Info

On Good Authority: Publishing the Book that Will Build Your Business

There are people who launch books and end up just having a nice thing to put on their shelves. Then there are people who launch books that transform their careers—and lives. As a former member of the first group, Legacy Launch Pad publisher and New York Times bestselling author Anna David strongly urges you to be part of the second. In this show, she talks to entrepreneurs and authors about how to intentionally launch the book that will serve as the best business card and marketing tool you’ve ever had—and then how to use that to build your business even more. Named one of the best publishing podcasts by LA Weekly, Feedspot, Podchaser and Kindlepreneur, On Good Authority features solo episodes as well as interviews with best-selling authors, entrepreneurs and publishing insiders. It has had over a million downloads, regularly appears on the top 100 career podcast list and manages to make discussions about publishing funny. Popular episodes include interviews with Chris Voss, Robert Greene and Lori Gottlieb.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
On Good Authority: Publishing the Book that Will Build Your Business
2023
February
January


2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June


1970
January


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: Page 6
Sep 30, 2020

Tim Ferriss needs no introduction. He not only hosts one of the world's most successful podcasts and maintains one of the world's most successful blogs but he was also an early investor in companies like Uber and Shopify and is the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

 

Since there's no one alive who's better at launching books, I decided to do something new for this episode: break down exactly what he does and how he does it. His tactics include reading 50 different books on his book's topic before he even starts writing, offering spectacular launch bonuses for those who buy his books in bulk, attending conferences in order to chat with bloggers and influencers and way too many others to list in this post—so many that you'll soon learn why this required its own episode.

 

If you like this sort of episode, I'd be excited to do more on other people who are brilliant at launching books but would be hard to land on the show. It's fun to research and talk about how someone like Ferriss manages to do what he does (spoiler alert: it doesn't involve just getting lucky). Please let me know in the form of an Itunes review if you want me to do more of these. In the meantime, enjoy this breakdown!

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Sep 23, 2020

Cameron Herold is the Founder of the COO Alliance & Second In Command Podcast as well as the author of five books and an international public speaker. By the age of 35, he’d help build his first TWO $100 MILLION DOLLAR companies and by 42, he engineered 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s spectacular growth from $2 million to $106 million in revenue.

 

So you get it. The guy's a machine. And he's a machine well worth talking to about what a book (let alone five) can do for a career, seeing as his have added millions of dollars to his bottom line. He also knows how to engineer a fantastic book launch, since he's an expert on generating PR (exhibit A: his 2019 book, Free PR). Exhibit B: his tactics have landed him everywhere from The New York Times to Oprah.

 

In this episode, we talked about how to get the media to care about you (hint: it involves picking up the phone), why to put an 800 number on your book cover and how paying for 1000 copies of your own book to give away may be the smartest business decision you can make.

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Sep 16, 2020

In the last 33 years, Chris Joseph has started and managed three environmental consulting businesses, launched two fan-funded music record companies and founded a non-profit charitable foundation. He has also dabbled in philanthropy, songwriting and magazine writing, and he is currently studying for his real estate license. Chris is an LA native who lives in Santa Monica with his two teenage sons and his longtime girlfriend Susie. 

 

He is also the author of Life is a Ride: My Unconventional Journey to Cancer Recovery which I am very proud to say Launch Pad has just published. The book is about how, after being diagnosed with third-stage pancreatic cancer and discouraged by traditional medical treatment, he embarked on his own path to healing. It's a beautiful, poignant journey that will inspire many and I'm looking forward to seeing what it does for him.

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Sep 9, 2020

Cindy Chupack is a TV writer/producer whose credits include Sex and the City, Better Things, Divorce, Modern Family, Everybody Loves Raymond and I’m Dying Up Here.  She recently directed her first feature, Otherhood, now available on Netflix.  She has written two comic memoirs: the NYT bestseller The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays and The Longest Date: Life as a Wife. Now divorced, her latest “chapter” was published recently in Katie Couric’s newsletter, a piece called Love in the Time of Covid-19. 

 

She's also one of the kindest, most modest people alive. Proof: that bio above, which she gave me, doesn't even mention the fact that she has won Emmys and Golden Globes. As in: multiple. We met when we both contributed essays to the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and in the years since, I've watched her straddle the line of author, TV writer, director and storyteller, among several other pursuits.

 

In this episode, we talked about how important it is to figure out ahead of time what you want your book to do for you, how likely it is to have your book adapted into a TV show or movie and the difference between writing a memoir and a book of essays, among many other topics.

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Sep 2, 2020

Rebekah “Bex” Borucki, founder of BEXLIFE® and the BLISSED IN® wellness movement, is a mother of five, meditation guide, birth doula, mentor for creative healers and author of books for big and little readers. She has taught meditation and is a mentor to creative healers who have gone on to receive publishing contracts with major houses like Simon & Schuster and Hay House. Rebekah is published by Hay House, the Quarto Publishing Group, and her own imprint, Wheat Penny Press, which she founded in 2019.

 

In this episode, we talked about how we met (sitting next to each other on a bus in Israel—for reals), how she went from single mom on welfare to powerhouse author, mentor and a million other things and how and why writing a book changed her entire career.

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Aug 26, 2020

Meghan Daum is the author of six books, most recently The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through The New Culture Wars. An opinion columnist for The Los Angeles Times for more than a decade, she currently writes monthly for Medium’s GEN Magazine and has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic and Vogue, among other publications. Her new podcast The Unspeakable launched in July 2020. 

 

In this episode, we talked about the mini scandals you can cause when writing about either leaving New York or your feelings on PhD-ers who call themselves "Dr," what it's like when your first book becomes a cult classic and what happens after cult classic-dom, among many other topics. 

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Aug 19, 2020

Holy sh*t, it's Robert Greene on the podcast!

 

Yes, THE Robert Greene came on the show and he talked about the subjects he knows more about than arguably anyone else—power, seduction and narcissism—and how they're relevant when it comes to writing and launching a book.

 

For you rock dwellers, Greene is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, Mastery and The Laws of Human Nature.

 

In addition to having a strong following within the business world and a deep following in Washington, DC, Greene’s books are hailed by everyone from war historians to the biggest musicians in the industry (including Jay-Z, Drake, 50 Cent) to the titans of Hollywood (including Brian Grazer and Will Smith).

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

 

Aug 12, 2020

Greg Behrendt is the #1 New York Times best-selling co-author of He’s Just Not That Into You and It’s Called A Breakup Because It’s Broken. He's appeared on every TV show known to man, including Oprah, The Tonight Show and The Today Show, is a life long standup comedian and co-hosts the relationship podcast Don't Take Bullshit From Fuckers.

 

He's also a life and writing coach, who can walk you through exactly how to write a book like his—as well as how to survive any adversity that comes your way (he's in recovery from addiction and has beaten cancer twice).

 

In this episode, we talk about what happens when the publishing dream that wasn't even your publishing dream comes true, how to handle being categorized as "that guy" after runaway success and how becoming Oprah's obsession for a brief time doesn't mean you're set for life.

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Aug 5, 2020

Jason Pinter has had a Byzantine journey through publishing—first as an editor, then as an internationally bestselling author of seven novels and two children’s books and finally as the Founder and Publisher of Polis Books.

 

So how does one go on that journey? And what does someone who's seen publishing from literally every side have to say about how the industry has changed over the years and the best way to launch a book today?

 

It's all in this episode, along with invaluable information about how independent and self-published authors can get their books into libraries—and why they'd want to.

 

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Aug 4, 2020

This week's episode features a very special guest: me. Yes, it's me giving you an exclusive excerpt from my new book. It's the 12th chapter of the book and definitely the meatiest. It's also the most relevant for you because it's focused entirely on what to do once you've finished your book and are getting ready to launch it.

 

TO GET THE BOOK, GO TO WWW.MAKEYOURMESSYOURMEMOIR.COM

Jul 29, 2020

Here we are at the final week of excerpts from my new book. This one is the final chapter, Making Your Message Your Business. It's all about the ways you can take that memoir you made out of your mess and create something that can support you for the rest of your life.

 

TO GET THE BOOK, GO TO WWW.MAKEYOURMESSYOURMEMOIR.COM

Jul 22, 2020

This week's episode features a very special guest: me. I got such a great response to last week's episode that I decided to release a few more excerpts from my new book. This week, it's the 13th chapter, which is focused entirely on how to find, nurture and serve your readers.

 

TO GET THE BOOK, GO TO WWW.MAKEYOURMESSYOURMEMOIR.COM

Jul 15, 2020

This week's episode features a very special guest: me. Yes, it's me giving you an exclusive excerpt from my new book. It's the 12th chapter of the book and definitely the meatiest. It's also the most relevant for you because it's focused entirely on what to do once you've finished your book and are getting ready to launch it.

 

GRAB THE BOOK HERE: WWW.MAKEYOURMESSYOURMEMOIR.COM

Jul 8, 2020

WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

 

Derek Murphy is a USA Today bestselling author with a PhD in Literature, who’s been featured in CNN, writes fantasy and sometimes lives in castles. When not trolling obscure bookshops, he prefers to be sipping espresso, surrounded by kittens and pursuing research on what it means to be a successful creative.

 

Now the word unique is overused but this is one unique guy. Looking at the amazing array of material he puts out there is to enter into a tireless brain of myriad interests—including educating aspiring writersdesigning coverspenning paranormal fiction and hosting writing retreats in castles.

 

In this episode, we talked about creative ways to get Amazon to recommend your book (write a blog post that recommends other books like yours and then include a link to that blog in your email auto-responder), the importance of obeying Amazon's ever-changing rules and how to actually make money from book sales.

Jul 1, 2020

Jay Abraham is the world's highest-paid marketing consultant, a proven business leader and top executive coach in the United States.

 

As Founder and CEO of The Abraham Group, Inc., Jay has spent his entire career solving complex problems and fixing underperforming businesses. He has significantly increased the bottom lines of over 10,000 clients in more than 1,000 industries and over 7,200 sub-industries worldwide. 

 

This is a man who is paid $30,000 for a day of business consulting. And I was lucky enough to not only get him to agree to come on this podcast to talk about applying lessons from other industries to a book launch but I was also able to get invaluable advice from him a few years ago that radically transformed my business (we talk about that at the very end of the episode; you definitely want to hear it).

 

In this episode, he doles out some of his top gems—including what to write at the beginning of every business book, how to involve influencers in your writing process and why to read the Amazon reviews of every book on your topic that's come before.

 

WANT THE TOP 14 BOOK LAUNCH TIPS FROM PREVIOUS PODCAST GUESTS? GO TO WWW.LAUNCHPADPUB.COM/POD-TIPS.

Jun 24, 2020

Adam Carolla is, well, Adam Carolla. The comedian, actor, radio personality, television host and NY Times best-selling author also hosts a podcast you might have heard of since it holds the Guinness Book of World Records record for most downloaded podcast. He was also the co-host of the long-running radio show Loveline, co-created The Man Show and does like 190 other things. 

 

His first book, In 50 Years We'll All Be Chicks, was on the New York Times bestseller list for 10 weeks, while the audio version went straight to the #1 position on iTunes. He has since released a bunch of other New York Times bestselling books and it's probably safe to assume that his newest book, the just-released I'm Your Emotional Support Animal, will also make it there.

 

In this episode, we talked about why he doesn't know his publisher's name, how to write a book while driving to a comedy gig and the best launch tip of all: have an amazing book.

 

WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD THE ONE-PAGE STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM.

Jun 17, 2020

Neal Pollack, whose alter ego is "the Greatest Living American Writer,"  is the author of 11 books of fiction and nonfiction.

 

His latest, Pothead, covers his journey from drug-addled literary sensation to sober Austin dad. He's written thousands of articles for publications current and defunct, prominent and obscure, whoever pays. To continue with the randomness, he's a three-time Jeopardy! champion and a certified yoga instructor. 

 

Neal and I have known each other for years, with essays appearing in some of the same books (one of which I edited). A truthteller who reveals the often brutal reality of modern-day publishing, Neal is perhaps most brutal and truth-telling when it comes to himself.

 

In this conversation, we talked about what happens to Gen X midlist authors, what happens when you seek literary fame and how the most important thing to do when launching a book is to enjoy it.

 

WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM.

Jun 10, 2020
Tyler Wagner is the founder of Authorsunite.com, where he helps people become successful authors. 
 
More specifically what that means is that he does something similar to what we do at Launch Pad—people pay him to write and publish their books.
 
But he has a superpower we do not—namely, the ability to get books on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. 
 
How does he do it? And how does a college drop-out end up connecting with Gary Vee, Tim Ferriss before launching a massive publishing business? 
 
It's all in this episode.
 
WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK? GO GRAB MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM.
Jun 3, 2020

Jeff Goins is a writer, keynote speaker, and award-winning blogger with a reputation for challenging the status quo. He is the best-selling author of five books, including The Art of Work, which landed on the best­ seller lists of USA Today, Publisher's Weekly, and The Washington Post. He lives with his family near Nashville, Tennessee. His website Goinswriter.com is visited by millions of people every year.

 

He is also an idol of mine when it comes to the fine art of combining writing with entrepreneurship and the even finer art of being successful at both.

 

In this chat, we got into the importance of patrons, why your network is like your neighborhood and how it takes years to promote a book. And of course we chatted about his top launch tips. Spoiler alert: it has to do with being a good neighbor.

 

WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN MEMOIR? START WITH MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET, WHICH YOU CAN GRAB AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

May 27, 2020
Chris Voss may be the coolest guy in the world.

 

The former lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the FBI’s hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council’s Hostage Working Group, Voss now runs Black Swan Limited, where he brings all the techniques he perfected to the business world.

 

During Chris’s 24-year tenure in the Bureau, he was trained in the art of negotiation by not only the FBI but also Scotland Yard and Harvard Law School. He's taught business negotiation in the MBA program as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Oh and he's also taught business negotiation at a little school called Harvard.

 

But we barely got into any of that. That's because this conversation focused on his book Never Split the Difference, which has sold over a million copies, changed how countless businesses operated and made Voss into a media darling with the media hits and Mastermind course to prove it.

 

In this episode, we talked about his top tips for a successful launch—be prepared to outwork everyone else, answer questions on Quora, do every interview, no matter how small and study the great Ted talkers, comedians and media personalities to see how they deliver information in a compelling way. We also talked about how no one wanted this book that went on to change the way business is done. And then we got into the matter of a Facebook friend request. How did this negotiation go? You're going to have to listen to the episode to find out.

 

WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM TO GET STARTED.

May 20, 2020
Nancy Levin knows book launches from every angle. The best-selling author of five books was the Event Director at Hay House for 12 years where she oversaw events for mega bestselling authors Gabby Bernstein, Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay. And with her new book,  Setting Boundaries Will Set You Free: The Ultimate Guide to Telling the Truth, Creating Connection and Finding Freedom, she used everything she knew.
 
In this episode, we discussed the role boundaries play in book launches, why focusing on the value your reader is going to get is the way to make a book successful and also got into some marketing nerd speak about funnels, tripwires, courses and all the rest.  
 
DO YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR STORY BUT NEED SOME HELP? GRAB OUR ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM.
May 13, 2020
Investigative journalist and anthropologist Scott Carney had a blow-out success with his traditionally published book What Doesn’t Kill Us—it was a New York Times bestseller that sold 150,000 copies.
 
 
So why would he make the switch from traditional to self with his latest book, The Wedge?
 
 
The long answer involves lawyers, shoddy editors, a good deal of hustle and just some old-fashioned common sense. The short(er) answer is in this episode.
 
 
So who is Scott Carney when he's not truthtelling about the publishing industry? Well, his other books include The Red Market and The Enlightenment Trap. He was a contributing editor at Wired for five years and his writing also appears in Mother Jones, Men’s Journal, Playboy, Foreign Policy, Discover, Outside and Fast Company. His work has been covered on NPR and National Geographic TV. He's won a bunch of awards, gives TEDx talks, teaches and does a whole lot more.
 
 
In this episode, we talked about the realities of traditional publishing, why he grabbed the rights to his book back from a major publisher, the ins and outs of audiobook recording and much more.
 
 
DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE AND NEED SOME HELP SHARING IT? DOWNLOAD OUR ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM.
May 6, 2020

To call Gina DeVee a queen is an understatement.

 

No, Gina is the QUEEN of Queens everywhere.

 

Her journey from struggling psychotherapist (who lived at home with her parents) to globetrotting entrepreneur has led her to found her multi-million dollar women’s empowerment company, Divine Living.  She has dedicated her career to helping clients connect spiritually, start businesses, create wealth and live life to the fullest.

 

When her book, The Audacity to Be Queen, was released in early March, it meant canceling—er, postponing—a planned world book tour and learning new launch tools...namely doing TV appearances from her living room, taking over friends' Instagram stories feeds and essentially looking for the gifts that are a part of every unexpected (and expected) experience.

 

As she points out, book releases NEVER go as planned but you also never know when a book is going to hit (her client Jen Sincero's book You Are a Badass was out for years before it became a bestseller). All of this is to say that her advice is as useful for an author whose book comes out at a more convenient time as it is for those who are launching now. This one has plenty of specific advice, including why it's a good idea to include a companion course in your book.

 

WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK? GRAB MY FREE GUIDE TO WRITING A MEMOIR BY GOING TO WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Apr 27, 2020
Joel Stein wrote a weekly column for Time magazine for 20 years, was a columnist for Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times and is the author of the books Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity and In Defense of Elitism: Why I’m Better Than You and You’re Better Than Someone Who Didn’t Buy This Book
 
 
He's also such a funny person that he manages to come across as incredibly likable both while penning a book defending elitism and while dis-inviting me to his book launch party (true story; listen to his defense in this episode and let me know if you think it means you think I should forgive him).
 
 
In this episode, we talk about how to ask friends to recommend you to a show as a guest, why to never rely on a publicist and ways to make an audiobook much better, among many other topics.
 
 
WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK? GRAB MY FREE GUIDE TO WRITING A MEMOIR HERE>>WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM
Apr 22, 2020

Jen Gotch is one of those people who seems to stumble toward success. She's the first to admit that she figures everything out as she goes along—and it all seems to work out far better than it does for those with PowerPoints, MBAs and the rest. Case in point: band.do, the company she founded in 2008 with no business experience and which is now a beloved multimillion-dollar brand. Then there's her obsessive Instagram following and podcast that she built by being utterly herself—often sharing about her mental health struggles.

 

And the trend continued with her first book, The Upside of Being Down, which has been featured in People and The LA Times and recently hit The New York Times bestseller list.

 

While the release timing couldn't have been worse—we're talking days into shelter-in-place world shutdown—her attitude couldn't have been better. And although her book tour got canceled and plenty of plans were derailed, she was able to do a pivot that made her launch inarguably successful. 

 

In this episode, we discuss how the business lessons she's accumulated along the way served her when it came to planning her book launch—and how she learned some new ones as life changed.

 

WANT TO WRITE YOUR OWN BOOK? GRAB MY FREE DOWNLOAD HERE>>WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

1 « Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next » 19