As a young girl, Lisa was a slow reader but knew she wanted to be a writer. A career in writing led to coaching others to write nonfiction, and today Lisa’s clients have been featured on Oprah, NPR, Today, Good Morning America, and scores of other media outlets.

Dorie Clark was fired by her first literary agent after every publisher she pitched turned her down and told her she needed “a platform.” Not one to back down, when the front door was slammed in her face, Dorie says, “I went in the window instead.”

Brant Cooper’s front-row seat to the dot-com boom and crash and subsequent experiences with startups led him to write a series of books to help entrepreneurs build more successful startups. More recently, he’s turned his attention to how startups prepare for the long term by making sure they survive the short term with his new book, Disruption Proof.

From the Air Force (with time in the First Gulf War and Bosnian War) to an MBA and then a PhD in Leadership, Dr. Tracey Jones has seen a lot, and written about what she’s learned in 10 books (and counting). In this episode she talks about her author journey to her latest book, SPARK: 5 Essentials to Ignite the Greatness Within, as well as what she’s learned about being an author from her time as President of the publishing company Tremendous Leadership. As the daughter of Charlie “Tremendous” Jones and having worked with authors like Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, and Ken Blanchard, you’ll find Tracey to be a wealth of wisdom for aspiring and current authors. www.tremendousleadership.comwww.traceycjones.com

Douglas Burdett isn’t an author, but he’s interviewed 274 of them. Douglas is the host of The Marketing Book Podcast, and in this episode we chat about the experiences he’s had and lessons he’s learned from talking to authors like Seth Godin, Mark Schaefer, Anne Janzer (see Ep. #5), and Jay Baer.  How valuable is going on podcasts to an author? (short answer = very) How can an author be a great podcast guest? What should an author not do when going on a podcast?

Les McKeown is the CEO of Predictable Success LLC. A renowned speaker, author and advisor on accelerated business growth, Les started over 40 companies in his own right, and has guided hundreds more worldwide.

A former kidnapping negotiator with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the ideal person to write a book on negotiating. After all, what could be more challenging than negotiating the life of a hostage?

Michael Zipursky is the co-founder and CEO of Consulting Success, a global leader in coaching and training entrepreneurs. In the past 20 years he’s worked with thousands of clients, and he’s the author of four bestselling books, including last year’s Act Now: How Successful Consultants Thrive During Chaos and Uncertainty.

Suhein Beck is the founder of ELAJ, a natural skincare company, and a bestselling author. She’s also a Syrian refugee, hosted an international talk show in the Mideast where she had to literally dodge bombs, has been involved in multiple FBI sting operations, and is now an American entrepreneur.

John Meese is the author of the new book Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy (Including This One). John is also the CEO of Cowork.Inc, Co-founder of Notable, and host of the Thrive School podcast. John is an economist-turned-entrepreneur on a mission to eradicate generational poverty by helping entrepreneurs create thriving businesses. He’s also the first member in his family to go to college.