In this fifth episode, we get into another fundamental shift in the publishing world: book development. The old playbook of “authority from on high” is dead. Long live the authentic voice!

There's the three elements of book proposals: platform (your ability to reach readers), concept (a current, but time-honored topic), and craft (your “method” and ability to deliver the goods). But the craft must now derive primarily from an authentic voice emerging from your personal process, rather than from presumed or external authority.

Which helps explain why “for the Bible tells me so” doesn’t work so well anymore. Because basically this anti-traditional, anti-establishment culture wants a different kind of authority.

So we then discussed how the three-act story structure can serve even nonfiction authors working to incorporate a more humble, vulnerable approach, and how the ending shouldn’t be neat and tidily resolved, but somewhat ambiguous and inclusive of complexity (i.e. authentic).

Bottom line: readers want to see real life-change in their books these days. So come along and let's get into it!