Behind the Book Cover

If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life. Kelsey Chittick wrote a book about her husband dying at a trampoline park while she was on a spiritual retreat in Jamaica, and somehow it's one of the funniest books I've ever read. But what I really wanted to talk to her about is what happened after.Because the book, Second Half, became the thing people hand to someone when the worst has happened. It led to Zibby Owens inviting Kelsey to co-host a podcast about sex that lasted five years. It led to a grief group in her basement that ran every two weeks for three and a half years and is now being pitched as a scripted TV show. It turned her into a speaker, a life coach and someone whose phone rings every time somebody in the South Bay loses the person they love most.Kelsey didn't write this book to build a career. She wrote it so her kids would know the truth about their dad. They still haven't read it (too embarrassing, apparently). But the book did what books do when they're real: it opened every door she didn't know existed.In this episode:How a death-and-mourning memoir became the go-to gift when someone dies (and led to a five-year sex podcast)Why the grief group in her basement is being pitched as a scripted TV showThe moment Kelsey knew she was done being "the dead-husband woman" — and what comes nextThe cover design that looked like a vagina (her mother-in-law loved it)What it means to write something so true to your voice that you can hand someone the book instead of reliving the storyWant to find out more about my hybrid book publishing company, Legacy Launch Pad? Click here. Want to discover how entrepreneurs get seven-figure returns on their authority-building books? Click here. Want to apply to work with us? Here's where you go.And if you just want to know more about me, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them. 

If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life. Alex Mandossian sold 87 copies of his book and made $2.5 million from it, which is either the best argument for publishing a book or the best argument against caring about sales numbers (or both).I've known Alex for years, and what makes him fun to talk to is that he'll just say the thing most authors won't admit: the book was never the product. It was the thing that got him in the room. He gave signed copies away on stages across six continents and every single one of his high-ticket consulting clients mentioned the book before they hired him. Not because it was a bestseller (600 copies sold, total, across two books) but because having it made him the guy who literally wrote the book on his thing.Alex calls a book a "credentializer," which is not a word, but it should be. He also has a collection of one-liners he calls Alexisms that are annoyingly quotable. We get into all of it — how he turned one book into years of content, why he thinks most authors completely misunderstand what a book is actually for and what happens when you stop chasing sales and start using your book as the best business card that's ever existed.In this episode:How 87 copies sold turned into $2.5 million in revenue (and why the math makes more sense than you think)Why every single high-ticket client referenced the book before saying yesWhat happens when you give signed copies away on stages instead of trying to sell themThe Alexisms — and why deceptively simple one-liners are a branding strategyWhy most authors are obsessed with the wrong metricWant to find out more about my hybrid book publishing company, Legacy Launch Pad? Click here. Want to discover how entrepreneurs get seven-figure returns on their authority-building books? Click here. Want to apply to work with us? Here's where you go.And if you just want to know more about me, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them. 

If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life. Brian Kurtz spent decades helping build Boardroom into a billion-dollar business through direct response marketing, which means he knows more about what actually makes people buy things than almost anyone I've ever talked to.So when he finally wrote his book Overdeliver, he didn't do what most authors do (cross his fingers, pray for a bestseller list, then move on). He treated the book like a business asset that would keep working for years, and that's exactly what it's done.What I wanted to get into with Brian is his idea of the "perpetual launch"—that a book is never done launching, which sounds exhausting until you hear how he actually does it. He used bonuses, podcasts and decades of relationship capital to turn one book into a long-term client engine, and he'll tell you straight up that capturing a reader's email matters more than any Amazon ranking ever will.He also wrote for nearly a decade before publishing, which gave him something most authors skip straight past: an actual voice.And then there's the part of this conversation that puts everything else in perspective. The day before his book launch, Brian had a near-fatal stroke. We talk about what that did to how he thinks about legacy and why, after something like that, the long game stops being a strategy and starts being the only thing that makes sense.In this episode:What the "perpetual launch" means in practice (and why most authors quit too early)Why Brian says capturing an email is worth more than an Amazon rankingHow decades of relationship capital turned one book into a multi-million-dollar assetThe near-fatal stroke that happened the day before his launch — and how it changed everythingWhy writing for years before publishing is the real shortcutWant to find out more about my hybrid book publishing company, Legacy Launch Pad? Click here. Want to discover how entrepreneurs get seven-figure returns on their authority-building books? Click here. Want to apply to work with us? Here's where you go.And if you just want to know more about me, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them. 

If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life. Richard Lawson has spent 50+ years in Hollywood acting, teaching and mentoring people like George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer, so writing a book could have been a victory lap—a way to package the lessons and put a bow on everything.That's not what happened. Writing The Artist's Roadmap: Navigating Your Career in SHOW Business didn't just organize what Richard already knew. It woke something up. It led to a Substack, a memoir in progress, a series of children's books and an entirely new creative chapter that he wasn't expecting at this stage of his life.What I wanted to get into with Richard is how that happened—how the process of writing the book became the thing that renewed him, not just the product of a long career. He tells me about a moment during a college musical in 1969 that set everything in motion (and why he still feels guided by that same force today). He talks about surviving an actual plane crash and what that did to his relationship with intuition. And he explains the dialogue between his two inner voices—his spiritual guide "Richard" and his creative alter ego "Tricky Dick"—which is not the kind of thing you expect from a guy who's spent five decades in the business, and that's exactly why it's interesting.In this episode:The 1969 revelation during a college musical that he says still drives him todayHow surviving a plane crash reshaped how he trusts his own instincts"Richard" vs. "Tricky Dick"—the two inner voices and what they taught him about creativityHis three-part formula for show business success: politics, personality and craftWhy the book led to a Substack, a memoir, children's books and an entire second creative wave he didn't planWhat he means by "dream whisperer" (and how he helps people find their way back to their purpose)Want to find out more about my hybrid book publishing company, Legacy Launch Pad? Click here. Want to discover how entrepreneurs get seven-figure returns on their authority-building books? Click here. Want to apply to work with us? Here's where you go.And if you just want to know more about me, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them. 

If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life. Justin Breen used to charge $500 for his PR services. After writing his first book, he started charging $30,000.That's not a typo, and it's not because the book sold a million copies—it's because the book made him the person clients wanted to hire at that price.Justin's path to authorship started when his journalism salary got cut in half and he cold-contacted 5,000 people to find his first five clients. He documented that whole ride in Epic Life, and it led to The Epic F.I.T. Network, speaking engagements and media opportunities that didn't exist before the book.But what I really wanted to talk about is what happened with his second book, Epic Journey, because it got weird in the best way. Justin describes the writing process as channeling divine inspiration while literally staring at the sun on his daily runs, which I know sounds like something you'd scroll past—but the manuscript had such an impact on early readers that one of them got a tattoo inspired by it. The book led to what he calls a "complete ego death," an amicable divorce, a total life overhaul and a new AI music company called Corvia.AI. He's currently not sure where he's going to live next, which is either terrifying or the most honest thing an entrepreneur has ever admitted on a podcast.We also get into why he thinks not everyone should write their own book (which is a bold thing to say on this particular podcast) and his potential collaboration with Melissa Bernstein of Melissa & Doug Toys.In this episode:How writing a book took him from $500 to $30,000 per clientThe 5,000 cold contacts that launched his entire businessWhy Epic Journey led to an ego death, a divorce and a company he didn't planThe early reader who got a tattoo inspired by the manuscriptWhy he says not everyone should write their own book (and what to do instead)The potential Melissa Bernstein (Melissa & Doug) collaborationWant to find out more about my hybrid book publishing company, Legacy Launch Pad? Click here. Want to discover how entrepreneurs get seven-figure returns on their authority-building books? Click here. Want to apply to work with us? Here's where you go.And if you just want to know more about me, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.