The Extraordinary Business Book Club

'Strategy is effectively the map which takes you to your destination... tactics are the vehicles you're going to use to get there.' Jenna Tiffany has worked with many businesses who mistook tactics for strategy. She decided the best way to help them - and many others - was to write a book. Because books, as her foreword writer Dan Barker points out, 'can literally perform magic', providing all the value of the most expensive course on earth, in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost. In this fascinating conversation, we discuss not only marketing strategy, but the way in which that strategic approach is so essential for writing a business book.

Students of finance don't typically expect to be grappling with theology and philosophy. But over a long career in Wall Street, Dr Kara Tan Bhala has collected many fascinating real-life stories that demonstrate just how central an understanding of ethics is for a career in finance. She's also shown that it's possible to write about complex ideas in a clear and straightforward way, using stories rather than abstract theories. (Parable, as she points out, is simply an ancient name for case study.) A fascinating topic, and an equally fascinating conversation with a groundbreaking woman.

The internet is a funny old place. Most of us can't live (or certainly work) without it, and our online relationships and conversations are just as real and valuable as those we have offline. But we're complex beings with lots going on under the surface, and the internet is no different. Psychologist Ian MacRae is fascinated by the 'dark' side of online - the 'unconscious of the internet' - and how we can use a more nuanced understanding of that to better inform our online lives. He also has some wise words on how to go about pulling complex ideas and vast quantities of research into a readable book - even when it means creating a volume of untold stories as a byproduct...

When it comes to writing a business book, are you a planner, or a pantser? If your natural style is more seat-of-the-pants than perfectly planned, you'll love this unapologetic take on writing from Lucy Cohen - lying on a settee, writing from the heart, ideally after a large glass of red wine. But don't be fooled: there's nothing insubstantial about her take on the realities of entrepreneurship and where you need to focus for long-term success (hint: forget the first million). A joy of a conversation, taking in business, anxiety, oversharing, and powerlifting.

How do you generate, manage and sustain the energy that's needed to write a business book? Physically, mentally, socially and even spiritually, there are many aspects to this question. Luckily there are many great writing and business brains on hand to answer it. Learn from the best: Simon Alexander Ong on the different types of energy and how they work together to create flow; Rob Wozny on how the spiritual energy of purpose can power writing; Sam Dogen on why writing is like exercise, and the interplay of mental and social energy; Mark Hayes on drawing energy from others and particularly the power of the podcast; Bernard Marr on the flywheel effect of the conversations you have at work and the conversation you have on the page; Katy Murray on breaking down big creative projects and generating the 'starting energy' you need to tackle them; Felicity Cowie on the importance of being fired up, and the need to contain that fire; Sara Tate on managing the energy-sucking effects on uncertainty and coming out the other side stronger; Zena Everett on just getting started. Whether you're energized or exhausted as the holidays draw to a close, I guarantee you'll find something here to light you up.

'[We're] not actually dropping into the deep flow work and thinking that we have when we write, because that feels wonderful; we're switching all the time from one thing to another.' Are you crazy busy? Of course you are. Me too. Rubbish, isn't it? Stop multitasking (you know it's not working) and take half an hour to listen to Zena Everett, author of The Crazy Busy Cure, and purveyor of sane, practical advice on how to stop wasting time on stuff that doesn't really matter and focus on the stuff that does. Like writing.

'If you stay consistent, you grow your brand, you grow your message. I think sooner or later, something good will happen and you won't be able to anticipate what it is.' What story about money do you buy into? Sam Dogen, aka The Financial Samurai, wants you to rethink financial freedom, and he's used writing as the way to enable his own extraordinary life-after-work. Think you're too busy to write? Don't listen to this if you want to be able to keep telling yourself that...

'How often does anyone really start with a blank sheet of paper? Certainly not at my age, you know? You don't, you start from where you are... we want to make the effort to rebuild something that we love and we've invested in, a business or a relationship, whatever it might be. And that is both more complex and more interesting.' Sara Tate and Anna Vogt were fascinated by the idea of failure, or rather, what we do AFTER failure, for both personal and professional reasons. It's a truism to say that we learn from failure: what is REALLY happening in that period of time between failure and success? How do we rebuild - personally and professionally - when we're knee-deep in rubble? From their own experiences and from those they spoke to in their podcast The Rebuilders they created a book - which in itself was a process of rebuilding for Sara after a lifetime of avoiding writing because of her dyslexia. A powerful, inspiring and often moving conversation about life, grief, resilience and hiding from our children.

'It's not very difficult to write a book, but you need to start writing... I put my content on LinkedIn, for example, and this is where you then get feedback and it just gets you into this routine of writing. And you can then very quickly build up a really good volume of content, that you can then turn into books.' Futurologist Bernard Marr created history at the Business Book Awards this year by having two books published in the year, both of which went on to win in category, and one of which - Business Trends in Practice - went on to win the overall Business Book of the Year award. It was, he says, 'slightly embarrassing'. Discover how he did it in this fascinating conversation - and prepare to have your mind blown along the way as he reveals some of the trends he's been writing about and the impact they are set to have on our businesses and our lives.

"How do I discover my change making contribution, and how do I do that in a way so that I don't fry myself in the process?" The balance between stepping up to make an impact in the world and stepping back where necessary to protect our own wellbeing and energy can seem an impossible one to find. And that's why Katy Murray argues that change-making is first of all an inner process: recognising and overcoming the various barriers that hold us back, and identifying the most effective way to use our energy to maximise our impact. She also shares the process she used to plan and write her book, which involves decorator's paper, getting outside, and listening to wailing women...