In May of this year, I was on an edition of The New York Times’ TechTalk Podcast. I discussed my second book, The Next Wave of Technologies. At the end of the show, the host asked me, “What’s next? Another book?”

I responded with something along the lines of, “I can’t imagine doing another one but, knowing me, I’ll probably do it again. It’s kind of like a woman having a child. Immediately afterward, she can’t imagine repeating the experience. After a few years, though, you realize that the kid is pretty cute and you want another one.”

So much for a few years.

Armed with way too many opinions, an inability to sleep more than four hours at a time, and mad typing skillz, I got to work. Today, after five months of dedicated time, a package arrived in the mail. No surprises here. It’s the proof of The New Small, my third book.

I did this?

For someone who writes and talks so much, it’s ironically kind of hard to describe that initial feeling when I first hold one of my books in my hand. To be sure, there’s some degree of pride, tinged with a little bit of disbelief, as in “I did this?”

Evidently, I did. I had plenty of help. I’ll post a proper thank you to Team Simon shortly, along with information about when and where you can purchase the book.

I’ve read before that writing a book is an inherently selfish act. Perhaps it is. I can say, however, that this particular book was a very personal project. I was involved in every facet of the book’s production. I chose the partners. I picked the title, price, cover image, editor, production person, printer, etc. I had no massive publishing apparatus helping me–or holding me back.

In a way, it’s surreal. As someone who’s constantly reading (and has been for many years), I have a great deal of reverence for the physical book. I know first-hand about the time, dedication, and toil required to create something from scratch. While the Internet has no doubt made research easier, writing what I think is a very good book is certainly not easy.

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