Harsh But Fair: Merlin Mann on Deciding Which Books to Read
It's a problem most readers have, but it's a problem magnified for anyone involved in any kind of publishing venture: so many books, so little time. From slush pile to remainder bin, books face rejection and antipathy at every turn. This post on 'book heuristics' by writer and publisher Merlin Mann gets to the heart of making the decision to read or not to read. He's confronted mostly with non-fiction titles, but a lot of this applies more generally. Harsh, fair, and very perceptive:
People send me lots of books, so I have to decide rather quickly whether one should be added to the ambitious pile of stuff I already really want to finish reading.
On the off chance that you care or find it useful in developing your own filtering, here’s my insanely reductive, mean-busy-guy way to make a 90-second decision on whether to read a new non-fiction book from an author I’m not familiar with.
Posted by Chris Routledge
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