WordPress.com Blogger Scores Book Deal for “You Are Not So Smart”

According to David McRaney, “You may think that you’re a rational, logical being who sees the world as it really is. But you’re as deluded as the rest of us, and that’s OK, because it keeps you sane.”

David is a journalist and the creator of the WordPress.com blog You Are Not So Smart, which was recently expanded into a book, You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself, published this October.

“This is an amazing and revolutionary time for writers,” David says. “The barriers to entry are so low, and the platforms like WordPress.com are so well made, anyone with a voice can start shouting and be heard. Instead of writing a book and hoping a publisher won’t throw it into the slush pile, writers can start a blog and build a fan base. They can prove to publishers there is a market for their work and their voice.”

About the Book

“You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of self delusion. One topic at a time, it explores how silly and irrational we all are through the lens of fascinating psychological studies,” David says. “For example, you may think that you see everything going on before your eyes, but you are only aware of a small amount of the total information your eyes take in, and even less is processed by your conscious mind and remembered.”

Ironically, a bout of irrational thinking is exactly what helped David to land the book deal:

“I got into a heated online argument with two friends over which was better, the PS3 or the Xbox 360. The argument went on for days, and I think we all crossed the line, insulting each other and getting legitimately angry – and we’re friends in real life!

I thought it would make a great blog post, so I researched why I was so brand loyal and silly. That became my post on brand loyalty and fanboyism, which I published that post at about the same time an iPhone prototype was stolen. With the buzz around fanboyism at an all-time high, someone at Gizmodo saw my post and asked if they could republish it with links back. I agreed, and all of a sudden my hits went through the roof. I kept writing and posting and soon emails arrived from the publishing world asking if I was interested in turning the blog into a book. I said hell yes.”

Learn more about David and You Are Not So Smart by checking out our interview with the author.

Congratulations on your new book, David!

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