A weekly newsletter/podcast for entrepreneurs who want to publish books that don't leave them broke and bereft. Expect practical tips, honest insights earned from decades of experience in the industry and very little hand-holding.
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A listener asked me a two-part question: as she gets ready to publish her book and launch her speaking career, what’s the simplest, most economical path to having a box of copies on hand, and what should she budget to get there?
Most traditionally published authors go through a moment (or 100 moments) when they realize that their publisher isn’t actually doing anything for them.
Two of you sent me questions that looked different on the surface but landed in the same place: how to market a book under a pen name, and why past launches haven’t performed the way you wanted.
Plus: my massive database of past reviews
A client of mine named Jimmie Applegate asked me a question I get from almost every author I work with, even though he was too polite to ask it quite this bluntly: he has a published book, Addicted to Failure, and a great Psychology Today feature to his name—and he still doesn’t know what to do next.
The Bucket List experience that felt a little like getting soaked by a bucket
Paul Colligan has written 13 books, is in the Podcasting Hall of Fame and has helped Donald Miller, Brendan Burchard, JJ Virgin and Joe Polish turn podcasting into what he calls a “grown-up business strategy” instead of a hobby.
(And am self-conscious about it)
I’m trying something entirely new on the podcast.
Last week I did something I probably should have done two years ago: I asked AI whether my novel Party Girl is one of the best funny novels about addiction and recovery.
AKA why we take other women’s stories so personally
Nicolas Cole built his first ghostwriting business by answering questions on Quora in 2014, and somehow that has compounded into a $10M+ portfolio of writing companies that he runs with his partner Dickie Bush—anchored by Premium Ghostwriting Academy
Gary White is a Scottish marketer who spent years building funnels for Russell Brunson at ClickFunnels before he got obsessed with one specific kind of client: people who cared so much about a subject they wrote a book on it.
In 2023 I opened my book On Good Authority by saying AI wasn’t going to replace writers.
Why would I do such a thing?
Steve Sarner spent eight years at Amazon and was VP of sales at Goodreads, which means he understands something most authors don’t:
Rex Sorgatz is one of those people who has been early to everything—blogging, digital media, startups—and now AI storytelling.
Charlie Hoehn worked for Tim Ferriss for years and got the job in a way Tim has actually written about (worth the click).
I was a snob about AI in publishing.
Send me your business and I’ll tell you what book would actually build authority
