You're previewing a DRAFT of this episode! Edit Episode

Behind the Book Cover

Writer and comedian Mara Shapshay has had a life of inarguable highs and lows: Growing up outside Boston as the daughter of a sex therapist, Shapshay felt alienated as the only Jewish girl at her school (not to mention the only girl whose mother talked extensively about oral sex). After a traumatic incident in Israel, Shapshay turned to opiates and alcohol; they helped her through film school at NYU, after which she landed in LA and promptly married a gay man. Stints at rehab followed but they didn't take and Shapshay ended up homeless and living in her car. Then she randomly met Carrie Fisher and asked her for help. Next thing she knew, Shapshay was living with Fisher and helping the late actress through shock treatments. Now over a decade sober, Shapshay is a practicing Orthodox Jew married to a sober (not gay) Orthodox Jew. And she's determined to carry on Fisher's mission to spread awareness about mental health. In this episode, we discuss why mental illness carries more of a stigma than addiction, the lure of celebrity and the difference between trust and faith, among many other topics.

Show Notes

If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life. 

Writer and comedian Mara Shapshay has had a life of inarguable highs and lows: Growing up outside Boston as the daughter of a sex therapist, Shapshay felt alienated as the only Jewish girl at her school (not to mention the only girl whose mother talked extensively about oral sex). After a traumatic incident in Israel, Shapshay turned to opiates and alcohol; they helped her through film school at NYU, after which she landed in LA and promptly married a gay man. Stints at rehab followed but they didn't take and Shapshay ended up homeless and living in her car. Then she randomly met Carrie Fisher and asked her for help. Next thing she knew, Shapshay was living with Fisher and helping the late actress through shock treatments. Now over a decade sober, Shapshay is a practicing Orthodox Jew married to a sober (not gay) Orthodox Jew. And she's determined to carry on Fisher's mission to spread awareness about mental health. In this episode, we discuss why mental illness carries more of a stigma than addiction, the lure of celebrity and the difference between trust and faith, among many other topics.

What is Behind the Book Cover?

A book can do more than sell copies. It can build your authority, strengthen your personal brand and create entirely new opportunities for your business.

Hosted by New York Times bestselling author Anna David, Behind the Book Cover explores how successful entrepreneurs, authors and thought leaders use books, media and marketing to become better known, reach more people and grow their businesses.

Through candid conversations with traditionally published authors and independently published entrepreneurs—including business owners whose books have added seven figures to their bottom lines—Anna reveals what really happens behind the cover. The show goes beyond book publishing to explore marketing for entrepreneurs, CEO personal branding, thought leadership strategy and how turning your expertise into a book can help make you an authority in your industry.

Anna’s books have been published by HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, and she is the founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, a leading hybrid publisher for entrepreneurs. In other words, she knows both sides of the publishing industry—and isn’t afraid to share what traditional publishers don’t want you to know.

Behind the Book Cover is brought to you by Authority Network.

Find out whether a book could help grow your business:
https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/book-score-card