June 28, 2022

105: “Don’t write the wrong book!” with David Moldawer (Part Two)

44 minutes

Are you winding down the path of writing the wrong book? What does it take to create a marketing tipping point? What separates good books from platform books? Make sure you listen to part one of this conversation first, then dive into part two of this conversation with “bookitect” David Moldawer.

More About David: David Moldawer spent over a decade as a book editor at a slew of New York publishing houses including St. Martin’s Press, McGraw-Hill, and Penguin, acquiring and editing bestselling nonfiction in the areas of business, technology, health, and memoir. Today, he’s an independent writer and editor. He also writes the Maven Game, a newsletter for experts, authors, publishers, and agents on making ideas and knowledge public—writing, speaking, sharing—without hating yourself in the morning.

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

Most books fail, and most people don’t read books—but it’s much more useful to think about what would happen if your book is wildly successful.

If you had a smart friend who wrote to you and said, “I know you’re an expert on XYZ, can you explain this to me?” You would do so clearly and directly. That is the kind of energy that should go into writing a non-fiction book.

There’s a difference between a platform book and a good book; if you have a slow-build book, it’s like a marathon — pace yourself accordingly.

📝 Permission: To build an audience in ways that resonate with you; go all-in on one or two platforms that energize you, and ditch the rest of the “shiny (social) shoulds”!

✅ Do (or Delegate) This Next: If you didn’t do this after listening to part one, create an idea capture file. I use Notion for this - check out the Loom walkthrough here, and the full Author Toolkit here »

📘Books Mentioned:

Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business

Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

Life After College

Girl Wash Your Face

Perennial Seller

The Personal MBA

Atomic Habits

The Tipping Point

Exactly What to Say

Books by 37 Signals co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

🔗Resources Mentioned:

David on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn

Newsletter: The Maven Game

Jenny’s Author Toolkit (including the book marketing spreadsheet)

MBS’s article on selling over 100,000 copies of The Coaching Habit

Video: Exactly How to Sell 1 Million Books (Phil M. Jones)

Chandler Bolt’s Self-Publishing School podcast

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

036: Shaping Big Ideas — Notion Walkthrough #2

012: Generating Personal MBA Momentum with Josh Kaufman

038: Tracking Progress Toward Finishing a Book (or Big Idea) with an Essay Tracker — Notion Walkthrough #3

057: You 2.0 with MBS

💻 Access Free Time episode transcripts on Podscribe »

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By Jenny Blake

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