An Important Message from Jonah Goldberg

Hi,

Look, I get it. When I get these kinds of pitches, I feel like the blind guy after being given a piece of matzoh: “Who writes this stuff?”

The good news is that, as with my forthcoming book The Amish Guide to Computer Programming, I’m going to keep it short—because I don’t want to waste your time. In fact, not wasting your time is a big part of our mission here. 

My dad was an editor, and he always told me that every sentence should either be good or important. If it’s important, the reader will recognize it. If it’s good, the reader won’t mind if it’s not important. If it’s neither: Get rid of it. Obviously, this is an impossible ideal, but that’s why we call them ideals. They’re something to strive for.