The Wretched Scribbler

The Wretched Scribbler blog features posts about writing, research, publishing, books, media, communications, idea platforms, idea entrepreneurs, and the people, projects, clients, and original concepts of Idea Platforms, Inc. Comments welcome.

InfoSnacks

Posted Tue, 02/16/2010 - 10:04am by jbutman

There’s one kind of reading that everybody loves: Infosnacks. Juicy, crispy, salty little morsels of information that you can pop into your brain, insume instantly, and get an immediate rush of quasi-educational delight.

Like this: One out of every 17 novels purchased in the US since 2006 has been a James Patterson title.

Whole meals can be constructed of infosnacks. Freakonomics, for example. Most of Gladwell. (Infosnacks may very well be wrong, but that rarely gets in the way of enjoying them.)

Here’s another one: On average, the physical production, shipping, and storage of a book only account for 10% of a publisher’s total book production costs.

Almost any infosnack is tasty, but the most scrumptious ones are counterintuitive. The exact opposite of what you thought! The grey cells wriggle with oxymoronic delight.

One more: Women tend to be shorter than men because 90% of pheromones are exuded through their hair, so women who are shorter exude directly into men's noses, and are thus more likely to be naturally selected for matehood.

Now you’d better go watch a video, for a change of pace.

I Just Want to Help

Posted Tue, 02/09/2010 - 11:58am by andivonravi

Dear Readers of Blog,

I would like to introduce myself. I am Andi von Ravi. I have been called the “world’s greatest guru,” but I think of myself in a much more humble way. I have simply been lucky enough to offer bits of insight and practical advice to some of the most fascinating people on the planet. Bono, Sarah Palin, and Steve Jobs come quickly to mind. Perhaps I have been successful, (if I have been, that is for others to judge) because I take a holistic approach to helping. (Tom Brady, Suze Orman, and Tina Fey also pop forward in my consciousness, now that I provoke my brain a bit more.) I help folk with physical fitness and feng shui. I assist with diet change and worldwide outsourcing strategy. I helped Warren Buffett in a small way with some nagging financial dilemmas. The Obamas couldn’t decide on that dog. Bear Grylls once got stuck in quicksand and texted me for advice on how to get out.

My, don’t people have their troubles!

I have stretched myself far and wide, doing what I can to help, and then help some more. From the struggling huts of strife-strewn geographies to the glittering towers of global commerce, I have walked miles in others’ shoes, except those who were barefoot. My despair, however, is that I have not been able to do enough for enough people in enough tough situations. Thus this blog. With it, I am opening myself up to the world. Saying, loud and near, let me help you!

Introducing Andi von Ravi

Posted Tue, 02/09/2010 - 9:47am by jbutman

At Idea Platforms, Inc., we are privileged to work with smart, successful, and highly engaging people around the world. Many of them offer helpful services to others, such as consulting and advising. Of these very excellent people, one stands out: Andi von Ravi. Modest beyond belief, ever insightful, and more than occasionally enigmatic, Andi has lent his ear, opened his heart, and offered his advice to so many of the world's leading people—many of them advisors themselves—that he has become known as The Guru's Guru. We are extraordinarily fortunate that Andi has agreed to take a moment or two from his jam-packed, globe-trotting days to grace The Wretched Scribbler with the occasional blog post. We hope that his profundity, wit, wisdom, and, yes, lovableness, will touch you as deeply as it does us.

The Scent of a Book

Posted Thu, 02/04/2010 - 10:04am by jbutman

Here's one important feature the iPad is missing: smell. New books have a clean, woody-inky aroma, reminiscent of the first day of school. Old books smell even better. Like parchment baked in sunlight, scented by the perfume of fingers touching the page.

I like to think there are design engineers working on the problem. How to synthesize Ye Olde Book Redolence and injection mold it into the spine of a Kindle. But I doubt that's the case. Smart designers are working on adding or improving the features that make sense for an ebook: color and capacity and integration of video.

Scent is just one reason that people will not soon give up on the printed book, no matter what else happens. Brain scientists tell us that the sense of smell is the most emotionally evocative of all. The accumulated emotions of years of reading are transmitted in that first whiff of a printed page.