Yes, if you start with a bunch of great content you can draw from: blog posts, articles, notes, lists, research. And are ruthlessly focused on shipping something in 8 weeks. But the fact is, it probably does take 10,000 hours to learn how to write well. If not 10,000, then a lot of time  over a period of years.

The cool thing about writing a short book and self-publishing it on Amazon Kindle is that you can think of yourself as a Beta Author. Why Beta? Think of it as an Agile Book Launch. Your short book will be provocative, smart and well-written. It will have a sizzling title and a click-inducing cover. But it may be the first in a series of books. You may want to write a longer book later. You may want to revise it. No problem. As an

Inspired by a number of other bloggers and authors, including Chris Brogan (Temple, Untangle, Practice), Jonathan Fields (Serve, Inspire, Transcend) and Chris Guillebeau (Finishing), I am starting 2012 with three words. I was tempted to say "launching" 2012 because that's what it feels like. More about that in a minute. First, my words:

Alignment

Quiet

Compassion

Alignment

2012 is going to be a year of adventure,

Seth Godin reminds us - again - of the new way to think about writing a business book. You are writing for the fans and followers you already have. Your tribe. They are the ones who will celebrate with you and kick off word-of-mouth sales if you set your launch price on Kindle at $0.00.

As Seth puts it: "Wake up in the morning thinking about what (you) can write for (your) readers." Not the other way around. The old mindset went

We're betting it is. And there are one spot no spots left to pre-register for the next Beta Author Boost, starting in March 2012. Beta Author Boost is a unique writing workshop that enables up-and-coming business authors to write and publish a short, kick-ass eBook for Amazon Kindle in 8 weeks. The first Beta Author Boost sold out in less than 12 hours. The program is currently in full swing with 10 subject matter experts working on

Context is one of those words that sparks a multidimensional image in your head. That is key to understanding why context (who, where, how, what, why) has as much to do with the success or popularity of a new book as does the actual content of that book. Who recommended the book to you? That counts for a lot. You tend to trust recommendations from friends who are discerning and on top of what's new.

Where did you hear about the