Did you write a book? Did you write a GOOD book?

Earlier this week I had a tough call with a client, a man who’s passionate about sharing a message. He wanted me to write a query letter that would attract a publisher. After reading his manuscript, I had to tell him the bad news: his subject was interesting and probably marketable, but his writing was “undeveloped for professional publication.” Yes, those are the stilted, business-ese words I used. I’m not proud of it. But it was the nicest way I could think of to say, “This is so disorganiz...