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24-OCT-2024 | Excerpt from Neil French’s “This book is a rip-off” Open Letter

Author

Dan Bogachek
October 24, 2024

Excerpt from Neil French’s “This book is a rip-off” Open Letter

This book is a rip-off.

A headline, I agree, utterly devoid of wit.

But then, I’m not very amused.

The book on the right would be totally illegal in any country in the world… in any other country in the world except China, apparently.

It has my name on the cover, it has my picture on the cover, and I wrote the entire contents. But I had nothing to do with the publishing of the damn thing, and you should have nothing to do with it either.

If it were an unauthorized biography, and scurrilous just to the edge of actionable, I wouldn’t give a toss. I’d probably enjoy it, to tell the truth. But that’s not it at all. 🏁

Scurrilous…

I probably wouldn’t make scurrilous your go-to. Not the most accessible choice of words, but it does stand out in a fun way.

Everything else is smooth and written at a Grade 3 level (Hemingway App). Note the subtle repetition (or structural “rhyming”, if you will) throughout.

You glance at your watch.

It’s 6:28. You’ve been at it since 3.
Crap. Your hot date is at 7. Running late. Sink shower it is.
Nowhere close to done editing…

“…at least all the ideas are laid out, so there’s that. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so? Ok, but how do I make it flow? I need to get the final draft to Stacey for design asap, team cutoff is at noon Thursday…”

You’ve spent dinner completely distracted. Your date just took off. You go home exhausted, plod to your desk, and crack open the laptop.

Or… it could go like this:

5:41 — you’re out of the shower and lip-syncing.
6:17 — dressed to the nines and zenned out.
7:03 — the sunset glints off your aviators as you smile hello.
8:36 — it actually feels like you’re hitting it off. Not just hot, funny to boot.
Next morning, 10:27 — polished draft ready in your inbox.
10:31 — Stacey messages back, “thanks, looks good!”

The difference?

You had Copygloss handle it yesterday afternoon.

For help with editing, email Dan:
[email protected].