HTBU has been described as "smart" (Chicago Tribune), "engaging" (The Washington Post), "helpful" (New York magazine), "frequently hilarious" (The Guardian), "pretty terrific" (January magazine), "sharp [and] witty [and] brimming with advice" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), "odd" (The Montreal Gazette), "fortuitous" (Utne Reader), and "clever and, as the title promises, useful" (Newsweek).

What’s Wrong with this Email from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn?

Posted: June 3rd, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: I'm sorry you typed that way, in the mail, nothing to do with the book | Tags: , | No Comments »

About twice a day a perfect argument for why even competent writers need editors lands in my Inbox. Below is the latest, and it typifies one of the primary ways organizations misuse email, churning out external communications that are not only too long but also, ultimately, ineffectual.

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cha-ching

Posted: March 12th, 2008 | Author: admin | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Big news for the New York Public Library. If they’d given the $1 billion to me personally, I’d be only slightly happier. (Much of How to Be Useful was researched at the glorious Wertheim Study. It was a beautiful, soul-stirring place to call my office for a while.)