I finally figured out how to turn the information on my Bloodsugar101.com web site into a book that would provide real value for readers. I'm polishing up the text now and the book should be coming out in April. You can see the cover mock up above.
The reason I felt it was time for a book was two-fold. One was that the message I was getting from the many people who email me is that while they found the information on the site extremely valuable, they didn't have time to read it all online. They often write to ask me questions that are answered on the site, so it was becoming clear to me that the sheer size of the site was making it harder to find important relevant information stored on it.
The other reason for putting this information into book form is that the linear structure of a book makes it possible to control the sequence in which readers encounter information. This makes it possible to explain things in a way where one idea builds on the previous one. Because you can't control the order in which visitors encounter information on a Web site, you often can't rely on their having the concepts needed to grasp the importance of a particular fact. The information on the Bloodsugar101.com site assumes a certain level of understanding about our bodies and our health that many people, even educated people, do not have. The book form is perfect for addressing this problem.
What I am loving about this book is the way that it takes readers step by step through the concepts they need to understand to control their blood sugar and prevent complications. The process of writing it has been valuable for me, too. I've had to to go back and revisit the content of the site, check my references, and sharpen my own understanding of the information presented there. The site has certainly grown beyond my ability to keep it all in my head!
This isn't my first venture into publishing. As some of you know, I'm the author of seven published business books including one that was a bestseller for John Wiley & Sons. After the success of the bestseller, I started my own small press and sold almost 20,000 books on my own. Unlike most self-published books, my books made it to the shelves in Borders, Barnes & Noble and other chains. I learned a great deal about publishing with those books, and I'm hoping to put that knowledge to use with this one.
The Blood Sugar 101 book will be available through Amazon and the other online bookstores. I'll also be offering it through the Bloodsugar101.com web site where you will be able to buy it using PayPal.
I'm going to be running a pre-publication offer where book rate shipping to addresses in the United States will be free. More about that when I get the web site set up to handle it.
14 comments:
Sounds great ... perhaps your next work can be on publishing!!
Excellent! I'll be sure to buy a copy for my own bookshelf, but also one to loan/give. I think you have the most comprehensive and accurate information about blood sugar out there, and it will be very useful to have access to it without a computer.
Best wishes!
Congrats, looking forward to it!
(There are two paragraphs in your post that are repeated, btw...)
Oliver,
Yes, I just saw them too! They're gone.
Fantastic!! You have so much information!! I'll be ordering a book for my sister, that's for sure!
Great idea - I will buy the book. Will you still have the 101 website available for free?
This is great Jenny - I'll be wanting a couple copies. RobLL
The Blood Sugar 101 web site will ALWAYS be available for free. My whole purpose is to get the information out there that can help people and the web site does that very well.
Oh, cool! I love your site, but it's difficult reading it in the bath... How available is the book likely to be outside the US?
Nicky.
Nicky,
The distribution via online bookstores will be U.S. only, at least to start with. If there is strong demand I can eventually get UK distribution via the distributor I'll be using.
But to start with I'll be offering the book on my web site with an option for international shipping.
I'm being very modest in my expectations. I've sold enough books in the past to know how difficult it is to sell books.
Good deal.
I'd be interested in your take on this. I was reading that they decided that gastric bypass cures diabetes because they are bypassing the part of the intestine that food stimulates GIP and GLP-1 in. That they are the cause of the hyperinsulinemia that leads to type 2 diabetes. I found this, that says they can inhibit the incretins and prevent diabetes from developing altogether.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17486314?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
This seems to be the opposite of what Byetta and Januvia do. Why aren't they marketing this, (Pro(3))GIP, instead of cutting people up? Do you think there will someday be a drug on the market that completely prevents the development of most cases of type 2 in this way?
None Given,
The people selling surgeries can speculate all they want without having to back up their claims with peer-reviewed research. I don't think anyone really knows exactly why WLS can reverse diabetes.
One thing we do know, is that people who have had WLS are forced to cut down dramatically on their carb intake. When you go from eating 400 grams of carb a day to eating 40, as many of us have learned you can normalize blood sugar very quickly and it has nothing to to with gut hormones.
Since the medical establishment still is completely clueless about the impact of cutting carbs on what looks like very severe diabetes, they may not be making the connection. When I get emails from people who have lowered A1cs from 13% to 5% in 3 months just by cutting carbs, I have to wonder if it isn't that which is causing the improvement after WLS. Go look at the nutritional breakdown of what people at after WLS and you'll see what I mean.
Reading the Back Across the Line blog has woken me up to the other things that WLS surgery does and how it not only kills a shocking number of people over the 5 years after "successful" surgeries, but leaves many others with permanent life-shortening malabsorption syndromes.
You have a very good writing style. I am sure I too will enjoy your book.
I am also a Type 2 Diabetic, now on Byetta 10 Mcg + Metformin 800 mgs and my Diabetologist is suggesting Januvia. I was looking for information on Januvia on the net and your site figured prominently in Google.
Lot of information, unadulterated , direct and distinct. Thank you for the information and also for the tremendous effort taken by you to compile all this information.
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