You surely know of my friend Dave Smith, comedian and podcaster.

In 2017 he was a special guest aboard a cruise I hosted. I asked him if, in addition to the standup comedy he was doing for us, he could also do a breakout session on the craft of comedy: like how he generates material, etc.

He said: I can't do that. I don't know how I do it. I just do it. I don't have anything to teach anyone.

I said: can you try anyway?

So he agreed.

And guess what: for a solid hour that guy gave us a masterclass in comedy. To this day I kick myself for not having recorded it, but my view was that if you want to hear our speakers you have to join us -- which by the way you can do at tomwoods.com/cruise this time around.

So what had happened was this: Dave's brain was filled with information he'd never articulated before, and which he wasn't even aware he had. But as soon as he started talking, pure genius came out.

This year I realized that I had that kind of knowledge about book publishing, having written 13 books of my own.