How to Write a Good Book

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The book got killed in 2020 and was left for dead. It only got revisited with a whole new publisher and a whole new editor, which was our editor at Penguin. She struck me as relatively hands off. But I think between you and I, like it took us about six months to kind of get the right voice and register. And again, I go back to I finally realized it's absolutely written the way it should be based on how it sounded when I finally read the book out loud.

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After more than six years of research, planning, and writing, Peter’s book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, is officially available as of March 28th. In this episode, Peter sits down with co-author Bill Gifford to provide a behind-the-scenes look into the writing process, including the motivation for making it happen, how the book evolved over the course of the writing process, and why certain topics were chosen (and omitted). Additionally, they discuss how the book is structured and touch on a few of the book’s main themes to give potential readers an idea of what they can expect.

We discuss:

The meaning of the book’s title and subtitle [3:00];
Finding the right art for the book cover [9:00];
Who is Bill Gifford, and how did he get involved in the book? [16:15];
How Peter’s writing evolved over the six years it took to write this book [25:00];
The structure of the book and what people can expect to learn [29:00];
How the writing of the book and the podcast interviews have shaped Peter’s thinking and approach to translating science [32:45];
Making the book stand the test of time despite the constant evolution of science and medicine [36:00];
Objective, strategy, and tactics [39:30];
Exciting possible progressions in science and medicine over the next decade [42:15];
What is holding back “medicine 3.0” from being the norm? [46:00];
How the book compares to the podcast in terms of technicality and readability for the layman [49:00];
Motivation to write the book and insights into challenges around the writing process [57:15];
Peter’s decision to be the reader for the audiobook [1:10:30];
The many painstaking last-minute changes and edits that brought the book together and made it better [1:19:00];
Peter and Bill’s favorite parts of the book [1:27:30];
The incredible team of people supporting the book [1:31:30]; and
More.