Self Publishing for Thought Leaders · 2026-06-10 · 23 min
In this essential episode, I welcome John DeDakis, former CNN Situation Room editor and author of six novels, to discuss his "weed whacking" service for shortening manuscripts. John cautions that content over 100,000 words becomes a disincentive for readers with short attention spans and for traditional publishers concerned about production costs for unknown authors. Non-professional writers tend to be wordy, over-explaining easily assumed details. Pantsers tend to get wordy in first drafts, requiring right-brained writers to activate left-brained editorial discipline to cut and polish. John draws on his broadcast journalism background, where screaming arguments over five seconds proved that slashing content makes writing punchier. His process follows macro to micro principles, starting with reading entire manuscripts without fixing anything to see it objectively, and in totality - which is the only time you'll view your book content that way before getting deep in weeds. First, determine if you need to rearrange chapters.
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