August 2026 Book Recommendation

Quitting as a strategy.

That’s the basic premise of my August 2026 recommendation The Dip by Seth Godin.

Godin is an entrepreneur, daily blogger, bestselling author and speaker who knows about modern marketing. And in this new world we’re all marketers, but that’s another book entirely. For now let’s focus on The Dip.

Before we go any further let’s define what ‘a dip’ is.

A dip is … ‘any rough patch you have to get through before achieving your big goal…if in fact you’re chasing the right goal.’

A short simple sentence that packs a lot of insight just like this book. You can read it quickly, but I’d suggest you read it more than once to understand the concepts fully.

Here are three key takeaways that I’m structuring under three different subheadings (mindset, marketing and momentum) because The Dip expands on all three.

MINDSET

The Dip doesn’t appear when you think it does.

Many new writers believe ‘getting published’ is the finish line. Like most things marketed to the general public, it’s seen as the end of the movie. The hard work is rewarded with a record label, movie contract, book deal.

Unfortunately, in reality getting published is the entrance to the real Dip.

This is what it looks like: The happy author is excited to see their debut novel sent out into the world and then it sells modestly or poorly and the writer is shocked by a what truly lies ahead: a longer, quieter Dip of building a readership across books two, three, four while each book sells at different degrees and the writer’s income becomes unstable.

This is where most writing careers flounder (and die). Not due to lack of talent, but because the writer expected the Dip to be over, they thought they had arrived when in reality, the Dip was just beginning.

Look at long term careers and you’ll see the shadows of the Dips (because there are many) and you’ll see those who pushed through and those who were blindsided.

MARKETING

Define what ‘best in the world’ means.

Godin offers an innovative marketing strategy. It coincides with finding the smallest viable audience.

You can become ‘best in the world’ if you narrowly define what ‘world’ is. For example, the best florist in a three-block radius, not the best florist on Earth.

For writers this means moving away from being a good writer in a general sense to becoming specific. The time of the general, competent writer is coming to an end (sorry but the oversaturated, undifferentiated book market is where AI will flourish).

However, writers who develop a specific intersection—literary horror set in Northeastern coastal towns, comic fantasy with climate undertones—will survive and thrive. The more narrow and truer the niche you choose, the faster you become the reference point.

A real life example is author Beverly Jenkins who became the best in the world at writing African American historical romance. She created the world and ruled it.

MOMENTUM

Know when (and what) to quit.

Writers who don’t last tend to follow two patterns when a bad year hits—they either quit everything (panic quitting) or refuse to quit anything and get spread too thin to do the one or two things that would help them get through the Dip (confusing sunk costs for perseverance).

Distinguishing the cul-de-sac from the Dip is both a craft and business skill.

Long term career writers who last learn when to walk away from a project (a tool, a tactic, etc…). They can tell the difference between a project that isn’t a Dip (temporary) but is actually a plateau (structural) and redirect their energy elsewhere in service of their main goal. Writers who don’t last long can’t see when a decision won’t pay off. They ‘push through’ misunderstanding ‘never quit’ doesn’t apply when a cul-de-sac (let alone a cliff) is attached.

I hope you’ll take a chance to look over this short book and let it help you discover The Dips, Cul-de-sacs and Cliffs on your journey. They are always ahead of you, the savvy writer takes the time to learn and figure out how to spot them.

Get your copy – Retailer link Bookshop.org

Get your copy – Public library link https://search.worldcat.org/