Publish Your Book

How and Why to Publish a Bestselling Book

By Anna David

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

Before you go any further… Do you want to know if you have a book in you? Go to www.futureauthorquiz.com to find out!

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 1 PART 1 – WHAT I’VE LEARNED ...... 3

You Don’t Have to Have a Ridiculously Interesting Life ...... 5 You Don’t Have to Be Ridiculously Talented ...... 9 You Don’t Have to Be Well-Connected ...... 13 You Don’t Have to Have Any Connections at All ...... 17 You Don’t Have to Get a Traditional Book Deal ...... 21 PART 2 – WHAT TO LEARN FROM THAT ...... 45

Know Your Mission ...... 47 Know Your Limitations...... 51 Follow the Rules ...... 55 PART 3 – WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED ...... 65

Know Your Why ...... 67 Become a Public Speaker ...... 69 Launch a Podcast ...... 89 Consulting, Coaching and More ...... 107 BONUSES ...... 111

Bonus 1: The Sample Advanced Reader Team Newsletter Sequence ...... 113 Bonus 2: Effective and Ineffective Podcast Pitches and Blurb Requests ...... 122 Bonus 3: How to Craft an Email Nurture Sequence .. 127 Bonus 4: How to Write an Effective Medium.com Post ...... 150 Bonus 5: How to Write a Memoir ...... 158 Bonus 6: How to Publish on Amazon ...... 177 Bonus 7: The Pre-Book Launch Cheat Sheet Checklist ...... 182 CONCLUSION ...... 183 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ...... 185 Introduction

You see them.

They’re on TV.

They’re speaking at conferences.

You hear them.

They’re talking to you through your headphones or car speakers when you listen to podcasts.

You hear about them.

People are recommending them, on Twitter and in person or on Instagram or at dinner parties. You’re being handed their work whether you want it or not.

Who are they?

Best-selling authors.

The question is: How do you become one yourself?

The answer: It’s not as hard as you might think.

PART 1 – WHAT I’VE LEARNED

You Don’t Have to Have a Ridiculously Interesting Life

I didn’t become a writer because my life is so fascinating that I felt like I needed to write about it.

I became a writer because there simply wasn’t anything else I knew how to do.

I wrote my first short story when I was in eighth grade and it was about my seventh-grade teacher, Mr. Mein, who was very mean (even a 12-year-old can understand the cleverness of a homonym).

I submitted my first short story for publication when I was 12. Or maybe it wasn’t the first. I just know that the first rejection letter I still have is from when I was 12 years old. It’s framed and on the wall in my reading nook.

Dear Anna, it reads…

Thank you for submitting your story, All About My Splinter, from your “My Garden of Adventures, Book 1” series. I really enjoyed it—very good reading. At this point, we have all our written material set for the next few editions of Boing! But, I will keep you in mind for later issues. If we do use your story, I’ll write to you and let you know. Many thanks and keep up the good writing!

It is signed by a man I have often wondered about. ANNA DAVID · 6

Was he an aspiring writer and if so, did it make him feel like he wasn’t living his life’s purpose when he had to send rejection letters to 12-year-olds?

I never found out.

But I did find out that even as a pre-pubescent, I was following the “write what you know” adage and as a relatively sheltered 12-year-old growing up in Northern California, I didn’t know about much beyond getting splinters.

(Pity whomever had to read later books in the “My Garden of Adventures” series; my money’s on my mom, who had been the one to comfort me years earlier, at the age of seven, when I’d discovered via The Guinness Book of World Records that the youngest author was six so I couldn’t set the record myself.)

Even though setting records had been a personal obsession of mine since I’d seen Bobby and Cindy Brady set the world teeter totter record on The Brady Bunch, I let that go.

But I didn’t let go of the “write what you know” adage.

I write about my life.

I only forgot to do that once—in my second novel, Bought, which Publisher’s Weekly aptly called a “misfire.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE A RIDICULOUSLY INTERESTING LIFE · 7

I hated the book so much that I begged HarperCollins to let me do a full rewrite even after they’d acquired it for a significant amount of money.

(They told me I didn’t need to rewrite it—that, after all, they’d bought it the way it was—but I did end up rewriting it and still hated it.)

So, I write about my life.

And yet here’s the thing: my life isn’t all that interesting.

I haven’t discovered the cure for herpes, been elected to office or even set the god damn teeter totter record.

I’ve still made that life into eight books and hundreds if not thousands of articles, posts, essays and live stories.

Because it doesn’t really matter what the story is.

It matters how it’s told.

You Don’t Have to Be Ridiculously Talented

There’s a popular meme floating around the web: “Great writing is 3% talent and 97% not getting distracted by the Internet.” It is often accompanied by an image of a person who appears overwhelmed while staring at her computer screen.

I’d like to offer an amendment to that. It’s not as cute- sounding but from what I can see, it’s just as much, if not more, accurate.

“Succeeding as a writer is 3% talent and 97% not giving up year after year.”

Because here’s the thing: the most successful writers I know aren’t the most talented. I know fiercely, skin-tinglingly talented ones who have to pay the rent by working at gossip magazines or worse.

I know not particularly talented ones who rake in accolades, money or both.

It’s not about talent.

It’s about what you do with the talent you have.

And it’s about following the second-most popular adage when it comes to writing: “Writing is rewriting.” ANNA DAVID · 10

How do I know this? Because I’ve both taken and taught a plethora of writing classes; I even majored in Creative Writing in college. It was, of course, an utterly useless degree but it did teach me one thing: writing can’t be taught.

Here’s what you do when you’re a Creative Writing major:

1) You write stories.

2) You workshop those stories, which means that your teacher and classmates read them and then provide feedback.

3) You rewrite your stories based on that feedback.

At no point do you get lessons on how to write stories because it is presumed, if you choose to major in something as useless as Creative Writing, that you a) are delusional and b) already know how to write short stories.

Most of my fellow students didn’t become writers.

You know who did? Plenty of people I know who didn’t major in Creative Writing.

They are people who’ve spent years and years and years honing their craft, possibly subscribing to the Malcolm Gladwell popularized belief that you have to do something for 10,000 hours to develop mastery over it but probably going well over that allotted time frame. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED · 11

It’s not about being a gifted writer.

How do I know?

Martin Amis is a gifted writer.

Jennifer Egan is a gifted writer.

Philip Roth was a gifted writer.

I’m not a gifted writer.

I’m quite good in that I have a lot of practice obsessing over words and placing them together in a way that can best articulate my feelings while also sounding both original and clever.

I’m good.

But I’m not gifted.

Despite not being a gifted writer, I’ve had a great career, in some form or function, as a writer for the past two decades.

That is because I didn’t give up.

And in doing so, I’ve made the most of the talent I have.

You Don’t Have to Be Well-Connected

Over the years of being a writer, there’s one comment I’ve heard more than probably any other:

“Well, it’s easier for you,” the person will say. “You have an agent. You’re well-connected.”

I am.

Because I’ve been doing this for so long.

I was a professional writer for almost 10 years before an agent was interested in representing me.

Here’s the connection I had when I was first launching my career: Someone who worked for my dad had a daughter who was a costume designer on a soap opera.

That was as close as I got to knowing anyone in the media.

But here’s where I was inarguably, unabashedly lucky: I had parents who were willing to support me for six months when I moved to New York to intern for magazines.

If I hadn’t had that, I would never have gotten to know the magazine editor who hired me for my first job.

Many people, I realize, don’t have that. ANNA DAVID · 14

Still, I was a basket case for years, burning most of the bridges I built during that period, and having to start anew at the age of 30.

That’s when I methodically set out to have the career I’d always wanted.

That’s when I pitched every magazine I’d ever hoped to write for, color copying and mailing what we then called “clips” to editors, not getting a response and then doing the same thing again to the same editors when I had new clips.

That’s when I cold called editors who barked at me for bothering them.

And that’s when I slowly, ever so slowly, built up enough clips to get long assignments and eventually cover stories and eventually a column and eventually my first book deal and eventually other book deals.

Before that, I’d been trying to make it as a screen and TV writer, penning spec scripts of shows I’d never seen and working with a writing partner on romantic comedies we felt certain should star Kate Hudson.

Our manager would send these out and we would occasionally score “generals,” which was short for “general meeting” which felt short for “spending a half hour with an executive who’s being paid a lot of money and thus needs to justify a high salary by having jerk-off meetings with aspiring writers he or she will never hire.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE WELL-CONNECTED · 15

We got our manager because we bought a book called The Hollywood Creative Directory and sent letters to every single agent and manager listed who accepted blind submissions.

Out of the hundreds, four of them responded to us and asked us to send our scripts.

Two of them wanted to sign us.

One of them went out of business.

We went with the other one.

While that manager never got us a job, being signed by her was the beginning of my being allegedly “so well- connected.”

My point is this: most of the successful people I know started connection-less. Much like with talent, it’s all about what you do with what you’ve got.

And want to know the best way to make the most of your connections once you have them? Find ways you can serve them.

I never used to understand this. I’d meet people and pitch them my work and wonder why they didn’t seem to want to help me.

For years, I wanted a mentor but couldn’t seem to find one. ANNA DAVID · 16

You know that whole thing about how when the student is ready, the teacher appears?

That’s how it was with me and finding my mentor.

His name is Joe Polish and he’s widely considered one of the world’s best connectors.

Well, I connected with him and I can attest to that. He has introduced me to more fabulous, kind, generous people than I can count and given me opportunities I’d only dreamed of (like being able to share the stage with Tony Robbins at Joe’s company’s annual event).

But here’s the thing: I don’t just take and take.

I am constantly trying to think of ways I can help him. I do everything I can. Joe’s known for saying “Life gives to the giver and takes from the taker” and he’s taught me that over and over and over again.

My point: find a mentor. And then do everything you can to help them.

You Don’t Have to Have Any Connections at All

When I sold my first book, in 2005, I sniffed at self- publishing.

When I sold my second book, I had the same attitude.

And on and on, through my sixth book.

When I ran into people I considered non-writers and they told me they’d published a book, I immediately inquired, “Traditional or…?”

I usually let the sentence trail off into the ether, the word “self-publishing” too anathema for me to even utter.

Then something happened.

Namely, publishing broke.

My first book deal, in 2005, was for $50,000, a number which disappointed me terribly at the time. I knew people who were getting $200 and $300,000 book deals so I felt terribly disregarded.

Ah, the sweet ignorance of youth.

My final book deal, roughly seven years later, was for $2,000. ANNA DAVID · 18

Yes, $2,000.

I had been paid $5,000 for a magazine cover story that consisted of interviewing a celebrity for an hour and then shaping the transcript into a 1000-word story and suddenly I was getting less than half of that for a book.

Oh, and those people I knew who were netting six-figure book deals? They weren’t earning out their advances… not even close. In fact, they were losing their publishing companies so much money that they’d essentially rendered themselves black-listed.

They could never sell another book. Who would make a deal, after all, with a writer who’d lost HarperCollins or St. Martin’s or another of the Big Five mid-six figures?

At the same time, self-publishing exploded.

Self-published books like The Martian and Still Alice became hit movies.

I watched James Altucher self-publish Choose Yourself and sell 45,000 copies in the first month while my friends with traditionally published books were talking about going back to school and getting teaching credentials.

Speaking of Altucher, he wrote in a blog post called “How to Self-Publish a Bestseller”: YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE ANY CONNECTIONS AT ALL · 19

The distinction now is no longer between “traditional publishing” versus “self-publishing.” The distinction now is between PROFESSIONAL versus UNPROFESSIONAL publishing.

My first ten books were done unprofessionally. Even the ones with the big publishing houses.

I couldn’t agree with him more.

Still, getting a deal with a major publishing house isn’t an option for most people; the big ones are rumored to accept roughly 3 out of every 10,000 submitted proposals.

The big publishing houses also take between a year and two years to release a book.

The big publishing houses also choose to support very few of the books they release and thus do very little to help the authors of the books they have not selected.

How do I know this? Because all six times I went with a big publisher, I was one of the authors whose book had not been selected.

It took me a few years to catch onto the fact that the line between traditional and self-publishing had disintegrated so much that they had in fact switched places.

There are no gatekeepers now.

Which leads me to my next point…

You Don’t Have to Get a Traditional Book Deal

In fact, you probably don’t want one.

I don’t.

This isn’t sour grapes stemming from my aforementioned final book “advance” that didn’t even net me enough to cover the cost of the coffee I consumed while writing it.

This is because traditional publishing is a countdown to heartbreak. The call from your agent saying that your book sold is the good part.

It’s all downhill from there.

If you don’t believe me, consider this…

You spend months and months and months crafting this book hoping to get validation from your editor.

If your editor is like most editors in the book business (overworked and underpaid), he or she will probably switch to another publishing house during this time.

If that doesn’t happen, you’ll be working with someone who is, well, overworked and underpaid and that will show in the person’s dealings with you.

It may not show in expected ways. ANNA DAVID · 22

Here’s how it showed up for me: I do not believe that the man who is credited with having edited my second, third and fourth books ever read them.

“They look great,” was all he ever said to me.

For books two and three, I assumed this was because I was that good.

“My editor didn’t even have any notes!” I remember explaining to a writer friend, who seemed suitably impressed.

Then I briefly dated another writer who shared my editor and I saw the notes he gave and edits he did on that guy’s book.

That guy was a name writer—the one who became the publishing house’s focus whenever he released a book— and, well, in the writer’s words, the editor “pissed all over it.”

This didn’t mean the editor tore it apart; he just made notes on every page, scratching out certain word choices and replacing them with other words—not to make the book better but just to make it different.

He wanted his stamp on a book he knew would hit.

He didn’t care about any others. YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET A TRADITIONAL BOOK DEAL · 23

When my editor was eventually fired, I heard that they found stacks of unread books in his desk—not unsolicited submissions but books he’d “edited.”

But here’s the thing: the real problem with traditional publishing isn’t that you get slapped with an overworked and underpaid editor who probably won’t care about your book.

The real problem is that the expectations are so high.

You have, after all, been at this project for at least two years if you factor in the amount of time you spent writing the proposal.

That means that for two years, people have been talking to you about your book.

You’ve had two years of anticipation.

You’ve had two years of saying, “Yes, it’s being published by Harper’s” or “Simon & Schuster” or insert-name-of-other- publishing-house-you-are-proud-to-be-associated with.

You would never go through this if you didn’t believe, at least somewhere inside, that your book would be a massive hit.

Sure, you’ve doubted yourself through the process but at the same time you’ve been able to picture “New York Times bestselling author” next to your name. ANNA DAVID · 24

You’ve secretly envisioned rave reviews, pictured yourself discussing your book with Rachel Maddow or Terry Gross or, if things really go your way, Jimmy Fallon.

And then…that doesn’t happen.

I remember the writer Joel Stein once tweeting during one of his book releases something along the lines of, “Having a book come out is just like having a movie come out…except no one cares.”

I would add to that: it’s like having a movie come out—one that you starred in, produced, wrote and directed—with the full expectation that the production company or studio that acquired it would help.

Or if not help, exactly, at least be there.

But you don’t hear from them.

You don’t hear from them because publishing, even more than the entertainment business, even more than our current economy, is divided into the haves and the have- nots.

See, publishing houses know they’ll lose money on 99% of their books.

They’re banking on the Glennon Doyle’s and Brené Brown’s to make up for that. YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET A TRADITIONAL BOOK DEAL · 25

In other words, they’re banking on the fact that they’ll have a few books that will sell millions and that will make up for all those other books they lost money on—books by people who think their lives will change as a result of those books.

I remember a famous-ish writer I met telling me that his publisher didn’t do anything to support him and his book…until the book suddenly, surprisingly, became a hit.

That’s when the publisher support started.

That’s when they put money toward ads and began trying to get him booked on NPR.

Publishers want the low-hanging fruit. No matter how much they may like a book, they probably won’t do much for it unless the book doesn’t need help. (Think of it as something as crazy as celebrities—that is, those who can most afford to buy expensive clothes—getting sent free clothes.)

If you’re not one of the chosen few, you may get responses from your publishing house in the weeks after your release when you reach out to them…usually that they pitched you to some local radio and are still waiting to hear back.

You turn on Good Morning America and see an author who’s with the same publishing house as you giving an interview.

You seethe. ANNA DAVID · 26

You vow not to check your Amazon number but then check your Amazon number.

You refresh Amazon.

You cry.

You go out and all anyone does is ask you how your book’s doing.

I know this not only because it happened to me six times but because it’s happened to a good three dozen writers I know.

And I’m one of the lucky ones! I have a book that hit the New York Times bestseller list. My books have received coverage from The Today Show, Cosmo, The Talk and everywhere in between.

But here’s the thing: I made that happen all on my own. I booked myself on The Today Show, got Cosmo to cover my books. My publisher didn’t do anything because they were too busy doing things for the Elizabeth Gilberts.

Why, I couldn’t help but wonder, have a publisher at all when they weren’t doing anything except making me feel irrelevant?

A writer friend, one who’s published four books but now talks about getting his teaching credentials, once said to me, YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET A TRADITIONAL BOOK DEAL · 27

“I feel so sorry for people the week a big publishing house releases their book.”

It sounds hyperbolic to say it’s traumatic but I don’t know what else to call it when you watch your dreams not so much go up in flames but just never catch fire at all.

When you face the fact that your book is two sticks and will remain two sticks, you have two options: you can give up or you can look for another way.

After years of choosing the former—contemplating trying to get a career in advertising and then spinning my wheels trying to make a living editing websites—I chose the latter.

That’s when I launched a hybrid traditional/self-publishing company that helps people write and publish their books.

That’s when I got to put all those years of slugging it out with traditional publishing to use.

Now I get to help already successful people become bestselling authors and it’s infinitely more satisfying than the time I spent writing my own books for the big publishers. (Just how does that work? Go to www.lighthustlepublishing.com to find out.)

Becoming an author has given me some inarguably cool experiences; we publish photo pages in a lot of the books we release so I thought I’d gather some of the pictures that best document the cool things that have happened in my author journey here…

PART 2 – WHAT TO LEARN FROM THAT

Know Your Mission

I didn’t set out to start a company that writes, edits and publishes books for entrepreneurs and other people who want to share their stories.

In fact, after a somewhat horrific experience writing a book for an actor, I vowed to never write another book for someone else again.

(That book ended up becoming the New York Times bestseller but was that worth it when this guy regularly threw his phone at me and called me a “stupid c***” whenever I asked him to talk about something that made him uncomfortable? Still not sure.)

But in 2018, a major sports agent named Darren Prince who wanted to start doing recovery advocacy work came to me and asked if I’d help him tell his story.

I said, regretfully, I could not.

He was insistent. There’s a reason that this guy represents people like Magic Johnson and Dennis Rodman…he’s persistent.

And so I asked my friend Kristen McGuiness, also a bestselling author of multiple books who had experience with ghostwriting, if she’d consider writing Darren’s story. She said yes. I told Darren I’d edit it. ANNA DAVID · 48

Then he said he wanted me to publish it, too.

I told him I didn’t know how to publish books.

That’s okay, he said, with the smile of someone accustomed to people saying yes. He’d pay me to learn.

That book, Aiming High: How a Prominent Sports Agent Hit Bottom at the Top, became a huge hit, launching Darren onto the speaking circuit and netting him so many new clients and opportunities that he had to hire his own team of agents.

Light Hustle Publishing was born. And it would not exist without the amazing Darren Prince. Yes, this is a man who is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the fact that I have a thriving business today.

Since then, my attitude around hybrid traditional/self- publishing has done a 180. I now see that having a book is pretty much a necessity in the business world today and that any entrepreneur who doesn’t have one is missing out on the most crucial part of their marketing.

I’m thrilled to be able to help people—those who didn’t spend their formative years trying to pick the perfect word to craft the ideal sentence—release the best quality books they can. I’m thrilled to watch their careers skyrocket once that book is released.

I’m thrilled to have discovered my mission. KNOW YOUR MISSION · 49

So, let me ask you: what’s yours? And if it’s to write a book, what are you waiting for?

Know Your Limitations

Once I determined my place in the writing and publishing game, I learned just how much other people need to do the same.

Here’s what I mean: at Light Hustle, we screen every client, thoroughly. And we pretty much reject any of the ones that come to us insisting that they are great authors who want to write their book but just want us to oversee.

Why are they coming to us if they are great authors? Great authors, as I said earlier, are people who have been writing their whole lives.

It’s like this: if you saw a massively overweight man wearing a tube top, you might think, “Just because you can wear that doesn’t mean that you should.” Yes, anyone can write a book. But should they?

Here’s what I mean: just because someone has the ability to sit in front of a keyboard and peck out letters that make words that make sentences that make paragraphs that make pages does not mean that those keys will create high- quality material.

If you are a writer—and by that I mean someone who has always read a lot, has been crafting sentences for as long as you can remember and who often feels more at home in front of a screen than anywhere else—you should write a book. ANNA DAVID · 52

If you’re someone, on the other hand, who thinks you have a great story to tell and want to take a stab at writing, you probably should not.

If you’re someone who thinks, “I speak well so I probably write well, too,” you probably should not.

The truth is you know if you should write a book. You know if you’re a writer.

If you’re not, deciding to write a book is as crazy as deciding that you should try to operate on someone even though you haven’t had sufficient training.

(If you listened to the Dr. Death podcast, you know how terrifying that can be.)

When people can come to terms with the fact that they’re not writers, they can set themselves up for excellence.

I’m not here to tell you whether you’re a writer or not.

The only one who can tell you is you.

So please be honest with yourself. Don’t let your ego answer. Ask yourself: Would I spend a year writing this out of sheer joy for the act of writing, even if I thought no one would ever read it?

If the answer is yes, go write it. Otherwise, I think you ought to reconsider. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS · 53

We had one guy, a rehab owner, who came to us with the seeming intention of working with us.

He kept three of my team members, including me, on the phone for an hour apiece, explaining the originality of his book idea and how it would revolutionize the industry.

He emailed us what he’d written and it was if not illiterate then at least illegible.

I don’t blame him for not being a talented writer. He was, after all, a talented businessman who spent his days owning and operating a rehab.

His having produced the brilliant opus he claimed he had would be as ludicrous as me showing up at his rehab that day and explaining I would like to run it, despite never having learned the ropes of his industry.

It was clear to my whole team that he just wanted to be told that his writing was amazing—all he was waiting for before signing on the proverbial dotted line.

But I told him the truth…that his book was not publishable and that if he wanted to pay us to write and publish his book, we’d have to start from scratch.

We’re good at telling stories, I explained. What we’re not good at is fixing stories that are badly told.

He didn’t respond well. ANNA DAVID · 54

He told me that he had lots of contacts at the big publishing houses and he would submit there.

I didn’t tell him the three-out-of-every-10,000-proposals- sell statistic.

There’s nothing I can do to help people who don’t know their limitations.

Our favorite clients are the ones who come to us very clear about the fact that they’re not writers. They let us do our thing and we let them do theirs—namely share with us all the experience that has led them to have a story that will make a great book.

Like I said, it’s not about how interesting your story is. It’s about how it’s told.

Follow the Rules

The number of books on Amazon with horrible covers and three or four reviews is uncountable.

Like I said about the guy in the tube top: just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

In other words, you can dash a manuscript off, have someone from Fiverr lay it out and slap on a Canva-created design. I even recommend that path for those who have absolutely zero budget.

But I’m not talking to you when I say that.

If you’ve made it this far in this book, I’m reasonably certain you want better than that.

If you’ve made it this far, I’m reasonably certain you’re only interested in excellent.

And that means following the rules.

So what are these rules?

1) Create an excellent manuscript.

I don’t care if it’s 100,000 words or 1,000. It’s not about length. In fact, as a publisher recently told The Financial Express, “We publish increasingly for readers who are more accustomed to and prefer short-form reading, thanks to the ANNA DAVID · 56 easy availability of books and journalistic literature on smartphones and digital devices.”

So: length doesn’t matter. Quality does. If you’re not a writer, please hire one!

2) Have your book professionally edited.

You, the writer, should not be the editor.

I learned this the hard way (and I’ve edited numerous books and thousands of articles).

I learned this when I finished my book of essays, How to Get Successful By F*cking Up Your Life, and then had it laid out and printed.

I received the 100 copies from the printer.

And then I caught mistake after mistake after mistake— despite the fact that I’d already gone through it repeatedly.

I had a professional editor read it and then had the book laid out and printed again.

I had to toss those 100 copies. I may as well have set the money on fire.

That’s why at Light Hustle, editing is a multi-step process:

− We do a comprehensive edit, which can mean reconceiving the entire book. FOLLOW THE RULES · 57

− We do an edit on that edit.

− We do a copy edit, which means we send it to a certified copy editor.

− We do an edit to make sure we catch everything the copy editor misses.

Yes, even people who edit for a living, who have in fact been certified in it, make mistakes.

They make mistakes because they are human.

As a human, you should hire an editor and a copy editor and then an editor after that.

Trust me, it’s worth the added expense.

While it’s inevitable that a published book will have some typos, I know when I see a bunch of them, I lose immediate respect for the author. I usually close the book right then. Do you really want to work that hard to have people disrespect or dismiss you?

3) Have it laid out by a layout expert.

Yes, there are people on Fiverr who can do this for $5. And there are people who charge thousands. Find someone in the middle.

4) Have a book cover designer create the cover.

Because of Photoshop, everyone’s a designer these days. But you don’t want everyone. You want a book cover designer. ANNA DAVID · 58

After a nightmarish experience with someone who came from the advertising world and called himself a book designer but had absolutely no idea how to design a cover that fit Amazon’s requirements, we decided to only work with designers who’d worked for the Big Five publishers.

Here’s what can happen if you don’t:

− You upload your cover.

− Amazon accepts it.

− You get an email from Amazon 48 hours later that explains that your cover was rejected because it doesn’t meet certain specifications but it neglects to explain which of the specifications it means.

− You have your designer fix it.

− It happens six more times.

It actually happened seven more times with the designer I’m talking about. Each time, perhaps because he was embarrassed by the fact that he couldn’t do something he’d told us he could, he got increasingly difficult so we were not only caught in a difficult situation with a publisher but also dealing with an incredibly nasty designer.

Trust me, you don’t want that. (That being said, some people want to release a book at the lowest possible cost; that’s why the final bonus in this book is a guide to releasing a book for almost no money, which walks you through how to design your cover yourself.) FOLLOW THE RULES · 59

5) Get all your release elements in place.

Here are some of the things I recommend doing the week of your release:

− Post Canva-created quotes from your book on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram (wherever you spend the most time and energy)

− Do a Facebook Live “release party” or something live that you can then convert to 9:16 size and also post as an IGTV

− Create a promotional video using the Clips app

− Ask influencers and friends to promote your book; provide them with whatever copy and material will help them

− Change your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and any other images to include your book cover. Make those clickable whenever possible and once your book is available, paste your Amazon link there

− Re-do your site to feature your book cover on the home page or create a separate site for your book

− Write out a series of emails to send people but rather than making them all sales-y (“Hey, I have a book” followed by “Hey, did you buy my book?”) make them newsy… have one that announces how well it’s selling, another that alerts them to a contest ANNA DAVID · 60

you’re running or another that announces that you’re doing a Facebook Live

− Run a contest. Give away Starbucks gift cards, a consultation with you or anything else you can think of to incentivize people to buy or share about your book.

6) Gather an Advanced Reader Team (ART).

What this means: Once you have a book ready to be released, the most effective way to guarantee success (in addition to uploading it to Amazon with keywords and in categories specifically designed to make it hit the top of the bestseller lists) is to put together and nurture an Advanced Reader Team that can review your book right before you announce that the book is available to the general public.

These can NOT be members of your family or close friends because Amazon not only forbids reviews from people it considers biased but also scans for potential relationships between reviewer and author and deletes those that appear to be from those close to the author.

(It happened to me! A girl I know but who isn’t a particularly close friend of mine reviewed one of my books and then got an email from Amazon saying that they’d concluded that the review was biased and were deleting it. Apparently, there are both bots and people on the Amazon team always scanning for these sorts of things.) FOLLOW THE RULES · 61

Advanced Reader Team members should instead be people who are aware of you, support your work, want to see you succeed and are interested in your book topic.

If you don’t have a newsletter list, use your social media or whatever other tools you have to find these people. If you have a newsletter list, send the offer to them first and then use social media and all the other tools.

You’re probably going to need to motivate and thank this group, and do keep in mind that roughly 20% of ART members end up coming through and actually writing reviews. That means: if you’re aiming for 20 reviews to be posted on your release date try to gather a group of 100 people.

7) Nurture your Advanced Reader Team.

Once you find them, here’s what I recommend: create a Facebook, Slack or WhatsApp group for them—some place where you can communicate with them easily.

At least a month before your release date, create a BookFunnel account ($20 for a year) and upload your book there.

Send your ART members a link to that and ask them to start reading and even writing their review but to hold onto it until your release date. ANNA DAVID · 62

Over that month, keep in touch with them through a series of emails.

(In the Bonuses section of this book, I actually give you the complete email sequence I sent out to the ART for my How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life book.

Do NOT copy this sequence word for word because that wouldn’t make sense for you. Instead use it as a guide for your own.)

You’ll see in my sample email sequence that I offered team members my How to Make Your Book a Bestseller course, which sells for $497 to thank them so try to think of your own version of that to give yours.

To be clear: you are NOT “paying” them to write a positive review (in my opinion, it’s actually better to have a mixture of positive and medium reviews instead of all positive reviews; all positive reviews scream author-imposed; mixed reviews feel more legit).

You are giving them a gift to thank them for supporting you.

8) Get your ART reviews up before you even announce the release.

When you load your book onto Amazon, set the cost at .99. Don’t worry—you’re not selling your book for that. This is just the price for your Advanced Reader Team. FOLLOW THE RULES · 63

Three days before your official release, alert your ART that the book is available and send them the link. Ask them to go purchase the book for .99 and write a review.

(While people can review without purchasing the book, they need to have made the purchase for the review to count as Verified and have the little Verified check mark next to it. Not only does this look a lot more legit but it also matters a lot more to Amazon than a non-verified review.)

And remember how I just said that the people on your ART should be interested in your topic?

Here’s why this is important:

They need to have a history of buying books like yours on Amazon for Amazon to find their shopping experience relevant. If you gather a bunch of people who only read Victorian romance books to buy and review your book about starting a business, that’s not going to help.

9) Announce your book.

Use all those release elements you got in place in step 5. And then keep using them.

You may be saying, “Dear God, why would I go through all that? I already did the book! Now I have to do all this extra work?”

Here’s what I have to say: there’s a massive difference between having a book out and having a bestselling book ANNA DAVID · 64 out. Sure, some books can just hit but wouldn’t you rather be in control of your destiny? I know I would.

(By the way, I walk people through that entire process in my How to Make Your Book a Bestseller course which you can find on www.lighthustleacademy.com. It’s also something we manage and oversee for clients. If you want help with this, check out our services at www.lighthustlepublishing.com.) PART 3 – WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED

Know Your Why

Once you have a bestselling book, it’s up to you to make the most of it.

Yes, if you have a crazy, out-of-the-box success, you’ll be able to sit back, let the DM’s roll in and pick and choose which opportunities you want to jump on.

But chances are you’re going to have to be the one who makes shit happen.

So, what can you make happen?

Option 1: Become a Public Speaker

Option 2: Launch a Podcast

Option 3: Consulting, Coaching, and More

Become a Public Speaker

By far the most common transition authors take into other work is speaking. This is not just as simple as publishing a book and waiting for the speaking offers to roll in. While I have a course on the exact steps to take to launch a career as a speaker (go to www.publicspeakingforwriters.com), the most important thing to keep in mind is that although it can be a slow build, speaking is one of those careers where your fee can skyrocket once you have success.

While of course you can launch a speaking career without having a bestselling book, almost all successful speakers do have books. And if event organizers are deciding between potential speakers and one has a bestselling book while the other does not, they are 10,000 times more likely to pick the bestselling author.

Now let me go into the best bits from my public speaking course, broken down to give you the basics on launching and maintaining a speaking career.

(You can see my own speaking stuff—including my three TEDx talks and the time I shared the stage with Tony Robbins—by going to www.annadavidspeaking.com.) ANNA DAVID · 70

LESSON 1: COME UP WITH YOUR TALK

To come up with your talk, think about…

− What is your book about?

− How can you take what you’ve put in your book and deliver it in a way that would be of value to people?

− If there are other talks out there on this topic, how can yours be different?

Don’t limit your topic!

If your book contains many ideas and could be siphoned off into various speeches, come up with as many topics and talks as you can. Cast a wide net. Many speakers have a number of keynotes they give so brainstorm as many as possible.

Once you’ve narrowed down which topic is most compelling or relevant to you now, however, put the other ones aside and focus on developing one.

Don’t limit your demographic!

A talk you would give about one topic to an older audience will be quite different than if you were to speak about it at a high school.

As you determine your topic, think about the various speaking audiences there are out there (high school, BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 71 college, corporate, etc.) and consider how you would tailor your message differently depending on the audience.

The basic outline of a talk:

− Intro

− Context

− Main concept

− What this means

− Conclusion

The best way to frame a talk:

− Start with an anecdote

− Lead to an unexpected obstacle

− Talk about an attempt to overcome

− Lead that to a climax

− Bring that to a conclusion

Another way to look at it:

− Opportunity

− Change of plans

− Point of no return

− Climax ANNA DAVID · 72

Here’s all you have to do:

Plug what you have to say around that framework and connect the dots.

Remember: most of your audience will not know things you take for granted so try, when coming up with your talk, to discuss it with people outside your immediate circle.

Also, you may want to define terms in the beginning (“Now, everyone has a different definition for ____ so I’m going to give you mine.”) Ask your friends to tell you what about it isn’t clear or makes assumptions.

You know you’re on the right track when you can describe what your talk is about in less than 20 words.

Keep in mind:

The basis of many talks is a problem. Make sure you don’t spend too long on that; it’s probably a problem most of the audience will be familiar with. Get to the solution—the meat—quickly.

Remember:

It’s not about you. It can be easy to sound self-absorbed if you’re on a stage talking about yourself for 10-60 minutes. The problem is that we’re ALL self-absorbed!

Essentially, an audience doesn’t care about what a speaker has to say unless that speaker can help them. BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 73

The easy fix: make it “you” and not “I.” (“Imagine this: you’re in a foreign country and…” or, if you can’t use “you,” use it after…i.e., “I was in India and had no food. What would YOU have done?”)

More for the “it’s not about you” column:

Connect with your audience’s needs, fears and victories and you’ve got ‘em. You want to be sharing something that can benefit them—and connects them emotionally to you.

That being said…

Make sure it’s clear why you’re credible on this topic, why you’re so passionate about it and why they should listen to you. (Note: in 99% of cases, you will be introduced so your credibility shouldn’t be based on something career-related that’s in your bio.)

The best talks…

Use metaphors: I’ll never forget when I went to Traffic & Conversion, a massive marketing summit in San Diego in 2018, T&C cofounder Ryan Deiss talking about meeting his wife in college in a speech about how to woo customers in business. He showed photos of their first date and talked about the rules of courtship and how they aligned with the rules of customer acquisition.

Surprise: There’s a classic Derek Sivers TED talk called “How to Start a Movement” where he speaks very little but ANNA DAVID · 74 says more than most can communicate in an hour. I don’t want to ruin it for you so I recommend checking it out for yourself.

Get people involved: Ask a question like “Who out there has two different sized feet?” or “Who out there has been impacted by alcoholism?” (I’ve used both those lines in my speeches.)

LESSON 2: MEMORIZE YOUR TALK

Here’s my biggest tip: Plan to get your talking points down rather than memorizing your speech word-for-word.

In order to get your talking points down:

− Tape record yourself reading the talk and then listen to it several times.

− Try doing it without notes.

− Note the parts you forgot.

− Keep practicing.

If you want to use a PowerPoint, you’ll have a tool to help you with memorization. You don’t need to have one (I tend not to use them because having to deal with tech stuff when I just want to focus on delivery stresses me out) but in addition to helping you remember where you are in the speech, a PowerPoint can also help in the following ways…

− Most people are visual learners. BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 75

− It gives the audience something besides you to focus on.

− You’re able to connect an idea to an image so people can remember it.

− It can help explain a point.

− It can add humor.

Power Point Tips:

− The easiest options if you’re creating one: use the PowerPoint or Keynote programs.

− Make it fit a 16x9 screen.

− Keep it simple.

− Use big enough font.

− Use color!

− Don’t put too much on a single slide.

− Use it to reinforce points.

− Charts and photos work well.

− Videos can be great if used effectively (you know this if you watched the Derek Sivers “How to Start a Movement” TED talk I just told you about).

LESSON 3: PRACTICE YOUR TALK

The 3 stages of practice you can get:

1. Alone or in front of friends ANNA DAVID · 76

2. At your company, co-working space, school or another organization

3. At Toastmasters, BNI or LeTip [or by creating an event of your own].

Stage 1

Start by doing it in front of an empty room or in front of a few friends. Determine what you like and don’t like and solicit feedback. Hone your message.

If you’re not in a situation where you get regular practice speaking in front of other people, explore one of the following options…

Stage 2

If you work at a company, brainstorm what the company would need to know to learn and grow; seek out opportunities to speak about those things. If you have an affiliation with a co-working space, school or organization, see if you can speak there.

Stage 3

Join one of the following 3 groups…

Option 1: Toastmasters

Toastmasters is an educational organization in 141 countries that helps people with their public speaking, communication and leadership skills. Clubs are BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 77 independently run and are usually made up of about 20 people; most meet 1-2 times a month for an hour or two. Members give, listen to and critique prepared speeches and also give “table topics” (spontaneous) speeches. Go to www.toastmasters.org for info and to find a club in your area (members pay roughly $100 a year).

Option 2: BNI

Business Network International is an organization made up of hundreds of thousands of members in chapters all over the country. BNI gathers people for networking, referrals, speaking and more. While BNI’s mission isn’t to help people with their public speaking, it inadvertently does by having members give presentations.

Go to www.bni.com for info and to find a club in your area (memberships run about $400 a year).

Option 3: LeTip

LeTip is a business networking group with over 100,000 members in chapters all over the US and Canada. Members are expected to attend weekly meetings and pass along a referral every week.

While not a public speaking group per se, members receive many opportunities to hone their speaking skills. Go to www.letip.com for info and to find a club in your area (dues are between $40-$150 a quarter). ANNA DAVID · 78

Option 4: Host your own event

Gather people through MeetUp, a co-working space, a mastermind group or some other community, book other speakers and throw an event. An advantage to this method: when you’re pitching yourself to speak at other organizations and events, the fact that you create and organize your own makes you more appealing.

LESSON 4: GET ON THE COLLEGE SPEAKING CIRCUIT

1) Put together a reel:

− Have someone at Toastmasters, a school, an organization or wherever you’ve spoken video you (if you can’t do any of those things, have someone video you giving the talk in a space that looks like there’s an audience).

− Have videos (ideally from a few different times you’ve given the talk) spliced together with quotes and music (gather quotes from organizers where you’ve spoken).

− Add music; make it as professional as possible.

− Keep it 2-3 minutes!

2) Apply to NACA

The National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) has seven regional conferences a year all over the United States. BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 79

If you’re applying on your own (i.e., not through an agent), you must be a NACA member ($269-$856, as of 2018). You can then apply for a showcase ($95 for each conference) with a 3-5 minute video.

You’ll be notified roughly a month later if you’re accepted. If you are, you pay to participate ($115-$312, also as of 2018) and also pay for your travel and hotel. You also must purchase a booth ($300).

The booth is where you’ll be able to meet and network with potential bookers. Yes, that means putting out $$$. But if you book even ONE gig there (for, say, $3000), it more than pays for the entire thing.

If you’re accepted to give a showcase talk (and that is an IF…NACA is highly competitive)…

− Shorten your talk to 15 minutes and practice, practice, practice! This is your opportunity to perform your best 15 minutes in front of hundreds of college students who can book you.

− WORK it at the booth. Schmooze, charm, network. Hand out copies of your book!

If you have an agent (more on that in a bit), you don’t need to be a NACA member, purchase a booth or apply directly. Your agent handles all of that. You do, however, need to pay for your travel and hotel. ANNA DAVID · 80

3) Take advantage of a unique aspect bulk booking!

When you’re applying for a showcase, you decide how much you’re willing to lower your rate to speak at a few schools in the same region if they’re all willing to book you.

Even if that doesn’t happen at NACA, you can always arrange bulk speaking yourself by calling other colleges nearby once you’ve been hired and letting them know you’re willing to speak there for half your rate. (Name your rate and raise it every time you speak.)

4) Check out the alternative to NACA: APCA

The Association for Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA) is for schools with smaller budgets. With roughly 600 schools as members, it hosts 5 regional conferences a year. Go to http://www.apca.com/ for info.

LESSON 5: BOOK A TEDX TALK

What is TEDx?

TED conferences are big-league events where tickets cost upwards of $10,000 and people like Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Bono speak.

TEDx conferences are independently-organized events licensed by TED. Speakers (whose talks are up to 18 minutes) are not paid and they must give up the copyright to their materials. Speakers are required to get themselves to the event and put themselves up. BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 81

Why do TEDx?

There’s no better way to get visibility and make yourself attractive to agents and future bookers who will pay you. Videos from TEDx events go up on the TED site.

Many TEDx talks have gone viral and changed the careers (and lives) of the person who gave it.

How to apply for TEDx:

Go to www.ted.com/tedx/events and search for events by region.

Plan to apply months (sometimes even a year) ahead of time.

Every event has different qualifications for applications; some require a reel, others just a summary.

Many organizers will narrow the applicants down and then do interviews with each candidate (or have them audition) to determine the ultimate line up. Others just make selections from the applications.

How to stand out when applying:

Remember the TED theme: Ideas worth sharing.

Don’t pitch a talk that’s so insular it won’t be accessible.

If that particular TEDx event has a specific theme, make sure your talk is applicable to it. ANNA DAVID · 82

Use whatever knowledge you have about the specific region where the event is being held and incorporate that into your pitch or application.

Don’t get discouraged if you aren’t accepted. These events can receive hundreds if not thousands of applicants.

The good news is there are thousands of these events. Keep trying!

A dirty secret:

Some people don’t even APPLY and still get booked.

Yep. That’s because someone else can nominate you.

So! Make yourself easy to find (have your contact information on your website, have active social media, have a blog, be in the news) so that TEDx organizers can find you should they want to.

Okay, so you were accepted! Now what? TEDx prep, of course!

Prepare for this the way you would any other gig.

Sometimes the organizers will want you to come into town for an informational meeting or rehearsal, sometimes they’ll want to rehearse with you over Skype and sometimes they’ll want to rewrite your talk with you.

Be as accommodating as possible and then show up where the event is taking place early. (Sometimes the organizers BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 83 have a budget for speakers coming from out of town, but mostly not.)

Okay, so you did it! Now what? TEDx follow-up, of course!

Thank the organizers profusely (through an email, note or gift).

Follow up to ask them for copy of your video (if they’ll let you see it before they submit it to TED) and any photos they took.

WORK that video as much as you can once it’s on the TED site.

What can happen from there?

For most of us, it’s just cool to have a TED talk out there, but here’s what can happen: your life can change overnight. Consider what happened to these people:

− Brené Brown (“The Power of Vulnerability”) – that led to four #1 New York Times bestsellers and a current speaking fee of God knows what a gig

− Simon Sinek (“How Great Leaders Inspire Great Action”) – that led to multiple bestselling books and a current speaking fee of $100,000 a gig

− Cameron Russell (“Looks Aren’t Everything”) – that led to a current speaking fee of six figures a gig

Obviously, those stories are rare. But still! ANNA DAVID · 84

Once you have a TEDx talk under your belt, you’re at the next level so you will have much better chances with…

Getting booked at conferences:

My best recommendation for making this happen: Google your topic and the word “conference,” search by state and go to the conference before pitching yourself as a speaker so you can get the lay of the land and get to know the bookers. Send a SHORT pitch which provides a 1-2 sentence explanation of what you’d like to talk about that’s relevant for that conference.

Landing a speaking agent:

If you’re looking for more legitimacy or more jobs without having to hustle, definitely consider trying to be signed by a speaking agent once you have some experience. There are agents that specialize in the college market, the corporate market and conferences. Do your research (and then submit yourself with a short email, any testimonials and link[s] to your video footage).

LESSON 6: KILL IT EVERY TIME

Overall tips:

− Be comfortable; don’t stress too much about what to wear but always:

− Be respectful of the venue (no torn jeans).

− Be approachable (nothing too formal). BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 85

− Be clean; dry clean first! (Bring a steamer if you’re wearing something that will wrinkle when you travel.)

− Dress in a different outfit than you did in any previously recorded speech if you’re going to use this talk in a future reel.

Get situated:

− If you have time before you speak and the venue allows for it, introduce yourself to people before your talk. Get to know them if possible so you can tailor your talk to them or even mention specific people from the stage (“When I was talking to Jen before, she mentioned that you guys…”)

This will not only make you more comfortable but also have previous strangers rooting for you.

Hydrate/Eat before:

− Drink enough water ahead of time that you won’t be dry-mouthed while speaking (nothing makes someone sound more nervous!) but don’t drink so much that you’re uncomfortable when speaking. (You can have water on stage but may be too engaged with speaking to stop and sip it.)

− Even if you’re nervous, eat enough beforehand that you won’t be hungry and light-headed. The last ANNA DAVID · 86

thing you want is low blood sugar while you’re on stage.

Come up with pre-talk rituals:

− Most successful speakers have some things they always do to get in the zone. Figure out what brings you comfort and makes you feel centered and do it. Maybe it’s meditating. Maybe it’s praying. Maybe it’s repeating a mantra. Maybe it’s listening to a certain song.

Once you’re talking…

Don’t:

− Waste time thanking whomever booked you. Just get to it!

− Worry about being oh so polished; authentic is so much better! (No one will ever know you made a mistake unless you point it out.)

− Be afraid to riff or joke with the audience…feel comfortable veering from your script.

− Forget to look all around the room! Make an effort to address everyone at certain points.

− Move TOO much! Stand still when making key points. BECOME A PUBLIC SPEAKER · 87

Do:

− Settle in. Try to find people in the room with whom you can make repeated eye contact (look for the most engaged; those people nodding along with you). This will both boost your confidence and make them feel more involved.

− Slow it down; you’re far more likely to be talking too fast than too slow. Don’t barrel through. Breathe and deliver. Remember…you know your material but your audience does not.

− Repeat key sentences. One effective technique: actually say, “Let me say that again” and then repeat it.

As you’re wrapping up…

− ALWAYS keep in mind that every opportunity you have to get out there is an opportunity to bring more people into your tribe. This is where your Call to Action (or CTA) is relevant. If you have a lead magnet designed to get people on your mailing list, mention it (if you’re using a PowerPoint, show the URL on the screen); consider creating a special bonus for this particular audience (make sure this is okay with the event organizers first!)

− And always mention your book! With the exception of TEDx, most organizers will want you to sign and sell it. ANNA DAVID · 88

Afterwards…

− Make it easy for your audience to talk to you; if it’s appropriate, tell them you’ll be around after to answer questions.

− Go out into the auditorium/foyer and chat with people. If audience members tell you they loved your speech, ask them if they’d be comfortable giving a video testimonial. They’re usually happy to comply and even honored. Add those testimonials to your reel!

The next day…

− Send a lovely email thank you or, if the event organizer(s) did an amazing job, consider sending a hand-written note or gift. If you feel comfortable, ask the organizers for a testimonial for you to use on your site or reel.

I realize that a lot of what I detailed about launching a speaking career is daunting. I know that not only from doing it myself but also because that’s also something we help people with. If you’re interested in learning more about that, go to lighthustlepublishing.com/public- speaking-launch.

Launch a Podcast

Yes, there are a billion podcasts out there. But anyone who tells you it’s too late to start one is lying. If you’re looking for the next steps to get started, consider taking my free class on it (find it at www.podcastingforwriters.com)—or just follow the steps that I detail below.

One thing to keep in mind: podcasts are very rarely a source of revenue; much like a book, they are a credibility builder but they are even better for providing an opportunity for people to develop a “know, like and trust” factor with you and therefore support all your other endeavors.

In other words, you’re far more likely to make money from having a podcast than you are from the podcast.

I launched my podcast—then called AfterPartyPod—in 2013. It generated press, landing on 10 Most Popular Celebrity Podcast lists, and as a result of that, it has given me a never-ending source of leads for my publishing company as well as my retreats and courses.

And with that I give you…

THE BEST OF WHAT’S IN MY “HOW TO START A PODCAST” COURSE

First things first! If you don’t think you can commit to doing this, put the launch on hold until you can. ANNA DAVID · 90

Remaining consistent is crucial when it comes to podcasting and you’re more likely to be successful if you release at least one episode a week.

That being said, you can always do a short seasonal experiment to test the waters to see how much you enjoy the process. But don’t launch a show and start telling your listeners you’ll be posting every week if you don’t know you can commit to it.

Why do a podcast?

There’s no greater way to make an impact. You are in your audience’s ears for 30 minutes or more. They are hearing you talking to them, one on one. This is your opportunity to form a relationship with your audience that you can’t in any other way.

And listeners know most podcasters aren’t making money so they subconsciously want to support you (by supporting your creative work).

More reasons…

A podcast allows you to position yourself even more as an authority on a topic. This not only helps you build your audience but also puts you on a path to becoming a quoted authority and TV talking head.

It puts you in the rare position of being both expert and product. LAUNCH A PODCAST · 91

Podcast listener facts (as of 2018):

− 48 million people listen to podcasts weekly.

− 16 million people in the US are podcast fans.

− Listeners are much more active on every social media channel than non-podcast listeners.

− 80% of listeners listen all the way through an episode.

− Listeners are: loyal, affluent, educated.

− 84% are listening through iTunes.

− Podcasts with more than 1300 downloads are in the top 10% of successful podcasts.

− Most episodes are roughly 30 minutes.

− Christianity is the most popular category.

− Best release days are Tues., Wed. and Thurs.

Step 1: Figure out your show category; these are the possibilities:

− Arts

− Business

− Comedy

− Education

− Games & Hobbies

− Government & Organizations ANNA DAVID · 92

− Health

− Kids & Family

− Music

− News & Politics

− Religion & Spirituality

− Science & Medicine

− Society & Culture

− Sports & Recreation

− TV & Film

− Technology

Step 2: Figure out your show type; these are the possibilities:

− Interview

− Solo (you talk the whole time)

− Multiple host

− Narrative/story-telling

− Hybrid (combination of above types)

Step 3: Start brainstorming:

− What is your greatest passion (ideally, the same topic as your book or at least related to it)?

− What are you most interested in? LAUNCH A PODCAST · 93

− What podcasts are already out there on the topic and how could you differentiate yours? (Get as specific as possible.)

Step 4: Figure out your audience:

− Age

− Gender

− Interests

− Desires

− Needs

− Income

Keep in mind: none of this is set in stone because you can shift as you go (when I launched AfterPartyPod, there were no other recovery podcasts. Once they popped up, I decided to make mine different so I added in episodes that were live storytelling shows and “Ask the Shrink” episodes. I also tried to develop a trademark style that was different than the more earnest recovery podcasts out there. The pod, now called Light Hustle: Grit Out of the Dark, currently focuses on the struggles of successful people, whether they’re in recovery or not).

Step 5: Come up with a name

Pick a name that communicates exactly what your show is about (if it doesn’t, just like with a book, you can add a subtitle). ANNA DAVID · 94

It’s not great to change names but I’ve done it (twice!) Only do it if it’s absolutely necessary. If you do change the name, don’t change the RSS feed or you’ll lose all your subscribers.

Step 6: Start recording

Decide how much editing you want to do:

Are you going to edit it and aim for no “um”’s and coughs or are you going to go for more natural? (The latter is obviously easier.)

Are you going to keep it clean or not? (You have to mark if it’s clean when you’re posting it.)

A word about equipment:

You can go all out with equipment or you can do what most of us did when we were beginning and weren’t sure if we were going to stick with it: start with your phone.

If you want to step it up, here’s what I use: a Zoom H5 recorder and Blue Core 100 microphones (you can step it up far more with mixers, padding for walls, pop filters and much more but I say—keep it simple at first).

Online recording options:

If you want to do interviews with people who are all over, there are a number of options. The most popular include:

− Zoom LAUNCH A PODCAST · 95

− Skype

− Facebook Live (and then strip the audio)

− Other options: Ringr, Cast, Zencastr

Step 7: Make an intro episode:

Come up with ideas for a short episode that explains what your podcast is, who you are and what you’re setting out to do. This is your chance to clarify everything—why you set out to take this endeavor on and what impact you hope to make.

Make it clear you want to hear from listeners and get feedback about what they like and would like to hear more of.

Step 8: Record your first few:

Plan out your first few episodes. If it’s an interview show, line up your first guests.

When it comes to recording yourself (either for an intro or the whole show if you ARE the whole show), you can wing it and just start recording or write out and follow a script. But whatever you do, try to make it sound natural (even if it’s not).

Step 9: Pick guests:

This is for you to determine but your focus should be on people your future audience will be interested in and, ANNA DAVID · 96 ultimately, on people you’d like to connect with. DON’T STRESS. Ask the guest ahead of time if there are any topics that are off limits. If the person says no, the sky’s the limit. Prepare questions ahead of time if you’d like but feel free to wing it.

Step 10: Determine interview or episode length:

There’s no set length of time for these. Some podcasts run for hours; some for five minutes.

Get a feel for what seems right (does the conversation seem to peter out at a certain point or does it feel like it cuts off too soon?) and then ask your audience for feedback.

Each episode can be as long or as short as you want; just because one interview is an hour long doesn’t mean the next one needs to be.

Step 11: Record an intro:

My best advice when it comes to introducing each episode is get to the point. If your show is providing info (i.e., isn’t straight up entertainment), explain what that is up top.

(I used to think the opposite and if you listen to the first season of my podcast, this will be obvious. I thought yammering on in an intro endeared an audience to you because when Marc Maron did it, it really endeared me to him. But I am not Marc Maron and neither are you [unless you are, in which case let me say hey Marc!]) LAUNCH A PODCAST · 97

My point is: there are so many podcasts out there vying for our attention that most of us want to know up top what we’re getting so we can decide if it’s even worth our time to listen.

Many podcasting experts recommend saying in the intro 3 things the person will learn (which you can only do if you recorded the intro after doing the interview in an interview show). Others recommend announcing that you’ll be giving away great tips at the end or doing something that will incentivize people to listen to the show all the way through.

Step 12: Create an intro/outro song:

I recommend finding free or inexpensive royalty-free instrumental music on sites like

− www.soundstripe.com

− www.snailarts.com

− www.beatsuite.com

Then do your first three interviews, listen to them to pick the lines that would fit best for an intro and find an audio editor on Fiverr to lay those quotes over the instrumental. Then have just the instrumental kick in 10 seconds before the end. ANNA DAVID · 98

Step 13: Pick a hosting platform:

While there are many podcast hosting platforms out there, I say make your life easy and use Libsyn. Libsyn plans start at $5 a month and when you post on Libsyn, your podcast appears not only on iTunes but on Spotify, Stitcher, Soundcloud and all the other podcast platforms.

Step 14: Create a cover image:

The cover image requirements for iTunes are 1400x 1400 pixel min./3000x3000 pixel max. (Side note: you absolutely can release a podcast that’s not on iTunes—I’ve known people who release their shows just on Soundcloud—but why would you? Even if you’re not an Apple user yourself, 84% of people are getting their podcasts through iTunes so it’s silly to limit your audience.)

Decide if you want the cover image to be your photo, text or a combination of the two. Check out the iTunes store for inspiration. Do it yourself on Canva or hire someone.

Step 15: Create buzz:

Create a landing page for your podcast before you launch, letting people know what’s to come and what you have planned.

This landing page should also give people the chance to opt in to a mailing list so they can find out as soon as you launch. LAUNCH A PODCAST · 99

Step 16: Decide if you want to batch release:

Plenty of podcast experts recommend releasing 5-10 episodes at once because, they say, it increases the chance of a podcast being featured in the New & Noteworthy section on the iTunes podcast home page.

The reality: The New & Noteworthy page is often broken (there are usually podcasts on there that are years old and aren’t even being recorded anymore) and how, exactly, to make it on there is something of a mystery.

An argument against batch releasing at launch…

− On iTunes, podcasts are downloaded by most recent episode, which means that everyone will get your intro episode last.

− It can be overwhelming to see so many episodes when you’re just trying to sample a podcast.

An argument for batch releasing at launch…

− You give listeners an opportunity to binge on your show from the start.

− You have a better chance of ranking high from the get go in terms of SEO.

Ultimately, this decision is up to you! ANNA DAVID · 100

Step 17: Launch your show:

Submit your Podcast to iTunes by going to www.itunesconnect.apple.com, entering your RSS feed and clicking Validate.

If your image, description, categories and RSS feed are correct, the feed preview will load. Click Submit.

Most podcasts are approved within three days but it can take up to 10 (Apple will email you when it is).

You only have to be approved once; after that, your show will automatically be released on iTunes from your hosting platform.

Step 18: Make your podcast grow:

Encourage people to subscribe: You know the real estate expression “Location, location, location”? The same sort of thing exists for podcasts but you replace the word location with “subscribe.”

Reviews are great for “social proof” but nothing is more important, in terms of making iTunes lists and thus having more people find your show, than subscriptions.

The easiest way to get subscriptions is to ask for them and then, when recording, to give a teaser of the next episode and tell people they never have to worry about missing an episode if they subscribe. LAUNCH A PODCAST · 101

Make subscribing as easy as possible by creating a page on your site that shows people step by step how to do it and then direct people there.

Step 19: Incentivize listeners to review:

Asking for subscriptions and reviews is helpful but there’s nothing wrong with offering listeners something in exchange for a review. Some podcasters give away shirts or other swag to anyone who reviews the show.

I ran a weeklong contest during which anyone who did a review and emailed me the screen grab was entered into a raffle and I randomly picked one person to win a Light Hustler necklace ($65 value).

Step 20: Put your iTunes link everywhere!

Yes, you could send people to SoundCloud, TuneIn, Google Play or your website post but if 84% of people are listening on iTunes, there’s no reason not to send them there. (Still, I put links to all the podcast platforms in my newsletters so as not to alienate the non-Apple-ers.)

Put the link:

− On your website

− As part of your email signature

− As part of your LinkTree links on Instagram

− As part of your Twitter bio ANNA DAVID · 102

− As a pinned post at the top of your Facebook page

Step 21: Experiment with releasing extra episodes:

The basic math is: if someone’s subscribed to your podcast and you’re releasing one episode a week, every subscriber will have double the number of downloads if you double the number.

That being said, your audience may only WANT one episode a week. Experiment with this and ask for feedback.

Your second episode does NOT have to be as much work as your first. Plenty of people do “Five-Minute Friday” or “Two-Minute Tuesday” type episodes where they just summarize something.

Step 22: Go on other people’s podcasts:

This can be easier said than done, but the easiest way to get an audience is to borrow someone else’s. If you can get on big podcasts (or just smaller podcasts that attract the audience you want), you can bring listeners into your fold.

Do NOT blindly pitch yourself to podcasters. Only approach a host or booker after you’ve listened to multiple episodes and know you have something to offer their listeners.

[In the Bonus section at the end of this book, check out my Effective and Ineffective Podcast and Blurb Pitches as LAUNCH A PODCAST · 103 examples of what to do and not do when trying to get yourself booked.]

Step 23: Decide if you want to have show notes:

Many podcasts provide show notes on the podcast website. These can be as extensive as full transcripts.

They can include freebie worksheets you can only get if you go to the URL for that episode and input your email address.

They can be made up of a list of books, podcasts, TV shows and other media mentioned.

They can be a list of time codes where certain topics come up.

While there are services that will do show notes for podcasts, it’s up to you whether or not you think the time or money is worth the fact that it incentivizes your listeners to interact with you online.

I don’t do them; instead I just write up a brief show description, post it on my blog and then copy and paste the same text onto Libsyn so that’s what shows up on ITunes, Soundcloud and the other platforms.

Step 24: Get realistic about advertising:

Here’s the bubble bursting part: It is not easy to get to the number of downloads required for podcasters to make any ANNA DAVID · 104 real money from advertising; a minimum of 10,000 downloads per episode is the ballpark figure at which advertisers will be interested and the average podcast gets 300 downloads.

Here’s the best way to think about advertising…

Instead of thinking of your podcast as a way to make money, think of it is a way to build your audience.

If you do that well, you will find people who will support your work (and in turn help you to make money).

More about podcast ads…

I know, as a podcast listener, as soon as I hear an ad that goes longer than about 20 seconds, I fast forward through it. So many people aren’t even hearing the ads or are annoyed by them.

The last thing you want to do is annoy someone you want to be in your tribe!

It’s not quite the same as advertising but some podcasters set up Patreon accounts, where listeners can donate to the show in exchange for special bonuses, early access and other freebies.

There are pros and cons to Patreon: yes, you can make money, but in order to do that, you need to ask people to sponsor your show. It’s worth asking yourself if you’d rather bring in some donation money or help build an LAUNCH A PODCAST · 105 audience that will feel subconsciously like they want to support your other projects in exchange for the free show you’ve been giving them.

Step 25: Decide on your Call to Action:

A Call to Action (CTA) is what you want this audience you’ve worked hard to entertain TO DO as a result of listening. Do you want them to subscribe to your newsletter? Read your book? Hire you as a consultant?

Whatever your CTA is, incentivize it! Offer a quiz, a free download or anything else that will help convert your listeners into fans. (Change your CTA regularly since many people batch listen.)

(For more guidance on how to create and release a podcast, sign up for my free course at www.podcastingforwriters.com. Also, the best guidance on podcasting that I know of comes from Paul Colligan; for a boatload of useful information on the topic, be sure to check out his show, The Podcast Report.)

Consulting, Coaching and More

Coaching

Most non-fiction books—even straight memoirs—display the author’s knowledge about a topic. And the majority of authors share their experiences because they want to help others who struggle or have struggled with the same issues that they have. Creating a one-on-one or group coaching program, either based on material in the book or simply on the topic, provides an author not only with the opportunity to help people on an even deeper level but also a way to take a deeper dive into the topic (possibly providing you with material for book two?) The best program I know of that teaches people how to become coaches is Inner Glow Circle (sorry, guys; it’s for women only).

Consulting services

Want to take the coaching to the next level (and possibly get paid better for it)? Consider offering consulting services to companies who could use whatever expertise you established with the book.

Certifications

If your coaching program is in full swing, maybe you want to create a bunch of mini-me’s—or at least train other people in what you’ve been teaching. Developing a ANNA DAVID · 108 curriculum and providing certification shouldn’t be hard if you have a thorough coaching program.

Subscription/membership programs

The same material you create for a coaching program can be used in a monthly membership program. You can run these however you want—with videos and worksheets you’ve created, with guest interviews, with in-person events or with daily or weekly video check-ins. The main thing to remember is that people abandon monthly programs that they don’t use so make this as value-packed as possible (the more the group includes direct involvement with you, the more value it’s going to have).

Events

We’re living in the day and age of event throwing and your event can be anything from a workshop to a retreat to a weekly gathering and it can be held at a cafe, theater, holistic health center or Airbnb (we’ve held events at all of them). Your programming can cover the same material that your monthly programs and everything else do but here’s the secret about gatherings: oftentimes people are just aching to connect with a like-minded community and thus the activities matter far less than simply the fact that the event is happening. CONSULTING, COACHING AND MORE · 109

Masterminds

Plenty of entrepreneurs with books are launching them— and with hefty membership fees. Joe Polish runs two Genius Network groups (with a $100,000 and $25,000 annual cost respectively)—and he’s not the only one. The key to a mastermind is in its members: the price tag is the ultimate weeding out process, leaving members to network and do business with those whose businesses are thriving.

Products/swag

Selling an on-brand product can be a way to take your expertise to another commercial level. James Swanwick, the author of The 30-Day No Alcohol Challenge: Your Simple Guide to Easily Reduce Or Quit Alcohol, was doing well with his 30 Day No Alcohol Challenge program but his career skyrocketed when he developed and started selling blue blocking glasses.

BONUSES

Bonus 1: The Sample Advanced Reader Team Newsletter Sequence

(Note: I’m giving you here the exact email sequence I sent to those who had agreed to be a part of the ART for one of my recent books. As I noted earlier, I’m only including this as inspiration; copying it word-for-word wouldn’t only be kind of lame but it also wouldn’t make sense!)

EMAIL 1: Welcome to the Advanced Reader Team

Hello ART (Advanced Reader Team) members!

Thank you so much for agreeing to be a part of my Advanced Reader Team for How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery. I am so grateful that you're willing to contribute your time, support and 99 cents to make this happen.

Let me explain how this works. How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery is being dropped like it's a Beyoncé album. Totally stealth operation. So yeah, it's sort of like you're a VIP member of the Bey hive.

What this means: you can start reading this book as soon as you can (say, NOW?) and then, once the book is uploaded ANNA DAVID · 114 onto Amazon on March 3rd, I will let you guys—and only you guys—know.

That's because the book will be priced at .99 for the 3 days before the release so that each of you can purchase at that price, download and then write your review before the release day. On March 6th, the price will go back up and THAT's when we tell the world it's out there (would love ANY and all shout outs post release of course).

Why all this confusion? Well, Amazon weighs verified reviews so much more heavily than non-verified reviews (meaning what your review would be if you DIDN'T purchase the book for .99). If each of you do your review, the book has a great chance of hitting the top of some Amazon lists and then a lot more people discovering it.

So please click here (make “here” a link to the book on www.bookfunnel.com) to download your advanced copy of How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery (pick from either a PDF or the .mobi version for a Kindle). Start reading and write your review any time between now and March 3rd (on your desktop or wherever) but you won't be able to copy and paste it onto Amazon and GoodReads until March 3rd when I send you the link.

**Please, please do not distribute these files to anyone outside of the ART. And please don't post about this book BONUSES · 115 as you guys are the ONLY people who know about it now— and we want to keep it that way until March 6th.

I'll send more information as we get closer to the launch date so expect to hear from me now and again.

Also if you haven't joined the Facebook group for the Advanced Reader Team, please do that here (make “here” a link to the Facebook group or wherever you’re gathering the group).

In the meantime, I hope you love this book as much as I do.

Let me know if you have questions about any of this...Thank you again! xxA

Quick guide to downloading the book. Even if it looks complicated, I swear it's not. Once you click on the link, you'll see the Question "What do you like to read on?" Click on My Computer (see below...) ANNA DAVID · 116

Then select one of the options presented (Mobi and EPub are for Kindles/IPads etc.; the PDF is for people who don't have those)

Then read, write your review, wait until I email you to let you know the book is on Amazon, buy the book for .99, post your review, bask in my never-ending gratitude and receive a link from me for my $497 course. BONUSES · 117

EMAIL 2: How Are You Doing with F*cking Up Your Life?

Hello, ART members!

I hope you’re loving the book.

Just in case you missed or can’t find your first email, here is the Book Funnel link to download How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery (make “here” a link to the book on www.bookfunnel.com).

If you’re not a member of the Facebook group yet, you can join here (make “here” a link to the Facebook group).

I cannot thank you enough for being a part of this book launch.

As a reminder, your review is so, so important because it will help other potential readers find the book and also let Amazon know that this book is the bomb. What I mean: once your reviews are up, Amazon will start sharing the book with more people. Yes, you have that kind of power.

So let’s make sure you have everything you need before launch day (March 6th).

− Finish downloading and reading the book here (make “here” a link to the book on www.bookfunnel.com)

− I’ll send you a link to the book on Amazon once it's available so you can buy it for .99 between ANNA DAVID · 118

March 3rd and March 5th and then write your review.

− Once your review is visible, I'll send you a code so that you can get all the videos, mp3s and PDFs for my How to Make Your Book a Bestseller course for FREE.

Thank you for all your help and I'm psyched to help you do this for yourself with your own book (that's one of the things the course you're getting for free walks you through)!

I’ll reach out closer to the launch and send gentle reminders for your help reviewing and promoting the book. xxA

EMAIL 3: We’re So Close!

Hello again ART members!

A week from today is the OFFICIAL launch for How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery.

That means the book will be available only for YOU at 99 cents in a few days. NOTE: NO ONE OUTSIDE OF THE ADVANCED READER TEAM KNOWS THE BOOK IS EVEN COMING OUT SO PLEASE DON’T TELL ANYONE FOR ANOTHER WEEK, WHEN WE WILL TELL THE WORLD! BONUSES · 119

As a reminder: As soon as your review is up, you’ll get my HOW TO MAKE YOUR BOOK A BESTSELLER course for free.

Thank you all so much!

I’ll send you another reminder as soon as you can post your review. Thank you in advance! xxA

EMAIL 4: Today is the Day!

Hi, again, ART members!

As you know, Today, March 6th is the OFFICIAL day you can review How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery.

I’d love to read your review, and the book is available (for only YOU) through Wednesday at 99 cents. (The price returns to normal then so save yourself the coin and get it now, okay?)

Grab it here (make “here” a link to your book on Amazon).

One more thing (and I’ll remind you on Wednesday): can you please help spread the word about the book? Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or wherever you communicate with your tribe would be best. Please share this link (make “this” a link to your book on Amazon) on Wednesday to let people know how awesome How to Get ANNA DAVID · 120

Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery is.

Thank you all so much!

I’ll send you another reminder Wednesday and thank you in advance for sharing and posting for the launch.

As a reminder: once your review is up, you get my HOW TO MAKE YOUR BOOK A BESTSELLER course for the unbeatable price of FREE! If your review is up and I haven't sent you a code to access the course yet, please send me a screen grab of your review and I'll get you all hooked up.

EMAIL 5: Hi One Last Time!

Hi, ART members!

Just like that, it's five days post-launch and I'm thrilled to have reviews for How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on Addiction and Recovery. Thank you to everyone who has read, bought and/or reviewed the book.

To everyone else: I would still love your help!

If you haven't had a chance yet, it's totally fine. Please just get yourself to Amazon to leave your review. This allows me to reach as many future readers as possible, and I'm on a roll with a goal to reach 50 reviews ASAP.

As I’ve told you, your review will increase discoverability of How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life: Essays on BONUSES · 121

Addiction and Recovery. Every review matters—you really do have the power to control what Amazon does—and it really does only take less than a minute to leave it.

Thank you for your help; I'm thrilled with the launch, and wouldn't have enjoyed this week as much as I have without your participation.

One last time, with my immense gratitude, is the link to leave your review (paste the link to your book on Amazon).

If your review is up and I haven’t yet sent you a code to get my HOW TO MAKE YOUR BOOK A BESTSELLER course for free, send me a screen grab and I’ll remedy that ASAP. xxA

ANNA DAVID · 122 Bonus 2: Effective and Ineffective Podcast Pitches and Blurb Requests

When you become an author (and if you become a podcaster), you’ll begin to not only receive a lot of requests to either write a blurb for someone’s book or interview them on your show but you are also constantly making requests of other people to go on their shows and get blurbs from them.

It is actually an excellent position to be in because you can see just how ineffective and effective these requests can be and then tailor your own accordingly.

So here are a few of the best and worst I’ve received (with identifying info redacted).

BAD:

Hello Anna . . .

I am a writer and a long-term member of the recovery community. My publisher recently released my first book.

Here’s what’s come in so far:

BLURB EXAMPLES FROM PEOPLE I DON’T KNOW BONUSES · 123

All I ask is a three-page read; if I don’t have your attention by then, pass (I take no hostages).

A brief description is on my website. The book is 220 pages long. I would be happy to send copies. Thanks

Here’s WHY it’s bad:

− It’s clear he sent a blanket email to people he thought could help him without any indication that he’d read their work [think about asking a stranger to read your material without bothering to read any of theirs first!!]

− The “three-page read” ask still puts a busy person [and who isn’t these days?] in a bind, leaving me to write him back and basically say his book didn’t grab me at all or to say yes.

− There’s no acknowledgment of the fact that this is a hefty request; the tone suggests instead that I would be so excited by the first 3 pages that I would be getting a lot out of doing it.

In short, asking someone to blurb your book is A HUGE favor. If you don’t have a strong connection with the person, I highly recommend making it clear WHY you’re asking that particular person and that you understand it’s a major thing to ask from a stranger. ANNA DAVID · 124

Now here’s an example of the sort of blurb request that would get a “hell yes” from anyone (it’s from the fabulous author/therapist Dr. Jamie Marich):

Anna:

You are a gem! The interview sounds FANTASTIC (it was a delight talking to you) and I have shared it a few places on social media already and will continue to share in various outlets over the next few days. I also have it up on my resources website. And thanks for electing to use the sassy picture!

I am so stoked about your work and everything that you are doing. If you need me or see any further possibilities for collaboration, just give me a shout out. I probably won't be out to LA again until next year but lots can be done remotely as you know.

Also, might you have a willingness to take a peek at my upcoming book on Expressive Arts Therapy & trauma recovery (Process Not Perfection) as I prepare to gather "endorsement blurbs" for the cover? It would mean a lot to me to have as many strong female recovery leaders as possible on the pages. Let me know, and no pressure at all if this is something you're not willing or able to do.

Much love,

Jamie

Here’s a less than effective podcast request pitch:

Subject: I heard your fun to interview with! BONUSES · 125

Hi Anna,

I’m reaching out in hopes to chat about becoming a guest on The AfterParty podcast (I was informed that it’s now called Recover Girl). Does that mean you only have women on the podcast? If you allow men on as well...

My new book was just released for pre-order on February 3rd. Would love to chat with you about it and see if it’s something you’d be interested in speaking to me about on your podcast. My goal is to inspire both artists and addicts to keep walking their path and to follow their dreams, so I thought this would be perfectly in line with your show.

I’d love to chat about the book and my journey of recovery, or any related topic.

If this interests you, I’d be happy to talk about it more on Recover Girl! I look forward to hearing from you.

Here’s why it’s bad:

There are a slew of grammatical errors and while we ALL make them, if you’re presenting yourself as an author, have someone proof your emails.

Also, listen to the show before pitching yourself or at least don’t advertise the fact that you clearly haven’t! ANNA DAVID · 126

Here’s another effective blurb request (this from the fabulous psychotherapist Dr. Paul Hokemeyer):

Hello gorgeous and smart one. I hope this finds you well. I enjoy following your success virtually.

Question/favor: So I finally have a publication date for my book. It’s being published by Hazelden and distributed by Simon & Schuster. The latter did a brilliant job on the cover and they’re formulating a rather ambitious distribution plan that includes target and airport kiosks. In any event, you’ve been a very important part of my development as a writer and I would love if you would consider writing a blurb for the back cover. My editor at Hazelden was over the moon when I submitted your name as a potential reviewer...we are looking to have hard copies the middle of May... thoughts???? XO

Who wouldn’t respond enthusiastically to that? The fact is, the more appreciative and informed you are about the person you’re contacting, the more that person is going to want to help you.

PS: Be sure to pick up a copy of Dr. Paul’s book (which I obviously blurbed), Fragile Power: Why Having Everything Is Never Enough; Lessons from Treating the Wealthy and Famous.

BONUSES · 127 Bonus 3: How to Craft an Email Nurture Sequence

Plenty of people who are releasing books have email lists but I’ve been surprised by the number of clients we’ve worked with who don’t.

I can’t stress enough how crucial an email list is when it comes to promoting your book. Most busy entrepreneurs can easily have someone on their team set up an effective “lead magnet” (say, a quiz, cheat sheet or white paper relating to their business) to get those future book buyers on a list.

But then what do you do with those lovely people who’ve entrusted you with their email address?

You start sending them newsletters that are relevant for your business…and ideally relevant for the business they want to get into (that you can help them with).

But do you go right up to a stranger (even a stranger who’s read something of yours) and ask if they want to get married? No, you nurture the relationship. And that’s exactly what you should do with your new subscribers.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the best way to open strangers up to who I am and what I do is deliver a six- ANNA DAVID · 128 email sequence that goes out over a few weeks that highlights me and my work. While I’ve adjusted it over the years, based on what gets a response and what doesn’t, I’m including below a sequence I’ve used. This, of course, is merely to serve as inspiration. It’s in my voice and pertains to my company. But you, or one of your team members, can use it as a guide for how to create one for your business.

And without further ado, I give you…

An Email Nurture Sequence Guide, Followed by One of the Nurture Sequences I’ve Used

Day 1: Here’s who I am/a reminder that they signed up for your newsletter

Day 2: Something that sums up your belief system

Day 3: Examples of your work (show off how awesome you are without bragging)

Day 4: A big mistake you made and how it got you to the point where you are now (where you’re sharing your creative work)

Day 5: A preview/excerpt/example of your work

Day 6: Testimonials/recommendations for your work

Day 7: [ONLY IF YOUR WORK IS AVAILABLE AT THIS POINT] – A promo for your work BONUSES · 129

TIPS:

At the end of each email, tease the email they’ll receive the next day

Explain that they’ll be hearing from you more now than they will down the line (to let them know you’re not going to constantly be emailing them)

If you want to make sure something is read, make it a P.S.!

Here’s an example of an email nurture sequence I’ve used:

Day 1: I’m a Former Coke Addicted Dog Walker Turned NY Times Bestselling Author

Hey hey, Light Hustler.

Thanks so much for taking my quiz and being open to hearing from me.

I’m oh so aware of the fact that you have an insane number of messages competing for your attention. Yet you took my quiz, entered your email address, and signed up to learn more.

I don’t take this lightly. In fact, I now see it as my obligation to compete against the other messages in your Inbox and stand out as something you want to read. I'll do this by introducing myself to you over the next week and then delivering weekly messages that I hope are both interesting and helpful to you. ANNA DAVID · 130

So here goes: I’m Anna David. I’m a former coke addicted dog walker turned New York Times bestselling author who’s determined to help other people share their darkness to find their light.

Of course, I can’t help you share your darkness without telling you a little about mine.

So here goes…

I’ll never forget the day the woman whose dog I was walking told me that she no longer wanted to pay me my hourly rate of $15 since we’d agreed that I’d only be walking her dog for 15 minutes or so.

When I explained to her that she lived 20 minutes from me and so the entire experience took me over an hour, she responded, “Yes, but look at it this way: I work at Paramount. And they pay me to be there. They don’t pay me for the time I spend driving there.”

So that was it. I was demoted to $7 a day.

I wasn’t in a position to complain. At that time in my life, my main activity aside from walking this woman’s dog and lying to my therapist was doing cocaine by myself, pretending to write. My drug use had gone from casual to serious to extreme rather quickly and I was at the point where, after long nights of doing coke alone, I would get so disgusted with myself that I would throw the coke away, BONUSES · 131 only to then start jonesing 20 minutes later and dig it out of the garbage.

After learning that I was actually willing to dig drugs out of the trash, I got smarter and started throwing my coke in the dumpster when the self-disgust hit. That’s when I learned that I was willing to dig cocaine out of a dumpster. So I got smarter and moved onto flushing it. Unfortunately, that’s when I learned that I was willing to just call the dealer right after for more. And if there was anything that disturbed me more than doing cocaine alone all the time, it was wasting money—especially when I was making $7 a day and plowing through my savings.

I can’t tell you exactly what happened to me that day in May of 2000 when I woke up and called my mom to tell her I had a coke problem. Nothing horrible had happened the night before. Call it God. Call it being sick and tired of being sick and tired. All I know is I made the call and the following week I was in rehab.

Getting sober was nothing like I expected it to be. And while the beginning of recovery was just about acclimating to life without white powder, Ambien and Amstel Light as fuel, the longer I trudged the road the more it became about getting out of my own way.

Learning to do that changed my entire life—particularly my career. When I got fired from my dream job as an entertainment journalist six months into sobriety, I chose to ANNA DAVID · 132 believe what I’d been hearing in recovery circles—namely that everything was happening the way it was meant to. Instead of lamenting the fact that I’d been fired, I decided it was time to do what I’d been wanting to do since I was seven years old and had discovered, via the Guinness Book of World Records, that the youngest author was six: become a real writer.

In recovery, I was able to take all the energy I’d channeled into blotting out my feelings and pour it into my creativity. Perhaps because I felt like I was making up for lost time, I accomplished an insane amount in my first 10 years of recovery—publishing seven books, writing for, among other publications, The New York Times, The LA Times, Time, Playboy, Cosmo, Redbook, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The Huffington Post and Salon, and appearing on The Today Show, The Talk and The CBS Morning Show, among many other shows.

I don’t say any of this to brag. I say it because I had no idea what I was capable of until I could clear away the wreckage I’d created. I thought, before I got sober, that the height of my success would be to land interviews with big celebrities and write profiles of them. I had no idea I’d write a book, let alone six, and that one would become a New York Times bestseller.

Here’s my point: you are more powerful than you know. We all are. The problem is a lot of us put on some tainted glasses along our journey. If I learned to take my glasses BONUSES · 133 off, you can, too. Maybe you’re not picking up shit for $7. But perhaps you have your own version of that.

And I’m here to tell you that you can do more.

I’d like to share with you some of the best ways I’ve found to do that, so expect an email from me tomorrow with those details.

On that note, you’re going to be hearing from me a lot over the next week; I promise the missives won’t come as often after that. But I want us to get to know one another off the bat. Speaking of which, I’d love to know what you’d most like to hear about from me. Hit reply and let me know.

Looking for Light in the Darkest of Places,

Anna

Day 2: We’re Only as Sick as our Secrets

“I could never write about that,” she said. “People would judge it too much.”

I was talking to one of my students. I can’t tell you how often I hear this refrain from one of them. It’s always after they’ve just told me about the experience they’ve had that meant the most to them—something inevitably disturbing or difficult.

Right after expressing concern over being judged, they usually say, “But this is what I want to write about.” ANNA DAVID · 134

And it makes sense; when we’ve struggled with something and come out on the other side, it’s thrilling. We want to share it. We want to help other people find the solution we have.

The problem is that it can be terrifying to share our darkness with the world. Who on earth wants to tell strangers that they suffered from abuse, have been crippled by anxiety, used to hoover cocaine or were suicidal over a divorce?

We do, that’s who.

And that’s because many of us have realized that the best way to release the shame around what we’ve long considered our biggest secrets is to share them.

The relief that comes from sharing things we always assumed we’d take to the grave is one thing. But the relief that comes from sharing those so-called secrets with people we don’t even know is just about the most liberating thing I’ve ever experienced.

Because that’s when I discovered that other people not only related but also that I was helping them feel less alone. Truth talk: Learning that others relate to some of my most horrifying experiences and feelings has, in fact, helped me as much as years of therapy. BONUSES · 135

I’m not going to lie: it’s taken a lot of trial and error (emphasis on error) to find my people. But now that I have, I’m all the more motivated to find more.

None of us want to feel alone. All of us are seeking a tribe. And we’re living in a wonderful time, when we can find tribe members all over the world—people who can love and support and relate to us simply because we’ve shared darkness that makes them feel their own release of shame.

So, I urge you, if you’re struggling, share that with someone. It can be a loved one. But it can also be the big wide open world. I promise you that there’s nothing you’ve experienced that someone can’t relate to. You just have to give them the opportunity.

When I did that, I not only found relief but I also found success. I’d always thought I had to show the world the perfect me. Turns out I needed to do the opposite to get the acceptance I’d always craved. I needed to be honest, even if that honesty meant sharing things that scared me. And I needed to find my people—and help them find me.

Look out for an email from me tomorrow, where I’ll share with you an example of something I really don’t want to admit.

Keep on hustling that light,

Anna ANNA DAVID · 136

PS I also wanted you to know that I regularly publish posts on my blog (www.lighthustlepublishing.com/articles). Here are two I think you might be interested in:

“Why You Need a Bestselling Book and How to Have One”

“If You Don’t Do This, Your Book Will Bomb”

Day 3: There are Things I’ve Written That I Absolutely Hate

I wrote a book that sucks.

Honestly, I don’t think my second novel, Bought, is worth kindling. Even after I sold it to HarperCollins, I hated it. In fact, I asked for it back so I could do a page one rewrite. My editor told me I didn’t need to but I felt the book rang false. I also hated the characters. And so I spent the next year rewriting it.

Even after that, I didn’t like it.

I think one of the reasons I struggled so much with that second book is that I had such an amazing experience writing my first book, Party Girl. And I think that’s why I believe it’s the best thing I’ve ever written.

This is surprising to other writers. After all, I wrote it over a decade ago. Surely my writing has improved since then. Shouldn’t I be cringing at what I thought was good writing back in the early 2000s? BONUSES · 137

The thing is, that book is pure. It’s what I wrote before I knew anything about Amazon reviews, let alone GoodReads haters. It was what poured out of me before I knew to think about what I thought would sell well and whether or not it would make any bestseller lists.

The truth about sharing our stories, in my experience, is that we’re going to be supremely proud of certain things and have others that make us want to cower in shame. The fact is there are stories I’ve published that I wish I could take back and things I’ve said on television that make me want to crawl under the nearest couch and hide. Then there are stories I’ve written, like this one I did as a New York Times Modern Love, that help balance that out because they make me proud.

As someone who helps other people get their stories out into the world, I don’t want people to know that I’ve published things I hate or wish I could take back. But how can I help anyone if I can’t even be honest with them?

It’s embarrassing to admit I wrote a book I think sucks but it also allows me the freedom to step into my light and say, when I feel the opposite, “Hey, I did something good— check it out!” While humility is wonderful, it’s also important to celebrate ourselves. So I’m telling you that I wrote a book I hate, a book I’m proud of and four others that I think are pretty good. ANNA DAVID · 138

But work for just work’s sake is, in the end, kind of empty. The most rewarding aspect of having written Party Girl is that it led me first to opportunities to share my struggles and triumphs on TV shows like The Today Show, The Talk, Attack of the Show, The CBS Morning Show and other programs on CNN, NBC and MTV.

But it wasn’t the TV appearances that attracted the kick ass students I now work with. I had to strategically set out to find my people in order to help them bring their darkness into the light.

At first, I made a lot of mistakes in my quest to seek out my audience. But I learned from those mistakes—and I’m learning more all the time.

As a result, I’ve been able to attract press for the work—like an amazing piece in Forbes, an incredibly-flattering profile in Entrepreneur and a story in The Huffington Post.

I try to always remind myself to feel grateful for these things—something that can be hard when you have a mind that tends to settle on the negative. If you relate to that, I’d love it if you’d do me a favor: Write me back and tell me what you’re proudest of. It doesn’t have to be career related. I just want you to celebrate something by sharing it with someone. Why not me? BONUSES · 139

By the way: Despite my pride about Party Girl, my experience when it came out wasn’t anything like I’d hoped it would be. Tomorrow I’ll be telling you all about that.

Until then, keep on hustling your light,

Anna

Day 4: How Ewan and Renee Almost Ruined Me

There’s a little-seen Ewan McGregor-Renee Zellweger movie that nearly destroyed me.

It’s called Down with Love and it’s one of those throwback- to-the-60s movies about how Renee is anti-love—and then meets Ewan and (you guessed it) falls in love with him.

But I don’t remember the love story or the 60s stuff at all.

What I remember is that Renee was a super glamorous writer and since the movie came out just before my first book was being released, I assumed I would have the experiences Renee did (the mid 2000s version, anyway)— glamorous lunches with my editor, endorsements by major celebrities and just generally being treated like I was a Really Big Deal.

Instead, my publisher was fired in the biggest scandal to ever hit the publishing business a few months before my first book came out. There was no editor to lunch with; there was no editor at all. ANNA DAVID · 140

No matter, I thought! I was on television at the time; I had a gig as the dating expert on a show called Attack of the Show and was regularly appearing on The Today Show and CNN. People would care about my book.

Turns out, people had to know about my book in order to care about it. See, I didn’t understand back then that the most important aspect of a creative endeavor is NOT creating the work. If you’re a creative person, of course you’re going to create the work. The most important part is finding an audience for that work.

Kevin Kelly wrote a seminal piece called 1000 True Fans, which posits that a creative person doesn’t have to be world famous in order to be a success. All we need are 1000 people who will buy everything we do.

A thousand didn’t sound like a lot to me then. Didn’t millions of people, after all, watch The Today Show? Well sure, but thousands of people were appearing on those shows every year. And it turned out that had been relying on the wrong methods for finding my 1000. I had thought letting readers find me through my magazine and TV work would do it. They would find me.

Turns out I had to go find them. And that’s okay because we’re living in the best possible era for that—a time where we get to be our own publishers, production companies and publicists. It’s a thrilling time, if you choose to look at it that way. BONUSES · 141

Ever since I learned that, my focus has been entirely different. Yes, I still do a lot of creative projects. But I focus just as much on finding the people who will get something out of them. Some may roll their eyes at the amount of time I spend figuring out social media and newsletter lists. I get it; I used to be one of the scoffers. I thought the word “marketing” was boring at best, evil at worst.

I’ve discovered the opposite. Marketing is just as creative to me as writing. It’s in fact an ideal combination of the two passions that made me want to be a writer in the first place—words and psychology. I get to think about you— yes you, the person reading this. I get to think about what you may want, not just what I feel like telling or creating for you.

This epiphany has been one of the most liberating experiences of my life. I’m no longer at the mercy of publishers (who may get fired), the whims of the Google algorithm or whether work like mine is trending when I release it. I get to be creative and know that people will consume it because, after all, I made it just for them.

The first step in this process was creating the simplest website ever to show who I was. Tomorrow I’ll detail how I did that. ANNA DAVID · 142

Day 5: What Every Creative Person’s Website Needs

When I bought my name as domain in 2003, people thought I was crazy. Call it prescient, call it an inflated sense of self- importance but I went and had a site created that featured the (few) published stories I had at the time.

As I published more, I continued to add to it.

In the ensuing decade-and-a-half, I’ve worked with more web designers than I’d like to remember and redesigned the site more times than I’m willing to admit. I’ve played around with having myriad drop downs, various home pages, different pop ups and everything else under the sun.

After 15 years, you could say I’ve learned some things—the main thing being that I was making the whole thing far more complicated than I needed to.

Here’s what I know now: we have roughly 15 milliseconds to make an impression on someone so we’d better be incredibly clear about how we do that. And a creative person’s website only needs a few things.

− A HOME page

− A START HERE page

− A CONTACT page

− A WORK EXAMPLES page

− A NEWSLETTER sign up page BONUSES · 143

− A PRIVACY POLICY and DISCLAIMER

− (Extra bonus points if it can also contain a blog)

There are easy and hard ways to go about doing this. Creative work is challenging so I say make this part as simple as can be by registering your domain and hosting through GoDaddy. I spent years battling with WordPress and WordPress designers, wasting thousands of dollars in the process, before a friend told me how easy the GoDaddy builder was. Trust me on this one.

The home page should be basic. Provide a clear, hi-res image of yourself that’s congruent with the impact you want to make. If you’re establishing yourself as an expert, why not use a photo of you speaking? If you’ve got a testimonial, use it. Have your social media icons prominently displayed and the drop downs laid out across the top.

In my opinion, a START HERE page is crucial and yet it’s not terribly common. It’s a page that allows you to control where the reader goes. First you get to tell them who you are, then you can direct them to your favorite articles, videos, episodes, art pieces, testimonials or songs, show them where they can buy your book or essentially send them wherever you’d like.

As for the CONTACT page, if there are four words I think are the most crucial, it’s these: put your email address here. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve wanted to offer ANNA DAVID · 144 people opportunities I felt certain they would want but I abandoned pre-offer when I saw that the only option on their site to contact them was a form.

I put my main email address everywhere—on my site, on my social media, on my course registration pages and wherever else I can think of. The result? I get far more opportunities than I ever would if I had a silly form. It’s also important to include contact info for your book publicist or booker or agent or anyone else who’s relevant to your career but my God, make sure you include yourself.

Now this next one is sort of obvious but show (or play) your work on your WORK page. If you’re a writer and you’ve had stories appear on line, it’s better to copy and paste text onto a page or post on your site than to just link to that publication—not only because you want as much text as possible on your site for Google ranking purposes but also because other sites get redesigned and you risk having dead links if you’re not regularly checking your site to make sure your outbound links are still working.

Next up: the NEWSLETTER sign up page. For this, you need a newsletter provider, like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Ontraport or Drip. I know that gathering email addresses may sound exhausting but I promise it will be far more exhausting to go out and seek your tribe later if you don’t start doing it now. (I’ll explain in a minute what you do once you start gathering those email addresses.) BONUSES · 145

Of course you, as a savvy web user, know that people don’t just fork out their email address for no reason. Oh, no. Today you need to be giving them a reason to subscribe.

A few years ago, free eBooks (even very short eBooks) were all the rage. But then everyone and their mother started offering these “lead magnets” and they began to feel, to the average reader, less and less compelling. Cheat sheets and swipe files work well, meaning PDFs that you, based on your expertise, can provide for people (if you’re a painter, this could be the best ways to judge how much art pieces are worth; if you’re a writer who focuses on women’s rights, it could be a PDF that lists the best organizations for activists to contact; if you’re a podcaster, it could be a sample pitch letter for getting booked on podcasts).

Still, the most effective tool I’ve found for obtaining email addresses is a quiz. All you do is write up questions and answer options and then have the quiz taker put in their email address to obtain the results. Once they’re emailed their results, they’re automatically added to your newsletter list. (I use www.tryinteract.com for my “Do You Have a Book In You” one.)

The best quiz for you is going to be based on whatever creative work you do. If you’re writing about recovery, maybe it’s a quiz that helps people determine if they have an unhealthy relationship with substances or are getting complacent in their recovery. If you’re a healer who works with those who’ve been through divorce, perhaps your ANNA DAVID · 146 quiz determines whether someone is at the point where they’re open to healing. This is for you to figure out.

The final necessary element for your website is the most straightforward: Have a PRIVACY POLICY and DISCLAIMER. Why? Well, if you’re collecting people’s email addresses (and, as we just covered, you are), you need to explain to them that you’re not selling those off to the highest bidder. And then a disclaimer protects you from having others lift your work and display it on their own sites. If you don’t have a disclaimer, in short, other people have no legal obligation to remove your work from their site. And speaking of legality, some states actually require disclaimers on websites. (I got my disclaimer and privacy policy through Gena Jaffe’s site, an epic resource if you’re on a budget and still want legal documents.)

And about that extra credit section I mentioned? Blogs can help with your SEO rankings and also give people a reason to return to your site. If you’ve got the time, do it. Posts don’t need to be long—check out Seth Godin’s blog for examples of how to pack a punch with just a few words— and of course this gives your reader more of a chance to get to know you.

The other benefit of a blog is that it gives you something to start emailing your list. I highly recommend sending newsletters as regularly as you can (you can create a format and then just plug and play, getting the task down to a half hour of work a week). If you don’t have a blog, you can BONUSES · 147 email news stories relevant to your topic, links to other people’s blogs, memes, quotes or anything you think they’ll be interested in.

Keep in mind that open rates for newsletter lists can be dismal; if a quarter of your list is opening them, that’s considered fantastic. But you still want to send them so that when you’re promoting your creative projects, your subscribers are used to hearing from you.

So there you have it: my guide to the ideal website for every creative person. I hope it gives you some inspiration and ideas. Tomorrow I’ll let you know how advice like this has helped some people I know.

Day 6: A Few Simple Tips Can Change Everything

Many people are apprehensive when it comes to working with a new teacher or coach or course. They’ve either been through the ringer with a series of online courses they never finished or been exposed to coaches who promised big results and delivered nada.

I know this because it’s a conversation I have with pretty much every student who enters one of my coaching programs.

I also know this because I’ve taken my share of online courses and coaching programs and have learned the difference between the ones that give me very little that I want and those that provide 10 or 100 times of what I thought I’d get. ANNA DAVID · 148

While creating my programs, I become obsessed with trying to create products that will make people feel the latter.

And I’m here from the frontlines to report that obsessing about over-delivering pays off, if I’m to believe what my students tell me. Steve Costello said, after one of my courses, “If you’re serious about achieving your dreams, Anna’s program is a no-brainer.” Jon Smith told me, "The quality of information and real-market application makes it essential.” And Aubree Nichols said, “The program gave me the confidence to let the world see me.”

But my favorite feedback came from a recent student, Elizabeth Overstreet (a fantastic writer and relationship expert, by the by), because it got so specific.

Here’s a snippet from an email she sent me:

Not only did you help me get clearer about my goals, but you offered practical guidance, tools, and feedback to move me along in the process. Plus, you held me accountable.

I've learned more from you in the short time I have known you than many others who claimed to be experts in writing, marketing, and pitching. The proof is in the results I have had in less than six months:

− 14 of my articles published in Thought Catalog, a website that has 25 million plus visitors per month BONUSES · 149

− Active writing portfolio on Medium

− A solid outline for my book and working proposal

− Published article on Thrive, A Huffington Post company

− Actively being sought out for other credible relationship websites, dating apps, and an opportunity to ghostwrite for someone

I provide this list not to brag, but to show the power of working with you and a group of people supporting and pushing one another to keep writing. Without you and your constant input, support, and feedback from the group and practical lessons of the course, I am positive these opportunities would not have come my way.

I’m sharing this with you not so that I can brag but so that I can show you what can happen if you do what you love and focus on helping other people do what they love. We all have gifts to share and the ability to over deliver. We can do that through our creative work, through coaching programs or through some combination of the two.

In short, by sharing our dark to find our light, we get to light the way for the next person.

It feels good. I promise. It makes surviving the dark actually seem worth it.

So keep on hustling your light, Light Hustler…

ANNA DAVID · 150 Bonus 4: How to Write an Effective Medium.com Post

Medium.com is a site that was launched in 2012 by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams.

And it’s important.

Here’s why:

Building your name online is crucial when it comes to publicizing a book and there’s no easier place to do it than Medium. But it shouldn’t just start when you’re releasing your book; ideally, you’re writing and posting on Medium for some time before you release your book so that you’ve built an audience that’s excited to support it.

But posting on Medium has added benefits: it not only helps establish you as an expert but also gives you an ideal place to gather fans and bring them into your fold if you add a newsletter sign up or link to a quiz that will add them to your list at the end.

When Medium.com took off, it began launching careers. Benjamin Hardy was one of those people: a post of his went viral and he suddenly found himself flooded with so many offers that he was able to sell a book to a big publisher for six figures and launch a massive business. BONUSES · 151

I had the good fortune to interview him about the secrets to Medium success and while you can watch the full interview on my YouTube page, I’ve compiled the best bits below.

Here’s how you start on Medium:

1) Go to Medium.com, click Sign in

2) Sign in with either Twitter, Facebook or Google

3) Click New story

ANNA DAVID · 152

4) Input title, add photos/videos, add your story (for free photos, I go to Unsplash)

5) When you finish entering your story, EITHER:

Click Publish, add tags BONUSES · 153

You can also submit to a publication…

Here’s the deal: Getting published in a publication means your stories have a much better chance of getting seen by more people because readers of that publication, and not just your readers, will see it.

You have to be a contributor to a publication in order to submit to them and you can only get to be one by asking them. (I have had publications see my stories once I’ve published them and ask if they can publish them in their publications but that’s rare.) Once you’ve contributed once, you are an official contributor there but that doesn’t mean they accept everything you submit.

To find publications to submit to, go here: https://toppubs.smedian.com/ ANNA DAVID · 154

Click on ones that seem good for your content that have a REQUEST TO CONTRIBUTE button next to them.

Put your URL in, click SEND REQUEST

(I actually edit a Medium publication called Light Hustle Publishing. If you’re interested in submitting to it, just check out the Submission Guidelines first.)

6) SHARE your story. Claps are very important on Medium in terms of other people finding your content and clapping for it is crucial.

BEST TITLE PRACTICES: Overall note: As Ben says, “Punch people in the face with the headline” (metaphorically) BONUSES · 155

− Use numbers (example: “9 Simple Strategies to Have A Huge Online Audience”)

− Focus on the reader and not on you (Use the word “You” over “I”)

− Tell readers EXACTLY what they’re going to learn (example: “How Writing Just One Book Can Make You an Expert”)

− Play up the drama (Example: “I Almost Died. Here’s How AA Saved My Life”)

− Make it action oriented (Example: “Do This If You Want to Achieve This”)

− Make it behavior and outcome focused (see above)

− Be specific (Example: “How to Make Your First $10,000 as a Blogger”)

− Focus on pain points over benefits (Example: “5 Ways to Avoid Getting Fat” instead of “5 Ways to Get Thin”)

− Use superlatives (words like “Big,” “Amazing,” “Immediate”)

− Focus on the most extreme part of the experience you’re writing about (example “The Activity That Will Give You the Greatest High You’ve Ever Had”) ANNA DAVID · 156

Best Content Practices:

− Break up your content with headers and have the headers take the reader through a path [Example: (1) I Was Suddenly Considered an Expert (2) Once You’re In, You’re In (3) Free TV Led to Paid TV]; don’t go more than 5-6 paragraphs without a new section

− Shorten paragraphs and sentences

− Use quotes to start each section (I just do searches for quotes about that section – i.e., “best quotes about accountability”)

− Offer a freebie at the end – One of the best things about Medium is you can bring people into your tribe with whatever free offer you have – mine is a quiz that asks people if they should be sharing their story and signs them up for my newsletter list.

Amazing Thing About Medium:

− You can repost old stories here, under different headlines (you can even submit those old stories to new publications)

− You can track your readers and stats really easily by going to your Stats page BONUSES · 157

It shows Views, Fans, even how much of your post was read!

− You can tweet your best lines by highlighting one and then clicking on the Twitter icon – it will tweet the line and the link to the story

ANNA DAVID · 158 Bonus 5: How to Write a Memoir

Before you read this section, I want to make one thing entirely clear: what follows is the most rudimentary guide imaginable to writing a memoir. For many of us, a memoir is a passion project we’ve been crafting in our heads since we were children. For others, it is a business tool. And, of course, there’s a whole swath of people in between. If you’re someone who doesn’t write professionally but wants to do a memoir on your own, I’ve created a guide that first displays a potential format and then provides numerous questions for you to ask yourself as you outline your book.

If you’re interested in getting help with this process, my company has a number of services, from writing and publishing to launching to guiding and more (if you’re interested in setting up a free kick off phone call with us, definitely fill out our potential client form at www.lighthustleclientform.com. In the call, we’ll discuss the viability of your book or book idea so we can learn about your idea as well as understand your goals so we can give you a step-by-step plan for achieving them.)

NOTE: What follows is not a guide to writing a business book; the format and questions are entirely different for that genre. If your goal is to do a business book in order to BONUSES · 159 help establish your credibility, I definitely recommend setting up a call with us.

Now, here are the six things you should do before beginning your memoir:

1) Ask yourself certain questions:

− What is the objective of my book?

− What do I want my book to accomplish for me?

− What is the audience I want to reach?

− What do I know that this audience doesn’t but would like to?

− What is the main story I want to tell?

− Why is this story relevant for other people?

− What is the main point I want to make?

− What makes my story unique?

− How does this story start and end?

2) Decide What Type of Story You’re Telling

There are many different types of memoirs—while yours may cover your entire life up until now, keep in mind that a memoir can also solely cover a particular relationship (The Year of Magical Thinking), an illness (Brain on Fire, Girl, Interrupted), a certain trip (Eat Pray Love) or a project (Julie Julia). It can be a tell-all (Mommie Dearest), a business memoir (Shoe Dog) or anything in between. ANNA DAVID · 160

3) Make Sure You Can Sum Your Book Up in 2-3 Sentences

4) Decide if You Want to Divide the Book into Sections

Some memoirs very much lend themselves to this format (both my memoir, Falling for Me, and my book of essays, How to Get Successful by F*cking Up Your Life, were divided into three sections) but there’s no point in dividing into sections just for the sake of dividing up sections.

In some cases, it might feel pedantic or obvious. Of course, you can always decide to do the divisions and change your mind later or vice versa.

5) Think About Chapter Length

Probably the most common question I’m asked is how long something should be and I always remind myself of an annoying high school English teacher when I say, “As long as it needs to be.” But it’s the truth. There is no “your chapter has to be this number of pages” rule. There’s no rule that says every chapter has to be the same length.

Also: books are getting shorter. A HarperCollins rep was quoted as saying in early 2019, “One thing that we need to keep in mind as publishers is that we publish increasingly for readers who are more accustomed to and prefer short- form reading, thanks to the easy availability of books and journalistic literature on smartphones and digital devices.” BONUSES · 161

When I first started publishing books, they were all between 50,000 and 75,000 words (or 200-300 pages). Now at Light Hustle we publish memoirs that are as short as 35000 words.

You don’t need to decide now how long your book is going to be but if you’re thinking your book will end up being 50,000 words and you want even chapters, my calculator tells me that each of your chapters should be 5,000 words…40,000 words with even chapters would be 4,000 words a chapter, etc.

This is for you to decide.

6) Consider the Legal Issues

There’s a disclaimer at the beginning of most of my non- fiction books. It reads: This work is non-fiction and, as such, reflects the author’s memory of the experiences. Many of the names and identifying characteristics of the individuals featured in this book have been changed to protect their privacy and certain individuals are composites. Dialogue and events have been recreated; in some cases, conversations were edited to convey their substance rather than written exactly as they occurred.

I highly recommend putting a disclaimer in yours. You can use this exact one.

Here’s some stuff to know, even if you have a disclaimer: ANNA DAVID · 162

− Change people’s names unless they don’t want you to. Why not?

− You can still get sued. But of course any of us can get sued for anything. If you are all concerned about someone getting litigious, I highly recommend hiring a lawyer to do a legal read before you publish.

− A general rule the lawyer Harper hired to go through Party Girl shared with me: you want there to be at least five people who fit the description of anyone you’re writing about. In other words, to stay totally safe, you don’t want to be including someone in your book who has one leg, lives in Scranton, Pennsylvania and works as a doctor if there aren’t at least five people that could describe.

− I highly recommend showing your book, when you’re done, to anyone you’re in touch with who’s included in yours. I’ve had characters based on people that I thought the person would find absolutely flattering and they did not. You can never predict how someone is going to feel when they’re in a book, even (and perhaps especially) if they’re only serving as an inspiration, so why not err on the side of caution?

− Beware of the power of the pen. I have written about people I’ve been pissed at without having done any work on the resentment and have, BONUSES · 163

consciously or subconsciously, attempted to exact revenge. It usually just made me sound embittered. That being said, we can write whatever the f we want since we’re the ones telling the story. As Annie Lamott wrote in Bird by Bird, “If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”

And now I give you…

The Most Basic Memoir Structure (for a 10-Chapter Book)

Chapter 1/Preface: Intro/Inciting incident/Flashback/Turning point

Chapter 2: Childhood/Adolescence

Chapter 3: The path (whatever it is…career/personal story)

Chapter 4: Escalation

Chapter 5: More escalation

Chapter 6: Hurdles or problems

Chapter 7: Turning point

Chapter 8: Path toward resolution

Chapter 9: Resolution

Chapter 10: Life after resolution ANNA DAVID · 164

A Note About the Preface

The first chapter is the one that’s going to send us bang into the middle of your story…think horrible or amazing turning point: when you found out your cancer was in remission, the moment in your childhood where you saw your dad kissing another man, the day you almost screwed up the biggest opportunity of your life or just a scene so dark or wonderful or extreme that it looked like it was the point of no return…whatever it is, it will be different for everyone and it is up to you to determine.

Here’s the thing, though: while it’s an intense moment, you don’t want to scare off your reader. So don’t make it TOO intense.

Some of you will know right away what this is, others won’t. If you don’t know, I recommend trying to write about a few potential experiences and seeing which both provides enough material and gets you in the flow.

This first chapter will probably leave your readers wondering what’s going on. That’s good; here’s where you hook the reader with some drama. The action in this intro will probably describe events that are somewhere around the middle of your story.

If you know what this scene is, start writing. BONUSES · 165

If you don’t know how to start, below are some writing prompts to get you going. Select whichever one(s) feel like they’d make the best material for your first chapter.

− What is a scene or day that signifies the most extreme point in your story?

− When were you or the person your book is about most spinning out of control?

− Take us into a moment so surreal that you almost feel like you’re describing a time out of someone else’s life.

− Did you ever almost screw up one of your greatest opportunities? What happened?

− What’s your most disturbing memory? (Something you have at least started to work on processing; if you’re too close to it, you’re not going to be able to write about it effectively.)

− Think about the biggest shift in your life. Describe what happened that brought you to the point where you needed to make this shift.

From there, you start telling the story. Below is the simplest way possible to think of the structure…

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

RELEVANT STORY 1 ANNA DAVID · 166

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CHAPTER 2

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CHAPTER 3

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

PART 2 – YOUNG ADULTHOOD

CHAPTER 1

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CHAPTER 2

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CHAPTER 3 BONUSES · 167

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

PART 3: WHERE YOU ARE NOW

CHAPTER 1

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CHAPTER 2

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CHAPTER 3

RELEVANT STORY 1

RELEVANT STORY 2

RELEVANT STORY 3

CONCLUSION

Need help getting started? Check out the series of questions I’ve come up with to get you thinking: ANNA DAVID · 168

FOR PART 1/CHILDHOOD:

1. What is your first memory? Describe it in detail.

2. What is your first memory of…[related to book topic]?

3. Describe the home you grew up in. Where did you spend the most time? What is the feeling you associate with that home?

4. What was your parents’ relationship like? Did you get along with them/were you a “good” kid?

5. Do you have siblings/what was and is your relationship with them like? What are some incidents that best demonstrate your sibling relationships?

6. What is your strongest memory of grade school? Both at school and at home? Describe as many as feel significant.

7. What early life experiences do you believe really shaped you (a time you were teased? A time you were praised? An award you won? A shift you made over the summer?)

8. What were your favorite hobbies and activities? Do you remember discovering them? What are your strongest memories of doing them? BONUSES · 169

9. What did you do when friends came over to play (play Dungeons and Dragons, put on talent shows, set world records, start lemonade stands)?

10. How strict were your parents? Describe an incident or incidents that support your answer.

11. Who was your favorite teacher and what was something that teacher did that made them a favorite?

12. What was your favorite subject and what’s a strong memory you have of doing it or realizing you liked or were good at it?

13. Were you athletic? Did that matter? Describe a memory pertaining to that.

14. Did you feel “cool” or uncool? Describe a memory pertaining to that.

15. What was your greatest accomplishment of this time in your life?

16. Who did you spend most of your time with? Describe something you did together that’s a good example of the sort of things you did or relationship you had.

17. What was your biggest secret at this time in your life? ANNA DAVID · 170

18. Did you drink or do drugs early in life? If this is a significant part of your journey, provide as many examples as feel necessary with details.

19. What did you want to be when you grew up and why?

20. Who were your role models and why?

21. What is your happiest memory?

22. What is your saddest memory?

23. Did you keep a journal? What kinds of things did you write in it?

24. Did you have a family pet(s)? Describe a memory of one…playing with a dog, an animal’s death or anything else pet related.

25. What did you believe then that you still do today?

FOR PART 2: YOUNG ADULTHOOD:

1. What was the greatest challenge of your adolescence? Describe an incident that showcases that.

2. What was the most important thing to you as a teenager and young adult? Describe in as much detail as you can. BONUSES · 171

3. Did you go to college? How important was this to you? If yes, what’s the strongest memory of your college experience?

4. Were you mostly focused on having fun or making your way in the world? Describe a memory that demonstrates the way you prioritized these things.

5. Was making money a priority? If not, what was?

6. What was your relationship like with your parents? How much did it change in your transition from childhood to now? Describe a fight, conversation or incident from that time that showcases what your relationship with them was like.

7. Who was the person that was most important to you then and how did you meet?

8. What was your drug use/alcohol consumption like (if relevant)? Describe in some detail, if relevant?

9. What did you envision for your future?

10. Who were you crushed out on and what happened with that person? ANNA DAVID · 172

11. Who was your first boyfriend/girlfriend? How long were you with that person and what was your relationship like?

12. How important/in touch with sexuality were you? If relevant, describe an incident that reflects your answer.

13. What were your biggest complaints about your parents?

14. Did you get in trouble a lot? Describe at least one time you did.

15. Were you aching to get out of your hometown or did you hope to stay forever?

16. What were your most important cultural influences (movies/TV shows/music, etc) and how were they relevant in your life?

17. What did you struggle with that you kept silent about?

18. Who did you hate and who did you love? Describe one example of each.

19. What were you most passionate about? Describe.

20. What were you most sure of? Describe. BONUSES · 173

21. What do you most wish you could go back and do differently?

22. What, in retrospect, was the most mature thing about you back then?

23. What’s your funniest memory from this time in your life?

24. What seemed to be easier for you than it was for other people and what seemed to be harder for you than it was for other people?

25. What is your happiest memory from this time in your life?

FOR PART 3/WHERE YOU ARE NOW

1. What has been the biggest shift in your life as an adult? Describe what happened, what brought it about, what the results were and how it impacted the rest of your life. [THIS MAY BE THE CRUX OF YOUR BOOK]

2. Could this shift have been predicted? Why or why not?

3. What about your life now would most surprise the kid you once were? Be very specific.

4. When was the last time you surprised yourself and what was it that happened? ANNA DAVID · 174

5. What’s the most loving moment of your life? Describe the time in detail.

6. If you are married, describe meeting your spouse and when you knew this was the person you wanted to marry.

7. If you have children, describe the most significant moments of your life with him/her/them.

8. Do you have any recurring dreams? Describe.

9. What are your most important coping skills when life gets challenging (meditation, exercise, medication, etc) and what was the incident or incidents that motivated you to embrace it/them?

10. What is it you think you’re here to accomplish? Where are you on this journey?

11. How do you believe the people closest to you would describe you?

12. Do you have a bucket list and if so, what’s on it? Describe one item in detail and why it’s important to you.

13. What project of the past few years have you been most passionate about? Why?

14. Describe your most important relationship and a story that evokes its significance. BONUSES · 175

15. What are your most important cultural touchstones (movies/TV/music, etc.) and why?

16. When was the last time you spent time with your family of origin and what happened?

17. Are you in therapy? If yes, what made you get into therapy?

18. What is your greatest character defect and when was that most recently displayed?

19. What is your greatest strength and when was that most recently displayed?

20. How have you changed the most in the past five years and was there something that happened that brought about that change?

21. What have you learned that you most want to impart to the world?

22. What do you believe in (examples: God, everything happens as it’s meant to, reincarnation, it’s always darkest before the dawn, etc.)?

23. What’s something you do every day?

24. What made you decide you wanted to write a book? ANNA DAVID · 176

25. What’s something about you that people would find surprising? BONUSES · 177 Bonus 6: How to Publish on Amazon

There are of course many ways to go when it comes to publishing your book. This is a guide to the EASIEST, LEAST EXPENSIVE way to do it. (If you want to learn from the person I consider the world’s leading expert on effective self-publishing, start following Dave Chesson. He maintains the fantastic blog Kindlepreneur, hosts the wildly informative podcast The Book Marketing Show and even created software called Publisher Rocket, which helps authors research the most effective Amazon keywords and categories.)

Step 1:

Go to fiverr.com, search “book layout for Kindle”; hire one of them [NOTE: THERE ARE MANY WHO BELIEVE THIS METHOD WILL NOT PROVIDE A HIGH ENOUGH QUALITY LAYOUT AND AUTHORS SHOULD SPEND A MINIMUM OF $400 ON A LAYOUT DESIGNER. I’M GIVING YOU THE LEAST EXPENSIVE OPTION POSSIBLE] ANNA DAVID · 178

Step 2:

Go to canva.com, click on Create a design [PLEASE SEE NOTE ABOVE RE: LAYOUT; MANY WOULD ADVISE AUTHORS TO NEVER USE CANVA FOR A COVER AND INSTEAD HIRE A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER FOR ROUGHLY $1000 BUT THIS IS A PERSONAL CHOICE]

BONUSES · 179

Step 3:

Scroll down the page that comes up, then click on Book Cover under Blogging & eBooks

Step 4:

Select a cover, change the text and go….

ANNA DAVID · 180

Step 5:

Upload the file and cover to Amazon by following their instructions.

Step 6:

Decide whether or not you want to sell your book exclusively on Amazon (the main advantage for making it exclusive is that you can make your book free for five days every 90 days and really try to drive sales); if you do choose that, enroll your book in KDP Select.

Here’s how:

Go to your Bookshelf.

Click on the ellipsis button ("...") under the KINDLE EBOOK ACTIONS menu next to the book you want to enroll.

Choose Enroll in KDP Select.

On the screen that appears, click Enroll in KDP Select.

Step 7:

Wait for your book to go live (it usually takes about a day).

Yes, it’s that easy to do.

But don’t just assume you can upload and kick back to watch your copies fly off the shelves—er, tablets. BONUSES · 181

Releasing a book and releasing a book effectively is like the difference between going to a doctor and going to a psychic. But it is possible to release a bestselling book on your own. And if you’re reading a book like this, I don’t have to be a psychic to know you want to.

ANNA DAVID · 182 Bonus 7: The Pre-Book Launch Cheat Sheet Checklist

By now you I hope you know how much I believe that the best way to be successful as a writer is to both provide value for your readers and find ways to stay in touch with them.

I figured the best way to show you how to do that is for me to do it with you. And so that means that in order to grab your Pre-Book Launch Cheat Sheet Checklist bonus, I’m going to ask you to sign up for my newsletter list if you haven’t already. The emails you’ll receive afterwards will continue to educate you about publishing as well introduce you to people who are out there sharing their stories.

You can go here to pick up your copy: http://prebooklaunch.com/.

CONCLUSION

If you’ve made it this far, I have every bit of faith that you have all it takes to write and release your book to great success.

I hope you’ll take advantage not only of the lessons I had to learn the hard way but also the fact that we’re in the Golden Age of books. So please don’t let FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) prevent you from doing what you know you’re meant to do.

So go to it, Light Hustler.

And if you want help, I’d love to assist. Just go to www.lighthustleclientform.com to fill out the brief form so we can determine if we’d make a good team.

You can also take our quiz to determine whether or not you have a book in you at www.futureauthorquiz.com.

My one request: if you have success with any of the ideas and recommendations I provided here, please let me know (the easiest way to find me is probably on Instagram at @annabdavid; you can also follow the company on @lightustlepub).

I look forward to seeing you on the bestseller list…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna David is the New York Times and #1 Amazon bestselling author of two novels and five non-fiction books about addition, recovery and relationships. She’s been published in The New York Times, Time, The LA Times, Vanity Fair, Playboy Vice, Cosmo, People, Marie Claire, Redbook, Esquire, Self, Women’s Health, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Salon among many others, written about in numerous publications, including Forbes, Martha Stewart Living, Entrepreneur, Allure and Women’s Health and has appeared repeatedly on The Today Show, Hannity, Attack of the Show, Dr. Drew, Red Eye, The Talk, The CBS Morning ANNA DAVID · 186

Show, The Insider and numerous other programs on Fox News, NBC, CBS, MTV, VH1 and E.

She speaks at colleges across the country about relationships, addiction and recovery and has been a featured speaker at three different TedX events. Through her company, Light Hustle Publishing, she helps thought leaders write and publish books. She also offers retreats, online courses, a podcast, a storytelling show and more.

Also by Anna David:

How to Get Successful By F*cking Up Your Life

Party Girl

Bought

Reality Matters

Falling for Me

True Tales of Lust and Love

The Miracle Morning for Addiction Recovery

By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There