The Extraordinary Business Book Club

Donya Dickerson is Editorial Director with responsibility for business books for McGraw Hill in New York. So what does she look for when a proposal crosses her desk? And what kind of authors is she keen to get onto the list? A fascinating insight into the publisher's perspective of the partnership that is publishing a business book, and how you can position yourself for the best chance of success when you pitch.

David Newman describes the process of writing a book as capturing 'lightning in a bottle'. In today's episode he describes how Do It! Marketing has transformed his business, and reveals the brilliant book bonus tactics he used to make it a success (plus, refreshingly, some of the stuff that didn't go so well). There's also a Jedi mind trick for getting your own way with your publisher if you go down the traditional route. This is The Extraordinary Business Book Club at its best – inspiring, thoughtful, practical, hilarious.

Rebecca Jones was told at school that she'd better hope she made 'pretty babies', because she'd never amount to anything. She left aged 16 with a handful of non-academic O-levels to her name. By her mid-twenties she was running her second company, and now she's a world-famous expert in training and business growth. She believes the dyslexia that had her labelled 'hopeless' at school has been the driver behind her entrepreneurial success, but when it came to writing a book, it meant a whole new set of challenges. In this week's conversation Rebecca tells me how she overcame those challenges, why red shoes matter, how she fixes businesses, and how her new book, Enterprise Within, could make possible a whole new phase for her own business.

Dan Underwood is part of the ArtOf team, whose mission is to use diagrams and drawings to help people and organisations see their challenges and opportunities in a fresh and powerful way. He talked to me about how the ArtOf team have used the process of developing a book to explore and extend their own thinking and to engage with their clients - it's a great example of how books can be used playfully and dynamically in a business, as a live project rather than a static output.

'You have to open yourself up... away from making money from something and understand that nowadays you make money because of something, and that's a very different phenomenon.' As a journalist, Dorie Clark used to make her living by writing content. But now she writes for free, and makes a much better living off the back of it. In this interview we explore the opportunities out there for anyone entrepreneurial enough to seize them, and the central role that writing and books play in this new world of attention and engagement. I'm utterly in awe of this woman.

My personal favourite moments from the last 9 episodes of The Extraordinary Business Book Club. It's an incredible selection: Daniel Priestley (Key Person of Influence) on making the book work with the business Warren Knight (Think #Digital First) on what it means to be in control of publishing your book Orna Ross (Head of ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors) on making the most of your publishing options Sara Kelly (journalist and academic) on why we're all entrepreneurs now Antony Mayfield (Brilliant Noise) on why small is beautiful when it comes to marketing Bridget Shine (CEO of the Independent Publishers Group) on what it means to publish with a small independent press Matt Watkinson (The Grid) on the big press experience and why it's OK if you're finding it hard to write your book Pam Didner (Global Content Marketing) on why writing is her extreme sport of choice Amanda Setili (Fearless Growth) on how not taking yourself too seriously can seriously improve your writing. Make a cup of tea and settle down. Heck, grab a biscuit too.

Antony Mayfield runs marketing and communications agency Brilliant Noise, helping some of the biggest brands in the world transform their approach to getting their message out. He's got some fascinating stuff to say about how advertising and marketing are changing, and what it means to be digitally literate, with tips that work for microbusinesses as well as multinationals (in fact he says the reason he works with the big companies is that they need more help getting this right!). But he also talks about Brilliant Noise's own approach to marketing, and particularly the way they create and use books within the company. 'Those books are like little avatars, little bits of you that you sent out into the world and they've got a life of their own and they're going round telling people what you think.' A fascinating, inspiring conversation with one of the world's leading thinkers in digital marketing.

'I'm actually shocked at what writing now means to me relative to what it would have meant before I wrote two books. I used to dread writing... now it's a way to structure my learning, it's a place to put my creativity. It's a place to create a sense of intellectual flow in my life.' Amanda Setili runs a consulting business, and she very deliberately uses her books to explore what fascinates her and what she loves to work on in order to attract the clients she's most interested in working with. In this interview she reveals how she goes about creating the models and tools that accompany her books, and how she learned to shift from dry, technical writing to a more creative, story-led approach. This is an episode full of practical, usable insights for anyone wanting to make their book not only more useful to read, but more enjoyable to write.

Bridget Shine, CEO of the Independent Publishers Guild in the UK, is at the forefront of the revolution taking place in publishing today. In this week's episode we discuss what it means to be an independent publisher, and from the author's perspective, what it's like to be published by an independent publisher. The old rules and divisions are breaking down, and there are fantastic opportunities for those with the will and the energy to explore them. She also has some great tips for approaching independent publishers, and advice for those considering setting up as publishers themselves. And if you get lost in the definitions - indie authors, independent publishers, partner publishing - she takes a reassuringly pragmatic and positive approach: 'The point about the IPG... is we're all about helping one another and supporting each other and if you start getting a bit too ground down by those definitions you would get stuck very easily. For us, it's about people sharing, it's about the spirit of independence.'