Save the date: November 16, 2022

Pre-sales for The Business of UX Writing begin

This is it! We’re getting closer and the pre-sales date is official. As a first-time author I have to say that this is a whole new kind of excitement I’ve never experienced before.

The beginning of The Business of UX Writing

I first started talking about the business side of UX writing a couple of years ago because I found it fascinating, saw a void in the field, and saw interest right away the first few times I pitched to speak about it in small forums. When I was asked to speak about it at Button 2020, I took that as validation that this is indeed a hot topic on the minds of many. Button is awesome like that, curating talks that are in touch with what the community is thinking about, where people want to deep dive, and collecting content that represents what we know today together with direction for where the conversation could go. Apparently, the ROI (return on investment) of UX writing was hot.

Since then, I’m happy to say, more content has come out about it, more talks are being given about it, more UX writers have access to the tools they need to apply learnings, and garner insights to give back to the community. Together we’re making important, impactful strides in the right direction. It’s the perfect time for a book.

The future of The Business of UX Writing

I’m hoping that The Business of UX Writing follows the path of other important UX writing subjects that came before it, like the subject of best practices:

• Individual UX writers were thinking about it
• They came together to talk about it in wider forums
• Content and talks were put out into the world about it
• Kinneret Yifrah wrote The Ultimate Guide to Microcopy, putting it all on literal paper. It was the first reference book for the topic, that of course has been built on ever since. It was by no means the conclusion, it was the first sturdy springboard.

The same thing we saw with tactical best practices, we saw with UX writing strategy: Individual UX writers were thinking about it >> they came together to talk about it in wider forums >> Content and talks were put out into the world about it >> Torrey Podmajersky put it down on physical paper in her book Strategic Writing for UX >> and the community’s been building on it every since.

Sarah Richards did it with content design with her book Content Design. Andy Welfle and Michael J. Metts did it for writing as a design practice with their book Writing is Designing.

I see all of these books as significant milestones in the history and evolution of UX writing. These are points on a map that one can follow to understand the discipline’s maturity and growth over time. I admire what these authors have done and with The Business of UX Writing, I aimed to do the same for a different area of the field: the business of UX writing.

I’m honored that A Book Apart felt I was the right author for this overview of the past, current status of the conversation, and tools and food for thought about the future and I hope you will, too. Your chance (and mine) to find out is coming soon… Pre-sales begin November 16, 2022!