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Steve Chou is a service provider, blogger, podcaster, and coach. He’s now additionally a e book writer with the discharge in Could of “The Household First Entrepreneur,” his HarperCollins title on enterprise, freedom, and priorities.
That is Chou’s third look on the podcast. In 2020 he discussed Bumblebee Linens, his osCommerce retailer. In 2022 he described his desire for frugal dwelling regardless of having achieved monetary success.
On this interview, Chou addresses the method of publishing and selling his e book, now a Wall Road Journal bestseller. Your entire audio of our dialog is embedded under. The transcript is edited for size and readability.
Eric Bandholz: Inform us about your e book.
Steve Chou: It’s referred to as “The Household First Entrepreneur.” It’s about my values and prioritizing life in order that the enterprise doesn’t run you, and you’ve got the liberty to do no matter you need and spend time with who you need.
It’s all the time been a bucket-list merchandise to put in writing a e book. That’s largely why I did it. It’s not a cash play. I dreamed of taking my youngsters to a Barnes & Noble and displaying my e book on the shelf. I did that two weeks in the past.
By way of enterprise and technique, hitting a bestseller record immediately provides credibility. Exterior of that, it’s a fairly good lead generator for anything you do. When you promote a course, digital product, or membership, people can discover you that means. It’s a low-cost means for them to be taught extra about your work.
I acquired a e book deal, so I used to be given an advance. The method took a yr. I put collectively a proposal, which was round 50 pages. It had projections on what number of books I may promote. It had a top level view of the e book and included a pattern chapter. It was a variety of work to place that factor collectively.
I had interviewed many bestselling authors on my podcast, so I hit them up and requested how I may get a e book deal. Considered one of my buddies, Jeff Goins, was dabbling with a book-in-a-box service, primarily a e book marketing consultant. I employed him, and he coached me by way of the complete course of.
I needed to go the historically printed route — primarily for ego causes. I pitched to eight to 10 publishers equivalent to Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Penguin. You hop on a Zoom name, meet the personnel there, and see in the event you get alongside. You then set a date when all of the publishers bid on what to pay you prematurely to put in writing the e book. You have a look at all of the affords and choose one. I went with HarperCollins — they gave a six-figure advance, which was the best.
I get a 15% minimize on exhausting copy gross sales and 25% for ebooks and Audible. I received’t make greater than the six-figure advance till the gross sales exceed that quantity, which might be tens of hundreds of books.
When you’re doing it for the cash, self-publishing is greatest since you get to maintain all of the proceeds. Once you go historically printed, that carries with it some status. Plus, it’s a lot simpler to hit a bestseller record.
The publishing enterprise is like enterprise capital. Publishers put money into a bunch of writers, they usually want just one James Clear [“Atomic Habits”] or one Mark Manson [“The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”] to make their enterprise for the following 10 years. “Atomic Habits” sells round 22,000 copies each week. It’s inconceivable to knock that man off The Wall Road Journal’s bestselling enterprise books record.
Bandholz: How does somebody produce the following “Atomic Habits”?
Chou: Step one is the launch. You need to promote a bunch of books shortly to hit a bestseller record. I had a three-prong assault. I reached out to people who had sponsored me and requested them to do a bulk e book purchase for his or her viewers. In the end, you must get books into the fingers of actual individuals. If you wish to promote hundreds of books by launch, you will have an enormous viewers or leverage others. Lots of the books I offered had been from contacts who purchased in bulk and distributed them totally free to their viewers.
My e book launch coach suggested me to go on 200 podcasts. I requested him what the most important bang for my buck could be with out sacrificing 200 hours of my time, and he advised me to do a variety of good bonuses for my very own viewers, get firms to do bulk buys, after which go on not less than the heavy-hitting podcasts — the ten or 20 which have gigantic audiences. That’s primarily what I did.
I interviewed as lots of the large podcasters by myself podcast as attainable and promoted the heck out of something they needed to promote. When it got here time for my e book to launch, I hit up all of them and stated, “Hey, keep in mind me? I used to be questioning in the event you’d be prepared to have me in your present. I’ve a e book popping out.” Nearly all of them stated sure. It’s a networking play.
The majority buys and bonuses ended up transferring essentially the most books. I provided three bonuses with the acquisition of the e book. One was a three-day workshop on how one can get began with print-on-demand, which I contemplate a gateway to ecommerce. Then I had a two-day seminar on how one can get began and generate income with running a blog, YouTube-ing, and podcasting, that are three issues I do. Then I provided a six-week “Household First” problem, the place I stay stream in a personal Fb group to assist everybody with their facet hustles.
When you go the historically printed route, you will need to have an viewers. You received’t get a e book deal until you will have a following, whether or not it’s on YouTube or podcasting, when you have an in depth electronic mail record. After I utilized, I believe my YouTube channel was nonetheless fairly small. I believe it was 90,000 subscribers. I had been podcasting for a very long time. I had an electronic mail record of 100,000, plus my weblog.
Bandholz: Listeners may recall your two companies. Bumblebee is a web-based retailer promoting handkerchiefs. My Spouse Stop Her Job is a media and coaching website. Have you ever seen a gross sales elevate with these?
Chou: Positively for My Spouse Stop Her Job. For Bumblebee, I don’t suppose so. We promote handkerchiefs. What are the possibilities that somebody desires a handkerchief? Fairly low.
I plan on making the e book a part of my general advertising and marketing technique as a result of I’ve a singular message in comparison with all the opposite make-money-online guys. It’s a strategy to differentiate myself, and having made The Wall Road Journal bestseller record provides credibility to every thing I do.
I need to keep on that record for the long term. Nevertheless it takes time. I should go on a variety of podcasts and make individuals conscious of my e book, and hopefully, down the road, it turns into a family e book, like “The 4-Hour Workweek” or “Wealthy Dad Poor Dad.”
Bandholz: The place can individuals purchase your e book?
Chou: Go to TheFamilyFirstEntrepreneur.com. To be taught extra about what I do, go to MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. If you’re getting married, I’ll hook you up with some handkerchiefs at BumblebeeLinens.com.
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