The Psychology of Money

Old ideas told well sold more than 8 million copies. Morgan Housel felt shame turning in The Psychology of Money because nothing in it was original, yet it sold more than 8 million copies. Every US publisher rejected it, and only the British publisher Harriman House took it.

Housel says it worked because he said familiar things in a different way, with stories and good words, comparing it to Ken Burns's Civil War series, which covers well-known history but hits harder than a dry history book. "You don't need to say something new. You just need to say it well."

How I Write▶ 48:28

Give a book one loose theme, then vary the stories widely. The Psychology of Money is about 21 essays with a loose common thread, built to avoid the nonfiction book that repeats one point for 300 pages.

Housel still insists on a common theme, or a book becomes "a hodgepodge of random ideas". His follow-up, The Art of Spending Money, uses a more integrated frame.

How I Write▶ 1:05:21

The title came on a walk, borrowed from Charlie Munger. The title The Psychology of Money arrived during a walk and was a "shameless" copy of Charlie Munger's talk on the psychology of human misjudgment. It began as "Psychology of Investing" before Housel widened it.

Housel says experience let him judge before typing a word that a topic like the psychology of money would work, and that he now finishes more of what he starts because he skips the pieces that won't work.

How I Write▶ 53:54