Launching Countdown Book Club

So to start with the better communication, here is the announcement we posted yesterday on our daily blog:

The words have been written and most have survived the first round of edits. We are now in the polishing stage known as copyediting.

While we found ways to personally celebrate the completion of the manuscript with our families and the 800-CEO-READ team, we now want to share our growing excitement about the book with you.

The title is a bit of a giveaway, but our book is about business books. So we decided the best way to celebrate is to give you a sneak peak of some of the books we've included in The 100 Best.

We invite you to join The Countdown Book Club: Six Months To The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

You'll receive six books. The first book will be sent to you in September. We'll send you five books, one a month, through January. And then in February, you'll receive your copy of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

The cost is $99, which includes the six books and all the stamps to get them to you.

Now, we won't tell you which books we will send to you, but we promise you that they are more than worth your time and dollar.

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We are going to cover a range of topics with a set of books that we know will have an impact on your work life and personal life.

Hope you'll take the jump with us.

Picking back up.

Five months is too long not to have been writing about the book.

Our excuse is that there has been too much going on. It is not a very good one.

So, no more excuses. You will start hearing from us regularly- once or twice a week and even more often as we get closer.

Promise.

Todd asks Beard or Book?

And Todd's growing a beard in honor of the last two weeks before turning in the manuscript. Rumor has it, that hasn't happened since his college years.

What the grindstone looks like...

Hi there. The guys are steadily typing away, finger tips bruised from keyboard abuse, books marked by multiple post-its, book spines bent from use, and eyes glossy from staring at computer screens. Yes, it's the final two weeks of writing, creating and editing. It's coming along and we'll all be excited to turn in the manuscript.

Jack:

And Todd:

Milestone

I appreciate the fact that it has been awhile between posts but both Todd and I have been seriously "heads down" staying up to speed with the reading and writing of the book reviews. I made a milestone this week in that I have finished my twenty fifth review. YIPPEE, Now on to twenty six.

As the book get closer to pub date, this blog will be busy. Some of our plans are exciting.

Jack and Todd are in NYC

This week the blog's been quiet. Our dear authors, Jack and Todd are off in NYC dining at fine restaurants, reviewing the book's progress, meeting publishers and chatting up our new project.

I'm Kate, by the way. One of my various hats is directing (or attempting to) Jack and Todd as the book's project manager; you'll see me chip in from time-to-time here. I'll try and give you a bit more background about these two modest guys.

Here's the first bit: welcome to Jack's desk (at his house).

Honestly, I think he cleaned it up a bit before taking this picture. Here you'll see Jack's coffee -- Diet Coke. Books marked by sticky notes in typical Jack style. And, if you look really closely, you'll see a sunflower seed shell scattered on the floor from whenever Jack misses the trash. And that, is where half of his writing is completed.

Jack's Take part 2

For the past six months, since getting fully involved in this book project, I have been reading nothing but business books. Previously, I would read a fiction or general non-fiction book a week, usually written by an author I'd previously enjoyed, so I knew it would be an entertaining read. Instead of giving up my non-business book reading entirely, I have started a pile of books at home for after I finish this marathon; James Lee Burke, Walter Mosley and Michael Connelly are all waiting for me next to my reading chair.

All right, confession time: I have actually read one non-business book during these six months. It is a ten-year-old book about baseball called Memories of Summer by Roger Kahn. I read it at night before I fall asleep. Not everyone may be interested to learn that the 1954 Cleveland Indians pitchers had a team ERA of 2.78 with 77 complete games, but I am. I can't dream about business books, but I can dream about Duke Snyder and Willie Mays.

Why A Book? - Part II

My prior "Why A Book?" post describes why we are writing a book versus doing something else. This post is more about who will benefit from this project.

Writing a book is not a small undertaking. Jack and I are spending between 10 and 15 hours a week writing this book. The challenge with this particular book is we have to go back and read all the others books before we even start writing. To meet our April 1st deadline, both of us each week need to read a book and write a review. As Fool's Day approaches, I am certain a majority of our time will be spent completing the manuscript.

My statement about the workload is not a complaint. It is a statement of fact and one that we knowingly took on. The commitment though makes a strong statement about the value of the project.

For our company, this is a stake in the ground with 800-CEO-READ solidifying its position as an expert in business books. With our strong ties in the author community, we will be able to speak more easily to them as peers. The book gives our fans and supporters a rally point. The broader business community gets an unparalleled resource for facing the challenges in the marketplace.

We felt we needed to write this book. Certainly, there is the challenge of individual achievement for Jack and I, as one might choose to run a marathon, but what we spend most of our time talking about are things like "Who is going to be reading this?", "Is this book worthy?", and "How can we make this review better?" The answers to those questions make a better book for all of you.

I realize both of these post may sound high-minded, but we both believe the best journeys start with a noble purpose. Built into the DNA of our company is the primary idea that we need to help people and that is why we are writing this book.

When Genius Failed

When Genius Failed is about the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management. I found this quote particularly insightful.

"Their hunger to turn millions into billions knew no bounds, nor did it recognize any risks. For men who prided themselves on being disciples of reason, their drive to live on the edge seemed inexplicable, unless they believed that becoming the richest would certify them as also being the smartest."

Why A Book?

Because they still matter and they produce a different result.

There are a number of routes we could have gone with this project. A simple email with the 100 books could have gotten readers talking. People love lists.

We could have blogged our favorite books and created a couple of ChangeThis manifestos with some clever category slices. My top five books for executives post got a lot of traction and generated some great comments. Josh Kaufman's Personal MBA manifesto has been hugely popular.

Writing a book requires a different level of concentration, both internally and externally. It is not good enough to challenge your co-worker with the five books she'd bring with her to a desert island. Choosing and describing in the right terms 100 titles is a different task. Writing a book gives you the motivation and the impetus to do that work. I am not saying we couldn't do this without a publisher's deadline, just that it helps.

It is the same way a publisher signing the project helps. They sign projects that are going can be commercially successful. That eye can help a book find a larger audience. You also get the sales, distribution, and production capabilities. Those still matter too.

Don't think we aren't going to write the email and manifestos I described at the start as well as a dozen other things. We just think writing a book makes the end result better.