This show is for book lovers and creators who want to go behind the scenes with their favorite authors to hear about how they were able to not just write a book but create a movement.
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BTB193: How To Build Your Book Marketing Strategy: Sell More, Waste Less | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026
This final episode of our four-part series from Ed Rush ’s Top Gun Author event in Dallas brings everything together. Instead of focusing on another guest interview, I walk through the framework we use at Shelf Life to turn book marketing ideas into an actual plan. The goal is simple: know what you’re going to do before launch, during launch week, and long after the initial excitement wears off.…
BTB192: How To Market Your Book: Book Marketing Tools | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026
Welcome to Part 3 of this special four-part series of Before the Bestseller , recorded live at Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live Event 2026. In this session, I’m sharing the real stories behind books that found their audience, from Atomic Habits and Profit First to Rich Dad Poor Dad , Go for No! and How to Win Friends and Influence People . The strategies are different, but they all show how creative…
BTB191: How To Market Your Book: Random Acts of Marketing (Don’t Work) | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026
Welcome to Part 2 of this special four-part series recorded live at Ed Rush's Top Gun Author Live Event in Dallas. In this episode, I want to talk about something that doesn't get enough attention: how to stop wasting your time and money on book marketing. After working with hundreds of authors, I've seen the same mistakes happen over and over again. The good news is they're avoidable once you…
BTB190: How To Market Your Book: Fundamentals of Book Marketing | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026
In this first episode of a special four-part series recorded live at Ed Rush 's first-ever Top Gun Author Live event, I take a step back from the usual interviews to share the foundations of book marketing. Before we talk about ads, social media, or launch strategies, we need to understand what actually makes a book succeed and why so many authors end up busy without making real progress. Through…
BTB189: How Scott Hogan Sold 300,000+ Copies of Built from Broken | Word of Mouth, Publishing & Book Marketing
Today we're back with Scott Hogan , author of the bestselling book Built from Broken , which has sold more than 300,000 copies. Scott is the founder of SaltWrap , a company dedicated to helping people stay strong, mobile, and pain-free through practical approaches to nutrition, training, and recovery. As an A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer, Orthopedic Exercise Specialist, and nutritional…
BTB188: Built From Broken with Author Scott Hogan | Pain, Recovery & Fitness (300,000+ Copies Sold)
This week we're joined by Scott Hogan , someone who has turned a lifetime of injuries into a mission to help others move better, recover smarter, and keep doing the activities they love for years to come. Scott is an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer, certified orthopedic exercise specialist, nutritional supplement formulator, founder of SaltWrap , and the author of the…
BTB187: Karen Anderson, Co-Author of The Bezos Letters & Associate Publisher at Morgan James: What Makes a Book Worth Recommending? | Book Positioning & Reader Trust
We're back for a second episode with Karen Anderson , a publishing strategist and direct response marketing expert who has worked across every major publishing model and co-author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller The Bezos Letters . Building on our previous conversation about what makes a book worth publishing, we now explore what makes a book actually work, from reader…
BTB186: Karen Anderson, Co-Author of The Bezos Letters and Associate Publisher at Morgan James: Inside the Publisher's Brain, Reader Pain Points, and What Kills a Book
Today, we're joined by Karen Anderson , a strategic book advisor, Associate Publisher at Morgan James Publishing , and co-author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon . With more than twenty-five years in publishing and contributions to numerous New York Times bestselling books, Karen brings an unusual combination of…
BTB185: Steven Pressfield: Millions of Copies Sold, 35 Screenplays Written and Fiction vs. Nonfiction Book Marketing
Today we welcome back Steven Pressfield , bestselling author of The War of Art , Gates of Fire , The Legend of Bagger Vance , and his newest novel, The Arcadian . Across a career spanning fiction and nonfiction, Pressfield has sold millions of books and built a reputation as one of the most influential voices on creativity, discipline, and the challenges that stand between people and their life's…
BTB184: Steven Pressfield: The War of Art, The Arcadian, and a Lifetime of Writing Books
Today we welcome a very special guest and one of my favorite authors for a long time, Steven Pressfield , author of more than twenty books spanning fiction and nonfiction, including The War of Art , which has sold more than a million copies worldwide and has become a foundational book for writers, entrepreneurs, artists, and creators. He is also the acclaimed author of Gates of Fire , The Legend…
