This may be the most useful podcast I've ever released. That's because it's with a guy who's an expert on something EVERY author wants: getting people to recommend your book.
His name is
Rob Fitzpatrick and he's a former programmer who dropped out of grad school to go to YCombinator with his first startup.
It's that background—along with his nearly decade and a half of experience as an entrepreneur—that helps make sense of the fact that he's the guy who's seemingly cracked the code on how to write a book that everyone will recommend.
He breaks down his process in his latest book, Write Useful Books, and we also get into our decidedly unique story of how we met (in short, he quoted my interview with Chris Voss in Write Useful Books and I didn't see that he credited me and I fired off an email and anyway, listen to the episode and you'll hear what happened next).
But that's far less interesting than the methods he describes in this conversation—including how to find beta readers, what to ask them and how to use them to craft a book that's DEEP (Desirable, Effective, Engaging and Polished).
How sure is he that his process works? Well, the results speak for themselves. His monthly earnings from his three books are roughly $25k a month, with 1000 copies a week being sold, and, in his words, "growing pretty steadily."
I am not being hyperbolic when I say I think this is the most useful interview yet. (Even more than the Chris Voss one Rob quoted!) If I were you, I would literally study the transcript below. (That's what I'm doing.)
WANT MORE INFO ABOUT THE POD AND OTHER STUFF? GO TO WWW.ONGOODAUTHORITYPOD.COMWhat is 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.