Deadlines have a lousy name. Call them live-lines instead. That´t what they are.
If you hesitate to map out your future, to make a big plan or to set a goal, you've just gone ahead and mapped your future anyway.
Go do something interesting. Ask if you need help.
Good marketers tell a story.
The problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win
I think that the economics of book publishing favor hits with long book runs. You make all your money on the last bunch of books, not the first.