What’s new in Don’t Call It That 3?
A lot.
The third edition of my book Don’t Call It That is scheduled to arrive at the end of April. By the time v3 arrives, the second edition will have been sold out for about a year.
What’s so new and special about the third edition? Is there any reason to pick it up if you already have the first or second? Let’s talk about it.
I’m humbled by the demand for this book. When the second edition sold out it would have been a lot easier to just reprint it, but that would have been a missed opportunity. It might not surprise you to find out that when I’m not writing books, I’m working on naming projects — lots and lots of naming projects. Every project has its own challenges and opportunities because creativity, and communication for that matter, is impossible to master. Working on lots of projects gives me opportunities to test ideas and see what develops better names, and better ways of sharing them. Since the second edition of the book came out in November 2016, the team at A Hundred Monkeys has worked on just over 200 naming projects. We’ve learned a lot (it would have been hard not to). So when I finally took a fresh look at Don’t Call It That, I wanted to make sure it included everything I’ve figured out and put into practice since 2016. It turns out, putting the book together has been a really useful way to codify what I’ve learned. I hope it’s useful for you too.
So, here’s what’s new in the third edition of Don’t Call It That:
- More to love: The third edition has 62% more content than the second — no minor rewrite here.
- Real project examples: I included several real-life examples from A Hundred Monkeys projects throughout the book.
- Client experiences: I also included quotes directly from clients to shed light on how new names are perceived and adopted.
- New chapters: There are three entirely new chapters on market testing names, the near-universal desire for short names, and the difference between how names look and how they sound.
- New look: The book has been completely redesigned by the fine folks at Moniker.
- New editor: The third edition has been edited by long-time collaborator Rose Linke, an experienced writer, editor, and namer in her own right. We even included a few of our chat transcripts from the editing process.
- Six new name species: Wordsmash, Rhyme time, Opposites attract, That’s not my name, Unlikely allies, and Simple enough.
- Overhauled exercises: The book’s exercises have been totally reworked. There are several new exercises as well as updates to previous exercises.
- Minor restructuring: The chapters “Ready, set” and “Get to the point” from the second edition have been combined into a more holistic chapter on positioning called “Condition your position.”
The third edition of Don’t Call It That is available for pre-order here. Check it out.
