Expectation and reality

I spoke with my publisher this morning about (among other things) the cover of my next book: The 10 Principles of Open Business.

I've seen a draft cover - which I had no input into - and in the next day or two I'm going to share it with you for your thoughts.

But before we get to that, I wonder what your pre-conceptions might be? The book's full title is The 10 Principles of Open Business - Building Success in Today's Open Economy.

The full contents listing is available here.

What would expect the cover to look like, what kinds of colours, fonts, imagery. What wouldn't you expect, what should it avoid?

I'd be really pleased to hear any thoughts formed before you see even a draft. (Post them below or tweet them @davidcushman #10OBCover or email the address found on the full-web version of my blog.

Many thanks

My new book available for pre-order now

My new book, The 10 Principles of Open Business (Building Success in Today's Open Economy) is almost complete.

I finished off the final chapter today. I have one extra piece I'd like to add should Alan Rusbridger (Editor in Chief at The Guardian) find himself with the spare moment he's been seeking for months, in time for my July 31 deadline. I know Alan is keen to be included - we have a chapter on Open Data which suits his story very well. (UPDATE: Alan did indeed make the final deadline I'm pleased to say).

The preface is yet to be written - which Matt Atkinson, the CMO at Tesco PLC has kindly agreed to do.

It has taken pretty much all of my spare time for the last nine months or more. But, I am excited to say, it's almost there, does what I set out to achieve and is now available for pre-order on Amazon, I believe the launch date in the UK is the end of January 2014 with the US launch following toward the end of February.

The first edition is hardback. There is a small discount to be had from ordering in advance which I urge you to take advantage of (Update: No longer available as of August 19, 2013, but you will find other discounts available on this blog)..

When I last looked on Amazon the cover hadn't been added yet, and the about the author part was a bit out of date (which I'm in the process of getting updated).

So what is the book about? The 10 Principles of Open Business, of course.

Here's the draft contents list:

Preface:

Introduction:

i Starting from a different place

ii Defining Open Business and its Benefits

iii Tesco PLC – An Open Business

The Principles

Chapter 1: Purpose

Chapter 2: Open Capital

Chapter 3: The Networked Organisation

Chapter 4. Sharability

Chapter 5. Connectedness

Chapter 6. Open Innovation

Chapter 7. Open Data

Chaper 8. Transparency

Chapter 9. Open Data (Open Journalism and Open Government)

Chapter 10. Trust

Summary and Next Steps

About the author

Acknowledgements

It includes interviews with examplars including MP and former defence and cabinet minister Tom Watson, the CMO of Tesco PLC Matt Atkinson, Mark 'Herdmeister' Earls, the FT's Associate Editor Andrew Hill, The Guardian's Editor in Chief Alan Rusbridger, CEO of GrowVC Jouko Ahveneinen, CEO of NearDesk Tom Ball, CEO of Blur Group Phillip Letts, Collaboration Strategist at Fluor Jeff Hester, IBM VP Carol Smillic, CEO of giffgaff Mike Fairman, CEO of the Open Data Institute Gavin Starks, CEO of Fairphone Bas Van Abel, CEO of Paperight Arthur Atwell, CEO of Anglia Regional Co-op John Chillcott, President of Avis Budget Group EMEA Larry De Shon and SVP Gina Bruzzichesi, CEO of Grey (London) Chris Hirst and Founder of The Social Partners (yep, my lot) Ivan Palmer.

Each makes a fabulous contribution to shaping the story of the book.

In the coming weeks I'll be able to share a little more.

In the meantime, my apologies for prolonged absence from blogging. I am now back.