1. If You Didn’t Finish College, And Are Successful, I Want to Interview You!
I’m seeking to interview successful people who did not attend or finish college for my next book, coming out from Penguin/Portfolio in 2011.
I believe there is a growing sense that traditional liberal arts education is no longer preparing young people adequately for the realities of work and careers in the 21st-century globalized, outsourced, digitized, flat-world, entrepreneurial economy–and I am exploring this issue through the lens of successful people who educated themselves.
If you did not attend or finish college, and are successful by normal societal standards, I’d love to interview you. You can be an entrepreneur, work in the corporate world, own your own business, etc. You will be featured alongside some very famous people in the book. [click to continue…]
Like everyone else on the Net, I’d heard of of Seth Godin’s concept of Tribes. I had thought it had vaguely something to do with building a Twitter following, an email list, adding Facebook followers.
But this week was my first feeling of what it really means to build—and have, and be part of—a tribe. And it feels amazing.
The week started off with a friend emailing me Monday morning, asking for last-minute advice on his book proposal he’s submitting to a major publisher the next day. After chastising him playfully for giving me so little advance notice, I got to work, rolled up my sleeves and delivered him some kick-ass advice after going through the proposal. He was very grateful, and we both agree that the changes he made in response to my comments—which he executed masterfully and beyond anything I could have expected—could add tens of thousands of dollars to the advance he gets. Not bad for a few hours work, and we both feel great about it.
Then, throughout the week I’ve been helping a new friend, who operates at a very high level in a major publisher, navigate a major career transition caused by shifts within the company. Should she stay, should she go? How should she talk to her numerous bosses? What should she ask of them? What would her dream job description look like? This has been the stuff of our conversations during the week at all hours. [click to continue…]
It’s official! This deal note was just published on Publisher’s Marketplace:
“Michael Ellsberg’s SELF-EDUCATED BILLIONAIRES, which examines billionaires and other successful figures who never graduated from college, and how they became successful in business and in life, to David Moldawer at Portfolio, by Esther Newberg at ICM.”
Lots more details about my new project to come…but for now, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped me get this deal.
I’m always looking to interview successful people who did not finish college. You don’t have to be a billionaire 
Or even a millionaire– just enjoying a great, interesting career that you love, or running a business that you started, without having finished college.
If you or anyone you know fits the bill, please get in touch!
Russian Woman is Excited to Practice What She Learned From Reading "The Power of Eye Contact" by Michael Ellsberg
Foreign rights to The Power of Eye Contact just sold in Russia–my first foreign rights deal!
Does anyone know how to say “The Power of Eye Contact” in Russian?
I can’t wait to see how eye gazing takes off in Russia
