way to tell you’ve got a signature: when your style reminds other people of your work in their day to day lives, like Accidental Wes Anderson, or Accidental Bronson. (Parodying is also a good sign, like Fake Steve Jobs or Big Ghost.)
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A 20 year detour
When Ke Huy Quan was 12 years old, he made his film debut starring in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Millions of viewers would know his character, Short Round. Yet as he got older and decided he wanted to act for a living, he saw fewer opportunities to act. He couldn’t see a…
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Practicing vs. pushing
Practice is about getting better, and pushing is about exerting greater force. While sometimes people may want you to push yourself to practice harder—and while yes, sometimes, the need is there!—many times the two aren’t necessarily connected together. Pushing too hard, or too often, can actually ruin a practice, because it creates too much pressure…
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Find spaces to talk about your ideas
Promoting your work actually makes an impact. Anne Trubek notes, after publishing 90 books, “I can trace a pretty, if not completely, clear line between an author’s marketing prowess and effort and sales.” There are a lot of people who would probably want to learn more—as soon as they are aware of it and can…
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Notes on promotion, at the book fair
Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair is made up of 36,000 square feet of books and the people who print and publish them. If you like books, or art, it’s a great place to be. Events are great temporary spaces and occasions to bring a group of people together (known in marketing as activation).…