A Postmodern Publishing Moment

This has been an exciting week for me in publishing and even as publishing reports on publishing. A post, which I wrote about two months ago, finally made it to CNBC's blog Click here for link. Moreover, Chico's daily newspaper, The Enterprise-Record, has interviewed me as a lead-up to being published by USA Today's Weekend, in which I comment (as their "insider") about Jim Carrey's move, "Yes Man." An interview with a newspaper that has a national circulation of 43 million is hometown news. (The ER piece comes out in the next few days; the USA Weekend one on May 10th.)

It's fabulous, and I'm excited, but my mind being what it is, it went to postmodernity, where metanarratives pile on top of narratives, commentary starts supplanting the original text, and the whole shebang begins to become a series of Chinese boxes. If you're wondering why I posted a picture of "The Matrix," there are two reasons: first of all, it makes my blog look cool, and secondly the film was based on the postmodern philosophy of Jean Baudrillard (his book, Simulacra and Simulation, appears in one of its opening scenes where Neo hides his contraband computer programs). Baudrillard emphasized that we live in a hyper-reality, in which our experience is based on other's commentaries and presentations of it more than on the direct experience itself. We drink Coke not necessarily because we like it, but because advertising tells us why we desire it.

Thus the philosophy behind "The Matrix" and my week in publishing about publishing are coinciding.

I'm not against hoping that people will pick up Say Yes to No because of these publications. But even more, I hope they will read it and find that the book is worthwhile because, yes, nos really do lead to greater yeses.

Sometimes You Just Can't Help But be Thankful

I was looking over some material related to my book, and I came again across this quote from the noted management guru, Ken Blanchard:

If you feel overwhelmed and overcommitted, Say Yes to No will help you shake up your priorities on the job and at home. Greg Cootsona shows how finding the proper balance of work and rest—‘the rhythm of No’—can lead to a more relaxed and rewarding life. In our busy, busy world, everyone needs to read this book.

First of all, he gets the book and summarizes it expertly. So that's cool. Secondly, it's fabulous that someone of his stature would decide to lend an hand, through an endorsement, to a lesser-known author. When I re-read the quote, I just found myself thankful at that fact.... And spurred on to do likewise when the opportunity arises.

I'd like to be more profound (and I presume, verbose), but sometimes gratitude is rather concise.