In my office there is a Billy bookcase filled to the brim with books about communication, influence and neuromarketing. Those books are arranged by color because that looks nice. Now such an organized bookcase is nice, but as an author you don't want your book to have a place in my Billy bookcase. That book would rather be on my floating bookshelf, next to my desk and therefore within reach when I'm working, for inspiration and information. All the books on that shelf have one thing in common: I have read them all 'gray'. Which books am I talking about? Think of 'Influence' by Cialdini, 'Don't make me think' by Steve Krug and recently also 'What you sell is you' by Erwin Wijman.
Speaking of Erwin Wijman: the bestseller ' How email hong kong to sell everything ' previously rolled off his keyboard (affiliate). The book has had a prominent place on my floating bookshelf since 2019. In the meantime, the book looks a bit battered: the cover and spine show wear. Lots of dog-ears and when you open it you see my underlining, notes and highlights. You get the idea: I think this book is a-ma-zing.
I jumped for joy when Erwin told me that a new book was coming: ' What you sell is yourself. Why the best advertising is free ' (affiliate). He sent me a copy and I read it within 1 day. What do I think of it? In 1 sentence? This book should not be missing on the floating bookshelf of zzp'ers and entrepreneurs. Certainly not if you want to be known, loved and desired.
Bookshelf or bookcase
Whether or not a book gets a spot on my floating bookshelf is not just about the content. For example, there are a lot of books in the bookcase that seemed mega-interesting at first glance. And maybe they are interesting but I just can't get through them. For me, those books are often written too theoretically and they are full of sentences that are too long and complicated. So then I place them in the shelf, arranged by color because that looks so 'nice' because the bookcase is also my MS Teams (or Zoom/Google Hangout) background.