Dear book writing friends - what is the one thing you wish you'd done when you set out to write your first book? Or the one thing you *did* do that worked so well you'd recommend it to someone taking their first steps along on this treacherous path?

Cc @berkun @mholzschlag @meyerweb @louisrosenfeld @jjg

The best thing I did was to stop romanticizing "a book" - unlike other creations it has a mystical significance that gets in the way. The same approaches used to design/create anything else applies to books too. I tried to see the experience as a way to learn for the 2nd book :)

What an interesting comment! There is nothing romantic about writing Tech books. It's a lonely unprofitable for the most part. The gratification has to be from work itself and books do bring with them the opportunity to speak and expand a career so that's powerful.

We agree Molly! The reality is not very romantic at all - my point was for most people their reasons for writing a book are terribly romantic, and the sooner they get past that the better.