Erik Sherman

It really feels like we are entering a "golden age" of biology media. Dozens of bloggers are covering it from many angles. Progress magazines, like Works in Progress, are devoting big chunks of their issues to the subject (and have a podcast on it). Dwarkesh is interviewing Nick Lane & Jacob Kimmel. The list goes on. People who might not otherwise be exposed to super deep, "nerdy" biology articles (outside of surface-level, mainstream coverage) are now encountering it all the time. This is good. In the coming years, I suspect computer science will become less fashionable as biology (and especially biotechnology) ascends.

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Most writers don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because their writing is too damn heavy. In the 1920s, Edwin Perkins had a thriving little mail-order business( that he ran out of the back room of the local post office). One of his bestsellers? A liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. But there was a problem. Shipping glass bottles was expensive. They broke. They leaked. Customers complained. Instead of giving up, Perkins reimagined the product. What if the flavor could be condensed into powder? Small, light, and easy to ship. That pivot created Kool-Aid. A product so simple kids could mix it themselves. Cheap. Portable. Scalable. What does this have to do with writing? Your ideas are the “Fruit Smack.” If they’re too heavy, too complicated, too hard to deliver—your readers won’t stick around. The fix. Do what Perkins did. Strip it down. Make it portable. Create writing so clear and easy to consume that anyone can “mix it themselves.” Because great businesses—and great writing—aren’t built on complexity. They’re built on ideas packaged so well, they spread. So next time you write, ask yourself: Have I made this easy enough for my reader to consume every word. Every sentence. Every paragraph.

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Free quick writing tip: Often, sentences that begin with, “As” become stronger if you eliminate “as” and start with the next word. Examples: “As I turned the corner, I saw my former boss, but he didn’t recognize me.” VS. “I turned the corner and saw my former boss, but he didn’t recognize me.” Here’s another one… “As I scanned the horizon, looking for an answer, I saw no other way.” VS. “I scanned the horizon, looking for an answer. I saw no other way.” Why use more words than you need? Check your sentences beginning with “As…” and see if a little extra magic emerges if you delete that little two-letter word.

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I see a lot of people telling others how to write so as not to look like the work is a product of AI. Many of these, oddly, look similar. A sentence per line. Writing tends to be short, with a string of certain statements. Here's another idea. Learn how *you* write. There are good practices in writing techniques and having the basics down helps provide a stable foundation. But lean into your natural expression. We're all brought up differently, a combination of nature, nurture, locale, what we read, sounds we hear. Pare away the extras that have been put upon you (and extra could mean dictums to write shorter than you think, which may make sense at some times but not others). Let you come out. Will it act well for the algorithms? Eh, maybe not. But those keep changing. The more you try to turn yourself into a product to progress more smoothly through the grind, the less you are you. Be yourself and find your honest and natural audience.

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Here’s a free tip for PR/ marketing people: when pitching a journalist who covers aging, avoid using ageist, misogynistic or disaster-based language in your pitch. Phrases like “geezer,” “granny,” or “silver tsunami,” will NOT land well. Reframe your own attitude, reframe your language and then maybe we’ll talk.

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AI apps, such as ChatGPT, have exposed how much credit we give to machines. Now we see an em-dash and squeal, "AI!" But AI apes humans (and not the other way around) who have tripped on em-dashes, with endearing self-awareness and levity, for long. Here's a piece, for example, written entirely using em-dashes *14 years* ago: https://lnkd.in/dZc94cQY

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The ugly math of publishing nobody tells you… HOW you publish matters to your bottom line and your ego. TRADITIONAL Publishing: You get prestige, maybe an advance (think $5–10K, not yacht money). Royalties? 10–15% on print. Control? Minimal. Timeline? 2–3 years. HYBRID Publishing: You pay upfront. They publish. You keep more royalties. Control is shared. Reputation varies wildly. SELF-Publishing: Full control, full costs, full responsibility. Royalties? $5–10 a copy if you market well. But you’re the boss. So, which one’s “best”? The one that fits your goals. 👉 Want credibility in certain circles? Traditional. 👉 Want speed + control? Self. 👉 Want a middle ground? Hybrid (but choose carefully). The ugly math: Most traditionally published authors sell fewer than 5,000 copies. Most self-published authors sell fewer than 500. But my clients? They don’t just sell books. They turn $20 paperbacks into $20K speaking gigs, $200K contracts, and million-dollar brands no matter which publishing method they use. Because it’s not about how you publish. It’s about how you leverage the book once it’s out.

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The hardest thing for young writers (and business leaders) to grasp is a good segue. An artistically-expressed segues, much like brushstrokes on great artwork, are never seen if executed with finesse. But when sloppy, it sticks out like a flailing strand of hair trapped between layers of acrylic. In my early days as an editor, back when I still had to edit younger writers, it wouldn’t surprise me if a 1,200 word review is riddled at the side with instances of “Poor segue”; “Why are we suddenly talking about this? Where’s your segue?”; “Abrupt”; “Weak segue”. For those unfamiliar with story nomenclature, a segue is an uninterrupted transition which in writing, at least how I see it, holds the hand of the reader as the writer takes them from point A to point A2 (sometimes point B and, if one so dares, even skipping to point C). I stress on this because a good, well-thought out talking point deserves a properly parsed segue. It aids in understanding, makes for unfettered reading, and gives the story a nice lilting cadence. It’s very intoxicating when you get it right. Beyond the art of writing, segues are also an incidental recurrent theme for all seven profiles I interviewed for The Peak Singapore’s February edition of ‘How they see it’. They exemplify moments when a leader must transition from one state of being to another, sometimes seamlessly, sometimes painfully. For Yeap Ming Feng 叶明锋, it means reframing financial markets—transforming uncertainty into empowerment. Keith Ong works to dismantle exclusivity in real estate investing, proving that institutional-grade opportunities didn’t have to belong to the few. Kai Yang Chan sees cakes as more than desserts; they became vessels of memory, ritual, and nostalgia. Grace JM Lam redefines leadership—not as authority, but as the deeper, messier work of influence. Baldev Bhinder shifts legal strategy from reactive firefighting to preemptive navigation, where the best battle is the one never fought. Jx Lye tackles financial bottlenecks, making banking integrations seamless enablers of growth. And Zhang Quan Ong faces the hardest segue of all—convincing people that sustainability isn’t a sacrifice, but a better way forward. I’m beyond myself in excitement to share their stories with you this month. Because these business leaders are proof that segues exist quite distinctly in the world of business too. In quiet pivots, in imperceptible shifts, in moments when a leader steers from one state of being to another oftentimes without the world even noticing. Stay tuned.

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Honey, I Broke the Copyeditor—and the Oxford Comma! We all know copyediting is more than just fixing typos, rogue commas (particularly the ones imported from Oxford), or sentences that read like a broken GPS. The real hunt is for inconsistent capitalization of random words, mysterious abbreviations that no one bothered to explain, and numerals that suddenly demand commas—acting like they’re staging a style revolt (thousand “separatists”). Sure, there are MS Word macros and in-house tools that claim to help, but most of them operate on the level of “find and replace” or “search and pray.” They promise the moon but often deliver a pebble. I went on a tool-hunting spree and stumbled upon a zoo of options: PerfectIT, ChatGPT (yes, even bots want in on the action), Trinka, and Edifix. Each had its pitch, but none quite scratched that elusive editing itch. Some of these tools, for instance, would occasionally throw a bone with some corrections but leave a trail of mess behind. When questioned about its slip-ups, it would calmly explain it as an “oversight” or a “system bug”—unlike a human copyeditor who would be losing sleep, skipping lunch, and possibly considering a new career if a publisher caught such errors in their edited file. We could at least tell our copyeditors to be more cautious when an error was flagged. These tools? No such luck. Instead of helping, they ended up traumatizing the copyeditor—every redline a fresh wound. At some point, it didn’t feel like editing anymore; it looked like a “murder by track changes.”

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The 5 Ws and H (Who, What, Where, When,why and How) are fundamentals in journalism.However, these questions can also be applied to everyday life, helping us clarify and understand various situations. Asking these questions can help to identify the root cause of a problem. Clarifying the 5 Ws and H can indicate to take firm decisions

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Corporate client to freelance writer: "We want our writing style to be like The Economist magazine." It's a fairly common request in thought leadership. Reality check. I'm all for aiming high, but this probably isn't realistic for most companies. The Economist writing style - clear, concise, dry humour and confident - is widely admired but hard to emulate. Apart from great writers, it requires a large team of great editors to maintain such a distinctive house style. It's going to be hard to produce unless your company has: 1. Great editor(s) with a journalism background and a great writer(s) with a journalism background. And editors with the authority to push back against requests from your company "stakeholders" to insert clunky sales messages and write for the marketing department, not your audience. 2. Your company has newsroom-style systems/processes (for ideas, commissioning, reporting, editing) and job roles to maintain editorial quality and content flow 3. Your company is happy to sign off content that doesn't "align" with every key message in your 2025 marketng and sales plans, and makes points that may be controversial; and is balanced, e.g. explains the pros and cons of a new technology or service your company is selling My advice: 1. Make sure your writing is clear and says something new and interesting each time 2. When you're producing high-quality content each month, you can fine-tune the writing tone/style.

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Thinking of using AI to boost your writing? Thing is, AI won't save bad writers. Here are four realities you must know before you start. Remember when ChatGPT was released? Overnight, LinkedIn was flooded with AI experts and prompt pack downloads. I've been experimenting with AI since. I treat it as a tool to enhance my craft, applying it across everything I write: - Daily LinkedIn posts. - My weekly newsletter. - EDMs, reports, white papers. - Editorial content for publications. Here are the realities you need to know. 𝟭/ 𝗙𝘂𝘇𝘇𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲 The line between brilliant prose and AI sludge is the difference between knowing what you want. If you don't know what to say, AI often worsens it. Why? Because AI amplifies disjointed ideas and muddled thinking. Prompting for help can backfire, as we get anchored to what we see first - you think it's your idea. It's not. 𝟮/ 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 You can't prompt your way past your own limitations. Ever mentored an intern at work? Simply put, you can't help the intern produce work that you yourself cannot do. 𝟯/ 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 Great prompting won't give you an advantage for long: AI will get better at figuring out what you want, and everyone will have access to it. This means your success depends on your core skills. Good writers using AI will leap ahead. Bad writers, even using AI, won't stand a chance. 𝟰/ 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 Finally, not all AI models are equally capable. Some are better at editing; others are better at writing strong prose. And this won't stay static as AI models continue to improve. My question today: When everyone has access to the same AI tools, what will set you apart? 🌐 go.techstories.co/XtQM 📆 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 Don't be limited by what LinkedIn shows you. Get my weekly newsletter via email: www.techstories.co/updates My name is Paul Mah and I explore tech developments with bite-sized #EverydayTechStories 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁: Unsplash/socialmode

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Every author dreams of seeing their book in print, but publishing can feel like a maze. I remember the first time I explored publishing. 🔍 It felt overwhelming! 📝 If you're in the same boat, here's a step-by-step breakdown: 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 ➥ Discuss terms, rights, and royalties ➥ Set pricing and timelines ➥ Define deliverables 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ➥ Get recommendations to improve content flow ➥ Strengthen genre alignment ➥ Incorporate necessary revisions 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 ➥ Submit the initial draft ➥ Review structure and coherence ➥ Validate content before further development 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ➥ Correct grammar and spelling ➥ Fact-check and refine sentence structures ➥ Author revisions 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 ➥ Proper layout and typography ➥ Align text, images, and page numbering ➥ Optimize for both print and e-book formats 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 & 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬 ➥ Discuss design concepts ➥ Create book covers, lamination, and illustrations ➥ Finalize design for approval 𝐈𝐒𝐁𝐍 & 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞 ➥ Register the book and generate a unique ISBN 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 ➥ Conduct a test print ➥ Verify paper, binding, and cover quality ➥ Mark editing mistakes 𝐑𝐞-𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬 ➥ Implement last-minute refinements ➥ Incorporate author feedback 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ➥ Secure legal protection for the book ➥ Register copyrights with the appropriate authorities 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 ➥ Perform a final proof review ➥ Ensure all edits and corrections are applied ➥ Approve for Print on demand/mass printing 𝐄-𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ➥ Convert the book into KDP format ➥ Choose the preferred reading device 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 & 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ➥ Manage printing and inventory ➥ Order fulfillment and tracking via online and offline channels 𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆. 🏆 P.S. What do you want me to cover in the continuation of this post? 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫, 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞? LinkedIn LinkedIn for Learning LinkedIn Guide to Networking KARNI Publishing #bookpublisher #author #writer .

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