A great rework of the table of contents. Linchpin, by Seth Godin, briefly describes each chapter instead of just giving the page number. He turns the TOC into an opportunity to summarize the contents of the book for a new reader, not just tell them where things are.
Seen by Jason Fried on February 12 2010. There are 14 comments.
Anonymous Coward 12 Feb 10
also a good way to prevent Cliff Notes from stealing some of the sales
Kit 12 Feb 10
So Seth is obviously big on the Kindle (you even get a bonus book when you buy Linchpin on the device). When you sample a book on the Kindle, you by default get the first chapter and front matter. This is a great way to hook people into the rest of the book with that sample. I am 90% sure that was the intent here.
Jakob Nielsen mentioned that when he did a usability study on the Kindle content, too: “Free previews will also change book writing: you’ll have to ensure that your best material is in the first chapter, because that’s what will sell the book. “
JJN 12 Feb 10
Very nice, and something of a return to the past. For example: http://bit.ly/9X67c2 (The voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten to the East Indies. From University of California/HathiTrust)
down 12 Feb 10
quite common in literature.
cf. Swift, Gulliver’s Travels http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/bk1/index.html
Victor P 12 Feb 10
nice sketches in the background
Duder 12 Feb 10
I’m not a fan. I’d rather be able to see the entire table of contents at a glance and leave the chapter summaries for the introduction.
Eric 12 Feb 10
Very nice and clean. I wounder if this could be used in a site map? It would be a nice experiment.
Jimmy Chan 13 Feb 10
I prefer 37signals Getting Real style, where contents are easy, short to the point.
No need TOC , no need thousand pages.
John 13 Feb 10
Jason,
Did you buy it here in the city or on Amazon?
Garlin 13 Feb 10
Robert Greene (author of The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, and The 33 Strategies of War) does the same in his books, and I love it.
mzo 13 Feb 10
Information Anxiety (1 and 2) by Richard S Wurman (TED founder) heavily pushed this idea but better years ago. Check out the Amazon look inside: http://www.amazon.com/Information-Anxiety-2-Hayden-Que/dp/0789724103
Up 13 Feb 10
@down I agree .. this is nothing new. Although McSweeney’s 1 did put a hilarious twist on it.
Paul Magee 14 Feb 10
Does an idea need to be completely new for it to have any value?
Isn’t doing something that works, a much better strategy than not doing it, just because its been done before?
I might be wrong but I sense a hint of it here in the comments, and I’ve seen it elsewhere.
I know people who constantly crave the buzz of something new, and reject anything they have heard before.
It’s a kind of elitism, like perfectionism. “Newism” that gives people an excuse to avoid taking any action.
Christopher Burd 14 Feb 10
The architect Christopher Alexander did something similar in his Pattern Language books. He used a normal table of contents + a detailed ToC similar to Godin’s, and then he extended the pattern right into the text, with summaries leading each section.
Not a new technique – zillions of technical manuals do the same thing, but it can be an effective form of information layering. It’s eminently scannable, for one thing, good audiences with internet-honed reading habits.
Some 19th centuries used several info layering techniques like this: chapter summaries (both in the Toc and at the head of each chapters; custom page headers for each page; marginal notes, etc.). Some of them might be worth bringing back.
This discussion is closed.