What lessons can a reader take away from your proposed book?

How to say it without sounding cliché? 2020 has been a hell of a year. One that most of us have not experienced before in our lifetimes. And hope not to repeat. It has brought immense suffering and lifestyle changes. Employment and consumerism have seen monumental shifts. Life going forward (again, a cliché) will, in many ways, bear little resemblance to what we lived on January 1, 2020.

We have gained lessons as well. For us, our families, colleagues, and community.  You may have even said to yourself, “Geez, I could write a book about this year!”

For this blog post, I invite you to consider the book you could write based on your experiences this year. And I suggest you start small—with the Table of Contents. What will your book cover?

When I pick up a non-fiction book, I thumb to the Table of Contents (TOC).  These few pages provide an overview of what I will find between the covers. One of my books provides the readers with three TOCs to help the reader navigate the content. (See the video selection below.)  The third edition of my student success textbook, for example, features a fourteen-topic TOC.

The TOC of any book leads the reader through steps that build a message.

So, here’s your chance to begin your new book. What topics will you cover? Why these topics—and why in the order you propose? What lessons can a reader takeaway from your proposed book?

Next week I will post my annual “A Blogger’s Retrospective” in which I will provide a quick summary of and link to each of my 2020 blog posts.   Look for my year-end video—a moment of gratitude from the beach to you.

I appreciate you.

Video recommendation for the week:

A short video overview of the TOC in my Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need To Be An Island and the challenges associated with establishing a TOC.

Make it a great week and HTRB has needed.

My new book has been released.
eBook ($2.99) Paperback ($9.99). Click here.

Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit.

Well, actually, my dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story.
Click here for more information about the book.

In the meantime, check out her blog.

And you can still order:

• My book, Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019), (print and e-book) is available on More information (including seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book) at www.stevepiscitelli.com.
• Check out my book Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island (2017). It has been adopted for teaching, learning, and coaching purposes. I conducted (September 2019) a half-day workshop for a community college’s new faculty onboarding program using the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same. The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts can be found at The Growth and Resilience Network®.

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

©2020. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®