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.
Christos Garkinos went from being a lonely gay Greek kid in Detroit to running marketing for Virgin Megastores, launching fashion lines on HSN and becoming Bravo's "Robin Hood of Fashion"—and then lost nearly all of it to addiction, financial collapse and grief.
What I wanted to talk to Christos about is the launch, because it's one of the most ambitious rollouts I've seen from any author, and he did it entirely on his own terms. Celebrity-filled dinners, sold-out events across the country and a billboard in LA that ran for five months—positioned directly above an ATM he used during his darkest days. That's not a marketing stunt. That's a man staring down his own story from a billboard.
But the launch isn't actually the most interesting part of this conversation. Christos gets into what it felt like when people he hadn't spoken to in years started reaching out after reading the book—people who had written him off, people who barely knew him, people who suddenly understood something about him they never had before. He talks about sobriety, ego and surrender with a kind of honesty that you don't usually hear from someone whose instinct is to produce a show. And he gets into how the book didn't just change his public image. It changed his business, his relationships and the way he thinks about what he's actually building.
In this episode:
- The five-month LA billboard placed directly above an ATM from his worst days
- Why he refused a traditional book launch and built a rollout that looked more like a concert tour
- What it felt like when people who'd written him off started reaching out after reading the book
- How sobriety reshaped his instincts, leadership and creativity
- The moment his community turned his story into their own
Want to find out more about my hybrid book publishing company, Legacy Launch Pad? Click here. Want to discover how entrepreneurs get seven-figure returns on their authority-building books? Click here. Want to apply to work with us? Here's where you go.
And if you just want to know more about me, visit my website or connect with me on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.
What is Behind the Book Cover?
You've heard the book publishing podcasts that give you tips for selling a lot of books and the ones that only interview world-famous authors. Now it's time for a book publishing show that reveals what actually goes on behind the cover.
Hosted by New York Times bestselling author Anna David, Behind the Book Cover features interviews with traditionally published authors, independently published entrepreneurs who have used their books too seven figures to their bottom line to build their businesses and more.
Anna David has had books published by HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster and is the founder of Legacy Launch Pad, David is the founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, a boutique, founder-led hybrid book publisher that helps entrepreneurs turn expertise into authority-building books. In other words, she knows both sides—and isn't afraid to share it.
Come find out what traditional publishers don't want you to know.