I’m delighted to see another great review on rhetorica®, my latest book on persuasive writing. Thank you Tony J Selimi!
You can read it here:
Find out more about my books here.
Category Archives: Rhetorica
…to get on my next open course, 23 Feb, central London. This is a sales writing course for all-comers over one day. I’ll be strutting my stuff on the 21 rhetorica ® writing techniques.
This course will show you how to write with personality, persuasion and power, but the early-bird discount closes in a few days. Plus we’re offering 20% off for bookings of three or more. Here’s that link again.
My book on persuasive writing has been getting some rave reviews. One poor deluded soul even put me in the same class as HW Fowler, Lynne Truss (Eats, Shoots & Leaves) and Stephen King. (Clearly, the bung was worth it.)
I’m now on a mission to take the book and its 21 techniques to an audience way beyond B2B — to young people and students, as well as non-English speakers who work and write in English. It seems to me there’s a huge gap between the basic spelling & grammar taught in primary schools and the increasingly sophisticated writing demanded in secondary and tertiary education. The cliché is that ‘English writing skills are caught, not taught’. Reading Dickens, Shakespeare and Jane Austen — much as I love ‘em — won’t necessarily make you a good writer. As I say in my book, writing well is neither a black art nor an innate gift, but a learnable skill.
If you happen to have any senior contacts in education wherever you are, pls introduce them to me. Thanks. (And if you want to join my mission, get in touch!)
Finally, pls diarise 30/31 March for the official launch of the discounted Kindle version (£0.99/$0.99) of the book. All proceeds will go to the two charities I’m supporting: Blind Veterans UK and the Type Archive, a unique collection of 3 million typefaces, fonts and historic printing presses. Both organisations do amazing work and need all the help they can get; I’m just doing my bit for them.
Although my book on persuasive writing is now available on Amazon, I’m launching the Kindle version end March for £0.99/$0.99, with all proceeds going to my two designated charities: Blind Veterans UK and the Type Archive, a globally unique collection of type, typefaces and historic printing presses. Both organisations do amazing work and need all the help they can get. I’ll remind you of the Kindle launch nearer the time.
If you just want to dip a toe into the limpid pool of my book, check out these three chapters.
If you do buy a copy and like what you see, then pls post a review. A few kind souls have already left 5-star reviews, but for the end March launch I want to have amassed dozens. Apparently Amazon promotes books that get a certain number of positive reviews.
The cover of rhetorica ® — which I’m thrilled with and which gets lots of positive comments — was designed by Professor Phil Cleaver. Phil instantly ‘got’ my desire to make rhetorica ® a covetable object. Besides running a design studio in Oxford, Phil is an expert in typesetting, typography and typographic history, and introduced me to the Type Archive. He’s the best designer I’ve ever worked with.
This is a new take on my annual writing skills open course for professionals: I’ve added a design element. Run in the City of London in collaboration with Top Consultant, a management consultancy recruiter, this 1½-day workshop will show you how to write with power and persuasion, then lay out your words so that people want to read them.
Day 1 features my rhetorica ® writing techniques, complete with exercises, debriefs and wide-ranging discussions about writing. The following morning, Professor Phil Cleaver, my book designer, will cover topics like What is type?, a brief history of type, some do’s & don’ts of typesetting, examples of good and bad layout and, for the truly brave, a (gentle) critique of delegates’ document samples for everyone to learn from.
As Prof. Phil says, ‘There’s no point writing the most persuasive words if they’re so badly laid out they’re not inviting to read’.
Here’s the link to find out more.
Following the 1-day open course I ran in March in London in conjunction with Top Consultant, specialists in management consulting recruitment, I’m running another one. But this one’s a bit different.
23/2/17 is a 1-day workshop on my 21 rhetorica ® writing techniques, but on the morning of 24/2/17 Professor Phil Cleaver will treat us to a brief explanation of type and its history, plus some top tips on page layout, document design and typesetting. Then he’ll do a gentle critique of sample documents submitted by delegates that we can all learn from.
As Prof. Phil says, ‘There’s no point writing the most persuasive words if they’re so badly laid out they’re not inviting to read’.
A multi-award winning designer, Phil is Professor in the Creative Industries at Middlesex University and has worked with some of the world’s top graphic artists and typographers. (Surpassing all that, of course is the fact he designed the cover of my book and is doing my re-branding. Only kidding.)
You can attend either day or both days of the open course. Click here for more details.
February also sees the launch of the first modules of my online writing skills programme, which builds on the 21 persuasive writing techniques of the book. You don’t have to have read the book, but it will help (I would say that, though, wouldn’t I?)
Keep your eyes and ears peeled for details of the February launch of rhetorica ® the book and the online programme.
If you would like a reminder nearer the time, leave a reply below.
My book on persuasive writing is finished and ready for its February 2017 launch — but you can have a sneak-peek. Click on the picture of the book to go to the Amazon page. If you want to buy a copy now (and post a review on Amazon), you can do that, too.
For two days at the start of February I plan to offer the Kindle version for 99p, with all proceeds going to two charities: Blind Veterans UK and The Type Archive.
My book features the story of Lance Bombardier Rob Long, who was blinded by an IED in Afghanistan, and who is turning his life around with the help of Blind Veterans UK.
The Type Archive houses the National Typefounding Collection, the largest and most valuable collection of type in Britain; it also promotes literacy around the country. Staffed solely by volunteers, it hangs by a financial thread, so it needs help. (I’m tithing my annual profits to both these organisations, too.)
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