Last May, I was in New York for BlogWorld and I met Geoff Livingston, for the first time in person, to discuss writing a book together. It was a sunny day and we stopped for bruschetta and wine while we discussed this crazy idea.

The stars were all aligned. We already knew we think alike, putting business goals ahead of anything else through our marketing and communication programs. It’s seemingly easier to write half a book than an entire one. And, while we have some of the same friends, a big part of our networks are different, which would introduce us both to new people and new opportunities.

And so we went for it. We wrote an outline, we divided up the chapters, and we got to work. He wrote mostly at night, after his daughter went to bed. I wrote mostly weekends, without distractions from the business. And we hired an awesome editor (Jennifer Goode Stevens) who helped us put the book in the same voice (though I think some of you know us well enough to still figure out who wrote what).

Then, with the help of Anna Barcelos and Steve Hall, we began the editing process which, some days was much more painful than the actual writing of it. They caught things that were beyond basic editing, but made the book a much better read and incorporated an even higher-level strategy.

After all of that, our friends at Pearson began to make it look like an actual book, with chapters and an index and a table of contents and the best cover design I’ve seen in a long time.

And now it’s here. It’s actually here! (more…)