Even before our book was written, the Table of Contents was getting people's attention. Since the book was being written as the basis of a sitcom (and to establish the characters, and the Red & Black brand), we wanted our chapter titles and subheadings to be amusing. Black sent a brief overview of the book's objective, along with the proposed Table of Contents, to a friend who had been an entertainment industry executive, and he replied, "Less marketing, more writing!" and told her how he thought the book could be huge. (His words, not ours.)

Once published, we found that when people look at the Table of Contents they are immediately intrigued (and often amused) and find themselves pulled into the book, wanting to read it. (We have been told that many young adults are also drawn to the chapter illustrations.) At presentations or business meetings, when people receive copies of the book, they flip through it and almost immediately start chuckling, and even start reading some of the subheadings and chapter titles out loud.

One additional note … the use of the humorous subheadings was a device to make it easier for Hollywood executives to envision the book as a sitcom and convert it into a script. However, it also allows readers to easily dip in and out of book, and that combination may explain why even students are reading it.

To see for yourself, check out our Table of Contents.

What I Learned About Life