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Josh and AJ talk about how she got connected to Mike Michalowicz and became his ghostwriter and now writing partner, her course, and why she decided to finally write her own book. Also, a bit of banter about ideal audience and memoir writing.

Peter Winick is the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. For the past two decades, he’s helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products. His clients include New York Times bestselling business book authors, members of the Speakers’ Hall of Fame, recipients of the Thinkers50 award, CEOs of public and privately held companies, and academics at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Wharton, Dartmouth, and London School of Business. In this episode, Peter talks about what thought leadership is, how his company helps his clients develop a thought leadership system, and of course, there’s a lot of talk about how authors can achieve their objectives by becoming thought leaders. Peter’s Links: www.thoughtleadershipleverage.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwinick/

Kim Whitler is a Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and the author of "Positioning for Advantage: Techniques and Strategies to Grow Brand Value". Kim spent nearly 20 years in the private industry in strategy and marketing roles at Procter & Gamble, as the general manager of the Breakfast Division for Aurora Foods, as the CMO of David’s Bridal, the country’s leading bridal apparel retailer, and as an officer of PetSmart. Kim has written over 350 articles as a Forbes senior contributor and has published in Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, Ad Age, and many academic journals. She’s been interviewed, cited, or quoted over 3,600 times in places like the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Times, NBC, ABC, and The Associated Press. In this episode, Kim talks about how her first job pushed her to become a better writer, why she moved from private industry to academia, and how writing a book helped her academic career and goals to reach more people with her message. She also speaks about what surprised her in the publishing process (like having to wait two years for her book to be published, after she finished it), and Kim and Josh geek out a bit about the CMO role in the middle of the episode. If you’re a marketer or need to know more about marketing, you’ll enjoy this episode. Kim's Links: https://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Advantage-Techniques-Strategies-Brand/dp/0231189001 https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimwhitler/

If you’ve read Gary Chapman’s book The 5 Love Languages, then The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace is the business/workplace version. Co-authored by Chapman and today’s guest Dr. Paul White, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace is all about improving workplace relationships by learning your coworkers’ language of appreciation. The book has sold more than 500,000 copies and is currently selling 1,000/week.    In this episode, Dr. White says, “If I had written the book on my own, it probably would have sold 3,000 copies,” and then tells us how he was able to get through Chapman’s gatekeeper and convince him to co-author the book with him. Dr. White also shares how he built a business around the book that now support five other team members in addition to himself through speaking engagements, consulting, and other products and services.   Dr. Paul White's Links: http://www.drpaulwhite.com/  https://twitter.com/drpaulwhite 

Ed Brenegar is a keynote speaker and leadership consultant focused on teaching people to become people of leadership within their workplace and social circles. He’s worked with senior executives for 30 years and authored ‘Circle of Impact: Taking Personal Initiative To Ignite Change’. Using his proprietary Circle of Impact model, Ed provides the tools for people to innovate and problem solve by addressing and exploring people’s ideas, relationships, and structures. In this episode, Ed talks about how he spent decades developing his Circle of Impact model, five years writing the book, and how he engaged in face-to-face communication to learn how to get people interested in reading it. He also shares how he is now writing much shorter companion books based on his original ideas and how this supplementary material is helping him gain more traction. Ed's Links: https://www.facebook.com/EdBrenegarSpeaks/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/edbrenegar https://edbrenegar.com/

Mareo McCracken is the Chief Revenue Officer at Movemedical where he guides sales, marketing, and customer success efforts. Prior to this, he was the top-performing salesperson at multiple companies in various industries including financial services, marketing, logistics, manufacturing, and commodities. And he’s now the new author of the book Really Care for Them: How Everyone Can Use the Power of Caring to Earn Trust, Grow Sales, and Increase Income. No Matter What You Sell or Who You Sell It. In this episode, Mareo talks about how, although he didn’t need to write this book to further his career, he needed it to give to people who, upon hearing that he had read over 800 sales books, asked, “What’s the one sales book I should read?”  Mareo didn’t have a good answer, so he decided to write the book that would be the answer. Mareo also talks about how he structured his book to appeal to salespeople who don’t like to read, and how, although it wasn’t his intention, the book is now helping him attract and land deals.   Mareo's Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mareomccracken/   www.mareomccracken.com 

Adriana Monique Alvarez is the CEO and Founder of AMA Publishing, where she teaches women how to start highly profitable publishing companies. She’s the author of 15 books (and counting) including How To Start A Six Figure Publishing Company: A Guide for Ambitious Female Entrepreneurs Who Are Ready to Transform a Formerly Male-Dominated Industry. If you’re an ambitious female entrepreneur who wants to write a book, this episode is definitely for you. In this episode, Adriana tells how she grew up in a small Colorado town, hated going to school, but then grew up to travel the world as an entrepreneur. Now, she helps entrepreneurs to start their own publishing companies and she discusses the details of how that works, as well as how she helps authors make bestseller lists in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Adriana's Links: https://www.facebook.com/AdrianaMoniqueAlvarez/  AMASpeaks.com

Ben is the author of Your Number’s Up! Getting a grip on Data and Measurement to accelerate your Direct to Consumer ecommerce sales. Ben is highly qualified to write this book, having held global roles with leading marketing technology companies like Unica, Chordiant, smartFOCUS, and Pitney Bowes Software, as well as leading the data charge at big agencies like RAPP and DDB. Now he works directly with brands that want to take control by using data to identify where to best focus efforts to help them grow rapidly. Ben works with these brands to bridge data, technology and marketing with commercial and common sense thinking. In this episode, Ben talks about why he won’t create his next book using presentation software, why he chose to find a book printer instead of using a print-on-demand service like Amazon KDP, and how he used LinkedIn to connect to the people he interviewed for his book. Ben's Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bensalmon/  https://twitter.com/bensalmon 

Allison Williams is an editor, book coach, and speaker, and she’s the author of Seven Drafts, Self-edit like a pro from blank page to book. She has edited & coached writers to publication with Big Five, literary, and indie presses. Her own writing has appeared in the New York Times, and on National Public Radio and CBC-Canada. A former circus acrobat and fire-eater, she still loves to travel, and hosts writing retreats virtually and around the world. In this episode, Allison talks about her journey from the circus to writing and coaching others to write. As she dives into Seven Drafts, she teaches how to edit your own book and the different drafts to create as you work from your “vomit draft,” the first draft that is a big mess, to your final copy. She also talks about hiring editors and ghostwriters and at the end of the episode shares some tips for those listeners interested in writing memoirs. Allison's Links: www.sevendrafts.com www.rebirthyourbook.com Twitter/Instagram: @guerillamemoir

Curt helps entrepreneurs and wannapreneurs design, manifest, and grow their freedom businesses. For 25 years, he has counseled small businesses, entrepreneurs, as well as some of the largest corporations and associations in the country. He’s built three profitable businesses, including a 7-figure PR and ad agency. In this episode, Curt talks about his book, Five Pillars of the Freedom Lifestyle, and how he walked the walk by shutting down his business, selling his home, and traveling around the US and the world. If you’re an overworked entrepreneur trying to escape the comfort zone of misery, give it a listen. Curt's Links: http://linkedin.com/in/curtmercadante http://twitter.com/curtmercadante www.CurtMercadante.com

Matt Beaudreau is the founder of multiple Acton Academy campuses and author of Collaborative Homeschooling. He’s also the founder of Apogee and host of The Essential 11 Podcast, as well as an international keynote speaker. In this episode, Matt explains his philosophy of education and how he went from being a public school teacher to trying to find a better way to educate children and then discovering Acton Academy. Matt also talks about how, after becoming an Acton Academy founder, he wrote his book to explain his ideas around education to the parents whose children joined his program. Matt's Links: http://actonplacer.com/  http://apogeestrong.com/  https://www.actonacademyparents.com/   Instagram: @mattbeaudreau @apogeeprogram @actonplacer

James is the founder of Sweet Fish Media, a podcast agency for B2B brands, and Showcase, a SaaS product for podcasters. He's also the Executive Producer of two podcasts: B2B Growth & Young Married Christian. James published Content-Based Networking to show how you can use the content production process to connect with clients, partners, mentors, and others. For example, if you want to talk to the CEO of a large corporation, you could try to call them up and ask for an hour of their time, and you might get lucky...but no, you won’t. However, if you reach out and ask to interview them for your podcast, book, or article, your chances improve dramatically. In this episode, James talks about his author journey but also explains how authors can use content-based networking to create a better book and benefit from the book even while it’s still being written. James' Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescarbary/ https://twitter.com/sweetfishmedia  https://www.facebook.com/sweetfishmedia  https://www.instagram.com/sweetfishmedia/?hl=en

Kate is a “tech humanist” and the author of A Future so Bright as well as three other books. She speaks globally to audiences about how data and emerging technologies like AI are shaping the future of human experiences, and she’s addressed organizations like Google, IBM, Coca-Cola, Colgate, Cambridge, Yale, and audiences of world leaders at the United Nations. Among her prior roles, she was one of the first 100 employees at Netflix, created Toshiba's first Intranet, and led one of the first digital strategy and analytics agencies. In this episode, Kate talks about her inspiration for her books and how they boosted her career as a paid speaker. Also discussed: Whether AI will take over the world and enslave us all. Kate's Links: http://twitter.com/kateo http://linkedin.com/in/kateoneill http://koinsights.com/

Special Episode: Today's episode is about Ron Coury's recent memoir. We generally don't interview people about memoir-type books on the Published Author Podcast, but Ron's story is an interesting one and he has some great advice for anyone looking to publish a book. After retiring from the U.S. Marine Corp, Ron Coury became an entrepreneur in Las Vegas, but not the Vegas you know today—he was there when it was a small town, the “old” Las Vegas from movies like Goodfellas and Casino. Ron started over twenty businesses during his career and along the way dealt with death threats from competitors, political and police corruption, and fought esophageal cancer. In this episode, Ron talks about how he kept decades of notes for the day when he would write a book about his life and how he turned his life into a memoir that became a bestseller and received attention from multiple producers in Hollywood. Ron's Links: https://roncouryauthor.com/

Peri is the author of Leadership Flow: The Unstoppable Power of Connection. She’s also a coach, consultant, herbalist, and leadership educator. Working for years in the field of wilderness-based leadership, she ran her own leadership school in Colorado, as well as in South Africa and Bulgaria, and has worked with clients in private, governmental, and nonprofit sectors, including Disney Theatrical, USDA Forest Service, World Bank, Stanford Woods Institute, University of Chicago, and Renaissance Reinsurance. In this episode, Peri explains how the people she worked with kept asking her for more information on what she taught them, but there were no other resources she could direct them to. Finally, she decided to write the book herself. Peri's Links: https://medium.com/@perichickeringhttps://www.perichickering.comsilenttogether.com Twitter: @SilentTogether

Dave Chesson became an author as a way to spend more time with his family. As he developed expertise writing, publishing, and marketing books, he shared lessons learned on his Kindlepreneur.com website, which eventually became his main focus. In this episode, Dave shares his author journey, how he started Kindlepreneur, as well as some of his top tips about how to market your book on Amazon using Amazon Ads, editorial reviews, and more. Kindlepreneur is one of the most visited websites for self-publishing authors, so seriously, if you haven’t been there, go now. https://kindlepreneur.com/

How do you come up with the right idea for your book? How do you make sure that idea is irresistible? In this episode, Tamsen shares answers to those questions, taken from her book Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible. Her strategies and tactics are the same ones she’s used to work with organizations like Johnson & Johnson, Harvard Medical School, and Intel, and in her roles as the former Executive Producer and current Idea Strategist for TEDx Cambridge. Tamsen's Links: https://www.facebook.com/TamsenWebster/ http://linkedin.com/in/tamsenwebster https://www.twitter.com/tamadear https://medium.com/@TamsenWebster https://www.instagram.com/tamsenwebster/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCle4DE7JXWJc4J0YeFOIIKg

What will convince your customers to work with you, talking about their problems or about your solution? Ari Galper, the world’s top authority on trust-based selling, says it’s all about the problem. Think about it—if someone trusts you enough, you could say, “I’ve got the solution to your problem, let’s sign you up,” and you wouldn’t even need to tell them what the solution is. To build trust, talk about your customers’ problems. Now, apply this to the book you’re writing to grow your business—are you talking more about solutions or spending your time showing your customers that you understand their problems? Ari's Links: https://www.facebook.com/arigalperfans  https://www.linkedin.com/in/arigalper/  https://twitter.com/arigalper  www.unlockthegame.com 

While her new book, Selling Like We’re Human, isn’t about trademark issues, it was a trademark dispute the Swiss Sarah Santacroce got dragged into that led to the title. In this episode, you’ll hear how Sarah chose her first title and then had to rebrand her book, herself, and her business received a letter from a US-based trademark lawyer (those darn, litigious Americans!). Lesson #1—do a Google and trademark search for your book title or any special terms you want to use. However, once that story’s out of the way, Sarah tells us about what it means to sell like a human, and how she wrote a book full of permission slips for those who don’t like selling so they can sell a different, better way. You’ll also see how Sarah’s community helped her write her book, and how her book is helping her build her community. Links: Twitter LinkedIn sarahsantacroce.com

Bard Press only takes on one new book project per year, but when they do, they blow it out of the water with bestsellers like The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan or Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling. Bard Press is managed by Todd Sattersten and in this episode, he’ll talk about how his publishing company chooses who to work with and what any author can learn about writing a better book from their process. Todd's Links: https://www.instagram.com/toddsattersten/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddsattersten/  https://twitter.com/toddsattersten  https://bardpress.com