Kathy Sierra

Kathy Sierra is a writer of best selling technical books. I talked with her recently about some of the principles she advocates that would apply to any nonfiction book. She uses research-based elements from learning psychology and neurobiology to grab and hold attention so that people absorb and retain the book's messages at a deep level. She says, "The book's look, feel and storyline pulls people in and encourages them to keep turning the pages." That's something I'd want in a novel, too! She advocates for a book's language, flow, order, and format to make sense at an ordinary level, and for the content to be correct. Finally, Sierra says, the topics in the book must be the right ones to meet the readers' needs and goals. For her, it's all about the reader. She warns not to skip any of these aspects, and not to worry about having a small advertising budget. "The good folks on the net will take care of that for you, assuming you're keeping up the conversation," Sierra said. She's talking blogs, folks. Send your book to bloggers. Blog about your book. Respond to blog posts and comments about your book.