Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Blood Sugar 101: The Book!


I finally figured out how to turn the information on my Bloodsugar101.com web site into a book that would provide real value for readers. I'm polishing up the text now and the book should be coming out in April. You can see the cover mock up above.

The reason I felt it was time for a book was two-fold. One was that the message I was getting from the many people who email me is that while they found the information on the site extremely valuable, they didn't have time to read it all online. They often write to ask me questions that are answered on the site, so it was becoming clear to me that the sheer size of the site was making it harder to find important relevant information stored on it.

The other reason for putting this information into book form is that the linear structure of a book makes it possible to control the sequence in which readers encounter information. This makes it possible to explain things in a way where one idea builds on the previous one. Because you can't control the order in which visitors encounter information on a Web site, you often can't rely on their having the concepts needed to grasp the importance of a particular fact. The information on the Bloodsugar101.com site assumes a certain level of understanding about our bodies and our health that many people, even educated people, do not have. The book form is perfect for addressing this problem.

What I am loving about this book is the way that it takes readers step by step through the concepts they need to understand to control their blood sugar and prevent complications. The process of writing it has been valuable for me, too. I've had to to go back and revisit the content of the site, check my references, and sharpen my own understanding of the information presented there. The site has certainly grown beyond my ability to keep it all in my head!

This isn't my first venture into publishing. As some of you know, I'm the author of seven published business books including one that was a bestseller for John Wiley & Sons. After the success of the bestseller, I started my own small press and sold almost 20,000 books on my own. Unlike most self-published books, my books made it to the shelves in Borders, Barnes & Noble and other chains. I learned a great deal about publishing with those books, and I'm hoping to put that knowledge to use with this one.

The Blood Sugar 101 book will be available through Amazon and the other online bookstores. I'll also be offering it through the Bloodsugar101.com web site where you will be able to buy it using PayPal.

I'm going to be running a pre-publication offer where book rate shipping to addresses in the United States will be free. More about that when I get the web site set up to handle it.

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