Throwing the Book at 'Em

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Just a quick update on the progress of my book -- aka the reason my blogging has been so light.

On Monday, I turned in chapters 1 thru 10 along with the introduction. The manuscript checked in at 37,158 words -- the equivalent of roughly 150 pages. In all, I've planned for 20 chapters -- one for each Googley Lesson -- so I'm half-way there!

By the time this sucker is edited down, we'll probably be looking at a lean, mean 250 pages which is a good fighting weight for this project -- substantial enough to include a host of case studies and practical takeaways but svelte enough to be a quick read with punchy copy and quick hits throughout.

I'm in the process of redesigning my book website in tandem with the dream team at Elevate Studios. We're looking at a 4/1 launch date for the website which just happens to be one day after my full manuscript is due to McGraw-Hill.

On the new site, I'll share many of the interviews I've conducted with various industry luminaries like Seth Godin, Rishad Tobaccowala, Scott Hagedorn, Scott Shamberg, Matt Spiegel, Quentin George, Paul Gunning, Tony Bombacino, Olivier Lemaignen, Lance Neuhauser, Ed Wise, Penry Price, Jon Raj, Sean Cheyney, Omar Tawakol, and Debra Zahay among others. FYI, I've got another 50 or so currently scheduled so you can be sure I'll be practicing what I preach in chapter 2 when I talk about tapping the wisdom of crowds.

I'll also share excerpts of my manuscript so everyone can get a feel for the book content and tone. (Although, if you're a regular reader of this blog or my Search Insider column, you probably have a good feel for the latter.)

So far, the process has been pretty smooth but definitely more of a commitment than I expected. I've been writing bi-weekly columns for 3 years -- each one clocking in at abut 1,000 words. The goal for my manuscript is 60,000 words so I figured it'd be just like writing 60 columns. I took on the project in late December so I calculated that I'd just need to write the equivalent of 1 column per day in Q1 and I'd hit my 3/31 publisher deadline.

Of course, it's not that easy. For one thing, I don't get a chance to write every day what with my day job and all. And it's much different than writing bylines in that each chapter or sub-section doesn't stand alone. With a column, I can sit down and crank something out in a few hours. With the book, sometimes it takes me half a day just to get my head back to where I left off the last writing session. In turn, I've found the best way to create a cohesive manuscript is to flip on the out-of-office auto-reply and devote entire days and, twice so far, entire weeks to writing.

I also underestimated how difficult it would be to schedule and execute all the interviews. The folks whose brains I'm looking to tap also carry some of the craziest calendars and, at times, it's felt like herding cats. But it's important for me to include a variety of perspectives because I don't think anyone wants to read 250 pages of what Goldman thinks about marketing. Accordingly, I've sought out a mix of marketers, agency wonks, authors, academics, and entrepreneurs to share their POV's.

All in all, I'm very pleased with how the manuscript is shaking out and am very appreciative of all the industry heavyweights that have donated their time and energy to the cause.

Once I turn in my manuscript on 3/31, it goes through an extensive editing and production process and then sales and marketing efforts ramp up. The goal right now is a Fall launch but I'll be emerging from my blogging hiatus in April.

Until then, thanks for all the support and please weigh in on Twitter @GoogleyLessons and let me know what you learned from Google and/or what you'd like to see in the book. I plan on including selected tweets in the book and, for every 100 followers, I'll pick one from the entire list to-date to receive a signed copy.

Now, it's time for this booky to find a bookie and pound the Colts.