Ashton Rodenhiser on beta reading a highly visual book

In this Useful Books Community Q&A, we sit down with author Ashton Rodenhiser, founder of Sketchnote School and author of the Beginner’s Guide to Sketchnoting.

Topics & timestamps

• 0:35 Deciding to write a book about sketchnoting
• 2:50 Finding Write Useful Books and deciding not to write a theory-heavy "ideas book"
• 5:05 Scoping the book and ideal reader profile
• 7:01 "Part 1 & Part 2" emerged naturally
• 7:55 Iterating on a highly visual book with placeholders
• 10:11 Beta reader feedback on a rough draft with missing images
• 11:35 Doing 3.5 rounds of beta reading and not having a publish date
• 14:38 Learning just how basic a beginner's guide needs to be
• 15:25 Dealing with such a high volume of feedback by collaborating with an editor
• 20:57 Delegating decisions to an editor
• 22:28 The introduction was the hardest chapter to write
• 24:48 Lessons learned and professional focus since publishing
• 26:40 Doing 75 podcast interviews!
• 31:55 Reflecting on being a published author, running a community, and what's next
• 35:58 Where to find Ashton