Let’s look at why we judge people by their appearance. Suppose you had the choice of putting your partner in one of two bodies: one beautiful and one ugly. Which would you choose? Assuming that intellect, chemistry, personality and all the other incredibly important factors in choosing a mate were out of play, that the only thing we’re talking about is looks, it’s a no brainer, right?

Why are we hardwired to choose beauty?

Our preference for beauty has its roots in human evolution. We used beauty as an indication of health in our potential mates, a way to instinctually predict who was likely to be fertile, resistant to disease, and strong enough to survive. It’s only recently that science has confirmed that people with more symmetrical faces (a key factor in determining who we consider beautiful) have greater genetic diversity. The more genetic material we have to work with, the better our chances of resisting parasitic infection and environmental traumas.

Beauty is a indicator that the insides are probably healthy. None of us look as attractive when we’re sick, so the idea holds up in the reverse case.

How’s this translate to book covers?

In a competitive book market, we need a way to evaluate whether the book we’re thinking of buying and reading is going to be filled with fruitful ideas and a compelling story. We won’t know for sure until we read it, but since we’ve got limited time and money we need a way to choose between our options. We’re using instinctual assumption that if it’s attractive on the outside, it’s probably healthy on the inside to make our choice, but book covers are not determined by the genetics of the book. They’re not biologically linked. In fact (Chip Kidd not withstanding) the cover of a book is created by someone totally different than the person who wrote it. It’s the work of a totally different person, and why would we think the work of one person accurately reflects the work of another?

We think it makes sense to assume that well designed cover is an indication of the value of it’s contents, but it doesn’t.

Except that it might, and this is where the Catch-22 starts.

Since people aren’t going to change the way they judge a book by it’s cover, smart authors and publishers invest in a beautiful cover because they know it sends a strong signal to the reader that the book is filled with great ideas and an interesting story. The authors and publishers who invest in good design are usually the ones who invest in great editors, they’re usually the ones who find innovative ways to promote their books, and they’re usually the ones who know it’s not worth going through the long, and exhausting process of creating a book unless the thing you want to say with it is worth saying. In short, it’s the people with the best ideas and best stories who end up fighting for the best covers, because they know that even though our reasons for judging a book by it’s cover aren’t sound, we’re still doing it.

This is why you need to ask: does my book cover look healthy?

If Shakespeare were alive today would he still be a literary powerhouse?

MediaBistro recently asked: should books should come with expiration dates? It’s an interesting question to consider because not everything that’s written is timeless. How much of what we value as worthy in classic literature still has something to teach us in the digital age? How much of what’s being written today that will still be making a difference five hundred years in the future?

I think Shakespeare would do very well for himself in 2012.

Like many of the successful self-made artists and entrepreneurs of our day he knew how to make things happen: how to find funding for his projects, how to put together a great team of collaborators, and how to cultivate an customer base and keep them coming back for more.

I can easily imagine his genius flourishing in our fast-changing digital landscape. His brevity and wit would make him a twitter heavyweight. His dirty sense of humor and ability to make the everyday person laugh could easily translate into a sitcom or animated web series. His biting critiques and social observations would make him a great interview or stand-up comic. Can’t you see him collaborating with musicians to create astounding live shows and performances? Don’t you think you’d read Shakespeare’s blog if you could? Wouldn’t it be great to get a new dose of his take on the human condition every day?

Maybe I’m imagining too much, but for a guy who wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and invented over 1700 new words and phrases in his lifetime, I think he knew what I keep forgetting: failure isn’t the end of the road, it’s just something that happens on the way to success. You get nowhere without making something, sharing it with the world, and then making the next thing.

Thanks for the reminder Shakespeare. You’re still making a difference in my life.

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This post is a part of a collaborative project for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, called happybirthdayshakespeare.com. If you liked this, read my post from last year.

It’s brilliant, in this age of digital, to actually see the ones and zeros made physical, but it’s also terrifying. An ebook is easy to update, but a print book lives on forever, fixed in time. So, I check, double-check, triple-check, put it in a drawer for a week and come back to it with fresh eyes, all to try and find the mistake that’s there somewhere. Thankfully, I’m not alone. I have dedicated editors and caring authors who help shoulder the responsibility.

In the end, if there’s a mistake we have to live with it. Because, as much as I’d like to ship things that are perfect, perfect is a beast that I can’t tame.

I’ll share the video of the event once it’s ready. My main take-away was the importance of putting yourself on the line. I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of very smart people for influencing my thinking and perspective over the past year, but I didn’t realize the depth of that influence until I committed myself to the talk and started writing.

So in this season of gratitude, I extend a big thank you to the following people for their work and words: Seth Godin, Steven Pressfield, Derek Sivers, Bob Lefsetz, Mike Shatzkin, Jason Hirschhorn, Debbie Millman, Carin Goldberg, JA Konrath, Leo Tolstoy, Nick Hornsby, Neal Stephenson, Kevin Kelly, Chris Anderson, Craig Mod, Jeff Jarvis, and to a number of people unnamed who’ve always taken the time to write back to me when I’ve got questions, problems I’m trying to work out, or things I don’t understand.

Your help has made all the difference.

Happy Holidays.

Not least among these people is LeVar Burton, the host (for over 25 years) of Reading Rainbow. Even the lyrics of the theme song were words to live by:

“I can be anything. Take a look, it’s in a book.”

I was thrilled to learn that LeVar Burton is bringing Reading Rainbow to a new generation of kids, and embracing the changing landscape of publishing to do it in an interesting way.

Burton is launching a new company, RRKidz, that will offer a regular stream of educational, interactive eBooks optimized for iPads, smartphones, and other tablets. The company is setting this service up with a subscription model, which I’ve talked about before as the likely future for eBooks, and with content curated by Burton.

Curation is becoming crucial in the digital age, especially as it becomes easier for everyone to create content and share it online. I love that the internet has created such fertile ground for exchanging ideas, but the information overload can be a real problem.

There’s no getting past how important it is that LeVar Burton’s at the helm for this project. I trust him to curate RRKidz because of the years he spent turning me on to great books and inspiring a love of reading. He believed in everything he recommended enough to tell me not to just take his word for it, but to try things for myself. His famous phrase “but you don’t have to take my word for it” encouraged my curiosity, it reminded me that adults don’t always have the answers, and that above all, I could make my own choices.

The kind of trust I feel for Reading Rainbow and LeVar Burton is something you can’t buy. For that, I’m grateful. Because that level of respect and trust has to be earned, it serves as a reminder of the hard work we all need to do if we want to become leaders in our field and make an impact on people’s lives.

So, thank you, LeVar Burton, for teaching me the importance of honest communication, respecting my audience, and not recommending something unless I stand behind it 100%.

It isn’t very often that a book has the power to save a life. Yes, good books can improve lives, shape lives, even change lives. But when was the last time a book literally helped save a life?

Today.

The Domino Project is launching its latest book with an audacious and necessary proposal: end malaria.

In conjunction with Box of Crayons and Malaria No More, The Domino Project is helping to end malaria by donating $20 from every book sold to Malaria No More.

“At its core, End Malaria is about doing great work, and at The Domino Project we believe there’s no better work than saving a life.”

I’m so glad to be a part of this, and I hope you’ll join me.

If you care about the way we publish and share books, do yourself a favor and read Craig Mod’s thought-provoking essay Post-Artifact Books and Publishing.

He asks the right question: How does digital change books?

In the article he links to Kevin Kelly’s blog post What Books Will Become. Here’s an excerpt that I think is too smart to ignore:

In the long run (next 10-20 years) we won’t pay for individual books any more than we’ll pay for individual songs or movies. All will be streamed in paid subscription services; you’ll just “borrow” what you want.

Who’s going to lead the charge and create the site that allows us to subscribe once and read everywhere? Who’s going to negotiate the licensing fees with publishers and independent artists?

Who’s going to find the right algorithm for recommending new books based on our reading habits? Is it based on our reviews? Is it based on the books liked and listed on our friend’s social media profiles? Is it based on the books ranked highly by people who highlighted the same sections of of an ebook that we did?

Will we subscribe to reading lists curated by our favorite authors, publishers, or culture shapers?

Will this be the library of the future or the bookstore of the future? Will they become the same thing once we stop buying individual books and start paying for a membership that allows us unlimited “streaming” of books and articles?

If you work at a 9-5 job, you probably know what I’m talking about.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Meetings can change. They’re our invention. They’re our tool. We’ve just been running them in the wrong way. We’ve been running them in the wrong way for so long we forgot there was a better way.

Read This Before Our Next Meeting (free on the Kindle for the next week) is the catalyst we’ve been waiting for. Written by the whip-smart Al Pittampalli, it’s aiming to kill the meeting culture we hate.

I designed the print edtion of this book for Al, and I’m so glad to have done my part to help end bad meetings.

Yes, yes it would, but I think it might actually be better to get to your goal one step at a time. While it takes longer to get you there, in the end, I think you arrive at a better place.

Along the way, you’ve accumulated friends and supporters; you’ve recovered from your hard knocks; you’ve learned what works and what doesn’t work; you’ve developed a process and built a tribe—the two things you’ll need to make your next book a success.

I’m thinking about this today because my friend, Aaron Goldfarb, just released the print edition of his book The Cheat Sheet. He’s doing some really fun stuff with the design by setting each story in a different typeface. That’s something he wasn’t able to do when he put out the Kindle edition nine months ago, but the Kindle edition let him gain the traction he needed to create the print edition.

More and more I’m hearing a similar story: digital first, then print. Build an audience, drive demand, get people to care—all before you print. Yes, you still need someone like me to create the digital editions. Yes, you still need a killer cover. But you don’t have to pay for pulp and ink until you know you can sell.

Digital books and the internet are changing the game. The old walls are tumbling down. A lower barrier to entry doesn’t guarantee success, but it does make it a lot easier to toss your hat into the ring and give it your all.

A disclaimer: Aaron is a friend. He’s plied me with food, drink, and good conversation, so yeah, I’m biased towards liking his book. Then again, if you also like getting lost in conversation in a bar, wandering your way from topic to topic, and telling stories of exes and the sexes, then there’s a fair chance you’re already biased towards liking it too. Why not give it a go?

Today, I raise a toast to another creative getting their work out into the world one step at a time. Here’s to not waiting for someone to pick you, but instead letting all the people who loved your digital book be the ones to tell you it when it’s time to print. Cheers, Aaron!

One step at a time still gets you there, and often gets you to a better place.

Thank you Mr. Swayze. Also, thanks to playingwithbrushes for the background.