Two. What’s the difference between Will and Peter’s books? Their titles are extremely similar, so it’s hard to tell...
While the books are on a similar topic, they approach effective altruism from slightly different angles. For example:
Peter’s book is probably more focused on the altruism side of EA, while Will’s focuses more on the effectiveness side.
Peter’s book focuses slightly more on big giving and the good you can do with your money, whereas Will’s takes in a wider range of topics from career choice to consumerism.
Will’s book discusses a wider range of potential causes than Peter’s book (I think, I’d have to double check to be sure)
From your description, they sound quite similar. What’s the rationale for releasing so close to each other and splitting publicity efforts between the two of them? Are you at all worried that they will interfere with each other or compete for attention?
I agree they are relatively similar. We’ve been keeping the publishers up to date with the plans of the other authors and publishers that are publishing books on EA in 2015. Thus the publishers think that these dates are pretty optimal in terms of when we would want them all released: spaced out enough that each can get its own media coverage and attention, but close enough that people can write about the trend and broader movement of EA with so many books coming out around the same time. I am a little worried that they will compete for attention, which is part of the reason why I’m coordinating both Will and Peter’s marketing, so that they can collaborate where possible. I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit recently, and I’ve settled on thinking that each book trying to maximise its own success is actually going to be really quite close to optimal, so I’m going to be adopting a strategy that is not far from that. Essentially, the chances of any one promotional push putting a lot of media attention on EA is relatively small, and so we want as many rolls of the dice as possible.
While the books are on a similar topic, they approach effective altruism from slightly different angles. For example:
Peter’s book is probably more focused on the altruism side of EA, while Will’s focuses more on the effectiveness side.
Peter’s book focuses slightly more on big giving and the good you can do with your money, whereas Will’s takes in a wider range of topics from career choice to consumerism.
Will’s book discusses a wider range of potential causes than Peter’s book (I think, I’d have to double check to be sure)
From your description, they sound quite similar. What’s the rationale for releasing so close to each other and splitting publicity efforts between the two of them? Are you at all worried that they will interfere with each other or compete for attention?
I agree they are relatively similar. We’ve been keeping the publishers up to date with the plans of the other authors and publishers that are publishing books on EA in 2015. Thus the publishers think that these dates are pretty optimal in terms of when we would want them all released: spaced out enough that each can get its own media coverage and attention, but close enough that people can write about the trend and broader movement of EA with so many books coming out around the same time. I am a little worried that they will compete for attention, which is part of the reason why I’m coordinating both Will and Peter’s marketing, so that they can collaborate where possible. I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit recently, and I’ve settled on thinking that each book trying to maximise its own success is actually going to be really quite close to optimal, so I’m going to be adopting a strategy that is not far from that. Essentially, the chances of any one promotional push putting a lot of media attention on EA is relatively small, and so we want as many rolls of the dice as possible.