---
title: "John Hedtke on Disaster Preparedness and Book Publishing"
date: 2009-05-16
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $('#toc').toc({ minimumHeaders: 3, listType: 'ul', showSpeed: 0, headers: '#content h2, #content h3, #content h4, #content h5, #content h6' }); /*..."
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2009/05/16/john-hedtke-on-disaster-preparedness-and-book-publishing/index.html
---

> For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://idratherbewriting.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of all pages are available by appending .md to any page URL.

# John Hedtke on Disaster Preparedness and Book Publishing

**Listen here:**

[Audio](https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/podcasts/hedtke.mp3)

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/apple_podcasts.png)](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id-rather-be-writing-podcast/id277365275) [![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/watchonyoutubeblack.png)](https://www.youtube.com/@idratherbewriting) [![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/spotify.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/4HeOZfPGMMfViOhVS40QBD)

[The Complete Idiot's Guide to Disaster Preparedness](https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Disaster-Preparedness/dp/1592578934) is John Hedtke's latest book—the 26th book he's written. In it, Hedtke explains that although most people think disasters are only major catastrophes, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, or floods, actually a disaster occurs whenever your needs exceed your resources and your ability to respond, and the normal processes of your life are disrupted. In this interview, I also ask John about book publishing—what his writing routine is, what advice he has for writers, and what keeps him motivated.

See [John Hedtke's site](http://hedtke.com/).