Summer heralds many important things: 3D movies, involuntary camping trips, and sidewalk distribution of ice cream samples in tiny disposable cups. Bu...

The South African novelist J.M. Coetzee writes with a pen that's sharp as a knife, in ink made from his own blood. Or so it seems, for each word seems carved or cut, obtained at great price, offered as a sacrifice.

One year ago today -- Bastille Day -- I released my debut novel The French Revolution on Twitter. It got some pretty good attention, and last fall I landed a traditional book deal with Soft Skull Press.

I invite you to play the word game. Copy and paste this post into a word processor. Replace "entrepreneurs" with "authors," and "startups" with "books." Now read it again!