Light Hustler: Making Your Mess Into Your Message

The word profile used to mean what we looked like from the side. Nowadays it means what we look like online.   And for better or worse, this has become increasingly important when it comes to selling and promoting a book. So this week I'm answering a question from a listener that's all about how to build a profile, particularly on Instagram, and why publishers may or may not care.   And don't forget: if you want me to answer your writing question on this show, DM me on Instagram at @annabdavid.   WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Rather than interviewing a guest or breaking down an expert author's way of launching a book, this week I'm answering the question: How and when do I come up with a title?   The biggest problem I see with authors and titles is that some become so committed to the one they came up with originally that they won't consider changing it to something that's going to resonate with readers more. I break that down and talk about how my titles have changed and which I think should have changed in this episode.   And if you want me to answer your writing question on this show, DM on Instagram at @annabdavid.   WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Rather than interviewing a guest or breaking down an expert author's way of launching a book, this week I'm answering the question: How do I become a better writer?   The short answer is: write. The longer answer is: write and read. The still longer answer is in this episode.   And if you want me to answer your writing question on this show, DM on Instagram at @annabdavid.   WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Rather than interviewing a guest or breaking down an expert author's way of launching a book, this week I'm answering the question: How long should a book be. The short answer is: it depends. The longer answer is that books are getting shorter. Confused yet? Listen to the episode and you won't be.   And if you want me to answer your writing question on this show, DM on Instagram at @annabdavid.   WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

There's no one like James Altucher. Now I get that there's no one like any of us but there's REALLY no one like James Altucher. The hedge fund manager, podcaster and author of over 20 books has one of the most unique writing voices around—a major reason why his book, Choose Yourself, sold 40,000 copies in its first week of release. But there are a number of other reasons he sold so many copies and I break those reasons down in this episode. I get into how he hones his writer's voice, controls his destiny, gathers opinions, comes up with unique propositions and then gets media attention for them, spends what he can afford to and—most importantly—never stops writing. You may not be someone The New York Times writes about when you decide to embrace minimalism but that doesn't mean you can't learn from what he does and apply all the same concepts and techniques to your own book release. In fact, in this episode, I break down exactly how. WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT

Do you really need me to tell you who Jeff Garlin is? Well, the simple way to handle that is to tell you that he stars on arguably the most adored show of all time (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as well as one of the most mainstream shows of all time (The Goldbergs).   But he does so much more than just come to you via your SmartTV. He's also a standup (um, obv), photographer and author. In this episode, he explains what happens when you sell a book to a big publisher but then it doesn't sell the number of copies anyone had hoped (and also has an odd name change somewhere between the hardcover and paperback).   This episode also has LOTS of digressions into random topics both because Jeff Garlin could be renamed DIgression Garlin and also because we're pals who digress a lot. Listen and digress with us...   WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

Today I'm doing one of those breakdowns of how the experts launch their books (check out my previous one on Tim Ferriss here). And this episode analyzes the moves made by the icon to middle-aged women across the globe: Rachel Hollis.    Rachel has had extraordinary success, by any standards. Her book, Girl Wash Your Face, sold three million copies JUST on Amazon. She hosts a huge conference, has a Netflix documentary and has millions of followers on social media.   But this sprightly little thing didn't just waltz into stupendous success. In this episode, I meticulously break down what I believe are the four main reasons she's had such an impact: 1) She knows her audience 2) She makes it about them 3) She's consistent 4) She listens to that audience   To understand how she's done that and hear more of my analysis of her many bright moves, check out the episode.   WANT TO WRITE A MEMOIR? DOWNLOAD MY ONE-PAGE MEMOIR STRUCTURE CHEAT SHEET AT WWW.MEMOIRDOWNLOAD.COM

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

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

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

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 o

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

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

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  

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

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

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

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

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

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 writers, designing covers, penning 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