today I’m going to talk about the 10
things that I did right and wrong
with my book launch what’s that believe
nation I’m excited to be here the book
has been out for a little bit we’ve
gotten some great reviews great
testimonials
it’s been amazing seen the results
people in getting by going through the
book and the audio book and ebook it’s
it’s been an awesome experience and I’ve
been thinking I’ve been thinking over
the past couple months what I did write
that really helped that really work and
what I did wrong so that one if I ever
write a book again I’ve learned a little
bit and – for those of you who are
thinking about writing the book these
may be some lessons that you can take to
avoid having some of the pitfalls that I
went through in launching my first book
so let’s start off with what I did right
the first thing was I fought for what I
wanted when I first talked to my agent
about this book he didn’t think it was
gonna be a book he thought it was a
workbook like a little tiny worksheet
thing and in my literary agent felt the
same way that it wasn’t really a full-on
book and I had to I had to fight for it
I had to prove to them that it was a
full book that this is the book right
like I wrote twice this amount right
this is 65,000 word something like that
and I and that’s a typical book I wrote
one hundred and twenty thousand words I
wrote two books worth of content because
there was so much in there that you
could potentially apply your one word to
and at the beginning they didn’t see it
and so I had to show them and I fought
for it and I think a lot of times at the
start you know you hear music this is
that quote about you hear in music and
so you dance and the people who can’t
hear the music think you’re crazy ready
to this person dance and you can’t hear
the music you think they’re crazy it’s
kind of like what’s kind of what
entrepreneurs are is what I was doing at
the start of this book process I had
this vision for what I wanted to do and
people around me thought it was crazy
and so talking about it more wouldn’t
help I had to show them and I was really
proud that I fought for what I wanted
because I’m really proud of the book
that that came out of it so if you’re
really convinced that your idea is a
good one and it has to be created fight
for it the second thing is I used a
structure that I wanted to I was really
adamant that
I hate reading books that have long long
long chapters it really bothers me right
most books have these crazy long
chapters and I would find myself reading
the same page over and over and over
again and I would find myself forgetting
where I left off and I hate closing a
book in the middle of a chapter because
then I forget what happened I want to
end it at the end of the chapter ended
on a bolded Paris something some clear
demarcation so I know where to pick up
the next time and so what I wanted to do
was be able to have a book where every
page was easy to read like the language
itself was easy to read but you could
pick it up at any point and exit at any
point and so if you look for those you
have the book you know I’m talking abut
see you like that there’s the end I
could stop there I could flip to the
next page right there’s another chapter
title at the start right like whatever
page you’re on there’s a clear point to
stop reading if you want like it flows
but there’s a clear point to stop
reading
I have quotes at the top of almost every
page and I like that format and at the
start again my publisher wasn’t a fan of
it and my way around that was just to
not tell them and just keep going with
it they wanted longer paragraphs longer
pages not have so many quotes at the top
and I just kept going baeksan to the
point where we got the deadline and it
was gonna be too late to change it and
again I’m so glad that I did that
because it’s been one of the things that
people like most about the book aside
from the content which is amazing right
people like that it’s easy to read and
then you can pick it up at any point and
there’s a lot of motivational quotes and
things are tie in a lot of practical
examples and so I’m really happy that I
stayed with the structure that I had in
my mind as well and this is generally a
good lesson if you’re frustrated with
something you know I was frustrated with
a typical reading experience
let me find an example like here’s an
example here’s something um somebody
gave me this book legendary book said it
changed their life a lot of people
talked about this book Atlas Shrugged
legendary book and I’ll and I load it
and it’s like look at look at this look
at that
it’s just thousand pages of intense
stuff and so I need to I need to prepare
myself to read this book and it’s only
because it became it came so highly
recommended that it’s even still sitting
on my shelf otherwise it’s crazy and so
if you’re frustrated with an experience
you’re frustrated with reading books
like that you’re frustrated with
anything that’s happening in your life
it creates an opportunity that’s what
entrepreneurs do right we solve problems
we see it a problem and instead of
complaining about it we find a solution
which is what I tried to do in the book
I was frustrated with the regular book
experience and so I created one that I
thought was a better one and thankfully
a lot of you guys agree the number three
thing I did right was I got a test
audience this was another surprising
really interesting thing that is not
done in the publishing industry so I
finished her manuscript at 120,000 words
and I said well how did we how do we
split test the titles and how do we
split tests the covered how do we split
test the content – to see right like in
the movie business they’ll make a movie
and then to put it in front of a test
audience and they’ll see what the
reaction was did people cry when you
wanted them to cry that people were they
yawning and fall asleep in the movie or
not and at what point did they enjoy not
enjoy when you’re looking at creating a
new product you go to a test audience
and you know here’s a new chocolate bar
I want to make okay let’s go sample it
and see what people think oh there’s too
much peanuts
oh the too much corns here whatever
right like you test it you test you test
the product and great products come when
you mix what you love doing with what
the market wants right this business
basics yes you have to love it yes you
have to see an opportunity yes you have
to create something from your soul and
at the same time the audience has to
like it
there has to be a need for it otherwise
you’re just in a hobby you’re doing
something that you love but nobody cares
about it so you’re just off on a hobby I
didn’t want this to be a hobby I wanted
this to have an impact and in the
publishing world there is no sampling
there is no test audience it’s just not
done which was surprising and so I said
okay I’m gonna make my own test audience
if that’s if if this isn’t part of the
system this isn’t part of the process
I’m gonna make it part of the process
because that’s how you launch high
success
product and so I got 30 people half of
whom were entrepreneurs and half of whom
were not entrepreneurs I felt like it
would do well with the entrepreneurs I
wasn’t sure if she’s so sure about the
nine entrepreneurs but it’s good to get
their feedback regardless and they gave
them the hundred twenty thousand word
manuscript and they went through it and
they you know I got it back after them
and they highlighted I kept track of who
highlighted what not so much concerned
about like this person’s individual
opinion but as a whole these 30 people
who reviewed it what were the most
highlighted passages what were the
comments that people liked the most were
what were some parts that people found
were really confusing and I took that to
take my hundred twenty thousand word
manuscript down to the sixty five
thousand words that we have today I cut
out the chapters that people didn’t
resonate with as much I added chapter
highlights from the people from the
quotes of people underlined the most
right knowing how people react to your
stuff can help you make a better product
and so I’m super glad that I went
through that exercise and also really
grateful to the 30 people who reviewed
it for me because they gave me a lot of
insanely valuable information that could
take the book from one hundred twenty
thousand words ten sixty five and my
agent wants to take that other you know
fifty five thousand words that we cut
out and turn that into a book like now
that’s not that’s not that that’s not a
book I’ll throw away that book if I’m
gonna do another book it’ll be something
totally different and I think that’s
part of being an entrepreneur too and
being good at what you do is you create
and throw away more than what most
people even try to make so many people
just sit there with an idea and do
nothing with it we’re the successful
entrepreneurs they try they try they try
to try they create they create decreed
they can be they’re prolific with their
creations and not everything is going to
hit and that’s okay and you take the
best and you keep moving forward with it
and the stuff that didn’t work it’s
great and I think it’s good to get into
the practice of creating and throwing
away more than most people will even
just create throw away more than most
people even try to create you will fail
your way to success and so I’m really
glad to have my test audience because
they gave me the critical information
and then also when I was going through
the back-and-forth with the editor and
the publisher to say hey keep this don’t
keep this I had data it’s not just my
opinion because they had opinions and
said ah we don’t like this or we like
this like well listen
we tested it here’s what people think
real live people who are entrepreneurs
and not Entrepreneurship we’re gonna
read the book here’s what they think and
we will use that test data to be able to
fight for the parts that I really wanted
to incorporate into the books it’s
really helpful the number four thing I
did right was I did it myself getting
into this industry I realized how many
books are not actually written by the
author
there’s ghost written with no credit
there audiobooks are read by somebody
else it’s just basically putting their
name on the front of a book and I
definitely had a team who helped me but
most of the parts that are in the book
and all of the parts that are like
opinion pieces it was me I wrote it I
wrote it it may have been edited it may
have been corrected grammatical issues
but I wrote it and it was one of the
actually the best things from the
editors was they were they went through
everything with a fine-tooth comb and
there’s actually still a few errors that
typos we found in the book but they went
through everything and corrected a lot
of the grammar which is great I’m super
grateful for that but I wrote it like
it’s my words it’s my content it’s my
meat and I think as a result the product
is better I remember I was picking up an
audiobook for a book I was really
excited to read I forget what it was and
then I found that the the person wasn’t
actually the person it was read by some
actor it’s great it’s nothing against
the actor it’s just not that’s not the
purse it’s not the guy I want to hear
from the guy and so when we talked about
doing the audiobook I insisted on doing
it now they wanted me which was good
most authors don’t want to put in the
work to do and like of course I’m gonna
do it I need to do it it’s my book it’s
my voice I need to get it out there and
so really I think doing it myself was a
super important part of the book success
and the number five thing I did right
was I also got a team as much as point
number four was it did it myself
I got a team for all the things that I
wasn’t good at or I wasn’t having a lot
of success at or I just needed help with
right so I have I had my two agents who
made sure that a deal happen and helped
me find the right publisher with penguin
Random House where we found the
publisher who cared who liked the
message who was on board who supported
the vision and that was important
because I don’t know if I would have
gotten that on my own and I didn’t want
to publish without a publisher I had
people who helped me with some of the
research on the book I think about all
of the
that are in the book and how many of
them Jason helped find for me and just
help be an amazing filter so I did have
to go and do all the research
one of my friends another entrepreneur
Jennifer helped me with a lot of the
interviews that I was doing the third
part of this book is me interviewing
people who were also living there one
word and also applied it to their
business and went from $50,000 full-time
income up to 150 million dollars in
revenue off of their one word and so
sitting down and interviewing them and
what I find is when I’m doing an
interview I’m either in the present and
with that person or I’m taking notes and
have a hard time doing both and so Jen
sat in with me on hours and hours and
hours of interview each one was three to
four hours at least she was taking the
notes and she asked a couple of great
questions too and then she compiled the
notes and put it together and it was
really helpful and so if if the words
weren’t my words right at the words war
Christopher Gavigan from the honest
company then she would write those words
and the words that were me I wrote which
is most of the book but super helpful
that we had that team the guys who are
on the audio side were paying so much
attention to the quality and the detail
and the audio book came out fantastic in
a way that I wouldn’t be able to do
myself and so I think it really
important to understand where it is that
you shine I want to come up with a
strategy working with the ideas I want
to write the content that’s coming from
my voice my opinions I want to be the
voice when we’re doing the audio
recording I want to be the guy on the
video this video bonuses of people who
bought the e-book I want to I want to be
that because that’s the most important
use of my time the other stuff I’m not
great at and we can get it done a lot
faster if I have people around me and so
I think that’s important to any
successful launch of any product I
understand what you’re really good at
and going all in on that and surround
yourself with people who can support you
in the other projects so those are the
five things I did right now let’s get to
the five things that I did wrong up
first is the bulk orders versus the 1 to
5 I really focused on bulk orders
because I was told to focus on bulk
orders right and I think you buy the one
but then you can also buy 10 and then 25
figure with the
packages were of books and one of the
bits of advice that came back from one
of the guys on my team was you should do
a package for two and a package for five
if you buy two books you get this you
buy five books and get this and the
advice came while we’re early into the
process and the website was pretty much
built with all the offers and and I
didn’t take it and I should have where I
think a lot of people jumping from one
book to ten books is a big jump but some
people would buy two books and if you
give them incentive to do it or buy five
books to give them an incentive to do it
they would and so most of the sales that
you end up making are going to be at the
lower end as opposed to people buying a
hundred books at a time and so giving
some kind of reward in the center for
somebody to buy one extra book or four
extra books could really make a
difference number two is the lead time
on the cover and on the creative so this
is something I did not anticipate one of
the things that I was really adamant on
was I wanted each page to be the end so
as I let me load up any page random page
oh I told this one works okay so you see
how here it’s at the top there’s a
header there’s a quote and then there’s
content and if I flip to the next page
it’s not right like it’s in the middle
oh where am I here it’s in the middle
and then there’s a quote and content and
then on this side is it’s in the middle
quote content I wanted it to be at the
top I wanted each page to be at the top
I wanted the deadline to be at the top
and then a quote and then each thing
underneath and we couldn’t make a work
it was either I’m so adamant about that
structure that I walk away from the deal
because with the timeline set up we
couldn’t make it work cuz I wasn’t using
the right template and I’m looking at
65,000 words having to rewrite and
reshift everything around it wouldn’t
work for the timelines and so that was
super frustrating also the cover I’m
actually not a huge fan of the cover was
the cover came really late in the
process I again not knowing this process
assumed that we’d have time to go back
and forth and work with different
designers and split test ideas and it’s
not as basically here’s the idea from
our
art department what do you think and the
only room is for a couple of minor
tweaks and improvements and then that’s
what you see what you go with it’s like
well we need an idea we need a final
version in two weeks it’s like if you
don’t have a designer if you don’t have
that you know that skill in-house to go
out and find somebody and get everything
done and get it approved we just ran out
of time
that was on me assuming that we would
have enough time I would seem that the
that the cover matters a cover is
important the cover we would spend a
good amount of time on now my publisher
loves the cover my agent loves the cover
I’m not a big fan of the cover but again
it’s one of those things do I want to
hold up the launch of this book because
of the cover like am I gonna walk away
from the deal because of the cover
no because the content inside is really
really good and if I did it again in
terms of another book I’d make sure I
have a lot of lead time I’d start
designing the cover from the beginning
to make sure that that art is just as
good as the content in the art that’s
inside the book I think it’s important
the number four thing I did wrong was
understanding the importance of the
credo the credo has become such an
important part of the process as I walk
people through it offline so the credo
is the three things that make up your
one words you got your one word and then
the three things that add clarity make
up the credo and so I have believed and
under believe there’s passion you know
believe in what you’re doing there’s
confidence which is believe in yourself
and is conviction which is believe that
it’s going to work out so believe the
one word breaks down into passion self
confidence and conviction and that is an
extremely valuable exercise for people
to go through and what I and it’s in the
book but it’s in the campaign section of
the book where I realize in talking to
people and going through the process
afterwards that really it should be part
of core because that understanding is
not just about marketing which is
campaign it’s about you it helps you
with your life and you make important
decisions and you live a better version
of what you want to do and so it’s
buried more into the campaign section
instead of being more upfront in the
credo so if I had to rewrite the content
that’s one thing that would really focus
on moving the Creed
earlier and making it more important
it’s something that I want people
through when I’m coaching them
individually the people on my team but
it’s not nearly important enough in the
book so for those of you who have it pay
extra special attention to the limited
pages on the Credo because it’s really
important and number five is under
estimating the importance on leadership
I don’t really talk about leadership in
this book I never really thought it I
thought of it as a leadership book it
was more as a self leadership book I
guess for you to manage yourself and
then people to build a team and hire the
right people but not how to lead people
with their one word and understand them
to be better and I’ve been getting a lot
of interviews a lot of requests a lot of
speaking opportunities around leadership
and it’s been so interesting how people
are using the book so we have you know
CEOs and entrepreneurs reading the book
and they think about their team and they
realize how my team should go through
this everybody should find their one
word and find their credo
and if I understand what their one word
is and I understand what their credo is
then I know how to push them to get the
best thing that they want so as an
example any organization will have goals
right we want to hit this amount in
revenue right we all have these common
goals that we’re shooting towards but
how we go and execute that and how we
motivate and push people will be
different so if our goal is to hit a
million dollars in revenue and I’ve got
somebody under me who they’re
responsible for driving that project
forward what’s their one word if their
one word is grit then I have to push
them around getting the work done and
not making excuses and let’s go go go go
if their one word is creativity then I
have to push them around coming up with
creative ideas I know that if I’m just
telling them exactly what to do somebody
who’s one whereas creativity is gonna
suffocate because they need to be
creative right we still have our goal of
what we want to accomplish but the path
to get there will change based on the
people that you have underneath you and
often what you’ll find is when you break
down the credo
there’s one part of that at least that
people are falling short of so if you
know self-confidence is part of
somebody’s credo and you see them not
being self-confident you’re given the
tools to help push them I believe a
leaders role is to take some
who you see has a lot of potential right
they could be up here that down here
right now your job is to help them close
the gap that’s your job as a leader is
to see potential and help close the gap
and so by understanding someone is one
word in their credo they’re giving you
the tools to help them because if you
think everybody thinks like you they
don’t if you think everybody has the
same values and credo is you they don’t
and so understanding that and not just
seeing everybody as you and everybody is
well here’s how I would solve it that’s
not gonna help everybody there’s gonna
be a ton of people who won’t be able to
solve the problem the exact same way you
do and that’s where leaders often mess
up that’s why a lot of you know you even
you look at in baseball some of the best
baseball hitters make terrible coaches
because they just try to teach people
how they do it where what you need to do
is understand them to teach them in a
way that makes sense to them and knowing
what their credo when their one word is
it’s giving you the tools and say this
is what I feel is important to me and so
when you see them falling short on those
things you know how to push them and
it’s not pushing them for you yes if
they do well it helps the company but
it’s pushing them for them they’ve told
you that this is important to them
they’ve told you creativity or believe
or confidence is important to them and
so when they’re not living up to their
own expectations you know how to push
them and so it’s been such an important
leadership tool and a lot of that stuff
isn’t in the book it almost makes sense
as a sequel although it’s not the next
book that I want to write so anyway I
wish that was somewhere in the book and
if I was rewriting it again I would
include that so those are the five
things I did write and the five things
that I did wrong that I would keep in
mind for the next time I write in the
book and hopefully you guys learn from
it as well let me jump to some of the
questions that came in recently from you
guys okay first up is replicant seventy
less you ever in your excitement is so
infectious i pre-ordered the copy
already so a study group format would
really enhance my experience of your
work also someone who is also super keen
to write a book of his own character in
your book publishing journey is mega
valuable to me could all the relevant
videos be bundled up into a book writing
tool box you so deserve your success for
all the value you are giving to so many
people around the world don’t ever leave
us my friend
lots of love in here really appreciate
it so we’re just finishing we just
finished
seven weeks of the book club I made the
book club which was a virtual hangout we
hung out once a week for an hour and
talked about different chapters is seven
chapters so each week was its own
hangout and I did that because I want
people to get it I want people to read
the book not just buy ten copies I have
them sit on your shelf like read it do
the exercises I want you to get value
it’s important to me that you read it
and apply it to your life and your
business and get results from it and not
just buy another book that does nothing
for you so that was a really exciting
process that we just finished last week
all of the videos that are around your
one word there is a playlist if you go
to the main channel and scroll down
there’s one of the playlists I think
it’s called your one word all the videos
that I’ve done that I’ve documented from
the beginning from the idea to the
writing to the excitement of launching
to the pains of negotiate and all the
problems that went through every week
does a new video that we have been
putting up for well I don’t know two
years is so there’s lots to learn I
would encourage you if you’re trying to
write your own book to go through that
experience and hopefully you’ll be able
to learn what it takes to write a book
with a major publisher that was the
intention to be able to document the
series and also have it as an
educational tool for everybody else
who’s writing the book and in terms of
leaving you you know I do the things
that I love doing and right now I still
love YouTube I still love making videos
it’s my favorite platforms people
connect with people and as long as I
love doing it as long as you guys are
enjoying it I will still be here next up
Luke William Evan how can I get a signed
copy of your book I just finished
listening in audibles and I’d love to
have a signed copy hashtag believe best
way to get a signed copy is to come to
Toronto and let’s meet and bring a copy
there’s been people who have had coffee
with and talked about their business
it’s been some people who just stopped
by you know what was that Toronto dance
also doing something else and just a
quick you know five minutes in the
hallway if you’re ever in the city you
want to visit one of the most beautiful
cities in the world and potentially meet
but I can’t guarantee that we’re gonna
be able to have time to grab a coffee
but at least for five minutes just to
maybe take a selfie and
sign the book I’d be happy to that’s the
best way otherwise if I’m on the road
I’m coming to LA and Orlando and Paris
you know if I’m ever in the city that
you’re in the best way there is if
you’re on my newsletter list I’ll email
the people in that city that I’m going
to and we usually find a way to meet up
if I have some extra time next up is
Nora Thank You Evan for the shout out I
really appreciate it I’m reading your
book still trying to figure out my one
word I’m between to explore and create
and it’s hard to find a common word
connecting them both any advice would be
greatly appreciated
this actually is common when people have
multiple words and they’re trying to
figure out how do we get it down to one
and I get that there’s a you want to get
it you want the sense of accomplishment
you want to rush to it and say here it
is here’s my goal I got it you know I
accomplished it as entrepreneurs we are
go getters I really encourage you to
take your time to figure it out this is
one of the most important exercises
you’re ever gonna do in your life and my
opinion understanding yourself having a
self-awareness and then building an
entire life and business around it it’s
important to spend the time to make sure
you get it done properly and I know that
may be hard to hear for us out you know
out and about go-getters but it’s also
important to to make sure that you have
the right one so when going through this
exercise I encourage people to look at
two things the first is see if one fits
under the other so you have create and
explore I talked about having the one
word and then the Credo underneath the
credo is the three things that help
define your one word believe’ equals
passion equals self-confidence equals
conviction that’s what it means to me
does one fit under the other so you’ve
explore and create could explore B or
one word and create is under it and you
have two others that are under explore
or could create be your one word and
explore is under it and you have two
more next to explore are the equal level
of importance or can one fit under the
other it’s a really important question
because once you start adding some
definition to it you can often realize
that this one helps me define the other
one and the other one is actually the
most important if there are equal
importance to you then I’d be looking at
okay what is one thing above it right I
use the example of my book of my father
who was going through
at heart was his one word but he didn’t
know it he ended up with he started with
he loves he cares about people
massively cares is just a genuine human
being and doesn’t like to see suffering
and he loves adventure motorcycles and
ziplining and fun adventure and so how
do those they’ll seem totally opposite I
mean at least create an explorer kind of
close his seemed totally opposite caring
and adventure seemed totally opposite
and would came down to his heart heart
is both hard is caring for people and
heart is going off and doing something
adventurous your heart gets pumping and
so that worked out for him so that’s a
little creative way to figure it out is
there something that can connect create
and explore at the surface it feels more
like the first one where one fits under
the other but at the end of the day this
is your one word this is who you are
this would be something that you love
and the more you sleep on it and the
more you think about it it’ll either
become more and more right or more and
more wrong if you doubt it more and more
and more and more than it’s wrong if you
like it more and more and more and more
then it’s right and so with time it’ll
add more clarity last stop is Anita I
missed it again we need some Calendar a
notification system please think of
something J rise and marvel put their
heads into this to go team I think this
was in relation to one of the live book
streams that I did I don’t know if I’m
doing anymore of the book live hangouts
we’ll see where it goes the book series
is something to play with now right it
was easy to talk about what I was doing
and then the book was finished and so it
became okay how am I gonna market the
book and then that came out and then the
book was launched and I did the live
hangouts and so now we’re into this
interesting phase where I’m thinking
what do I do with this book series I
love your feedback if you guys want to
put something in the comments below and
see how the series continues or maybe it
doesn’t and we do some other new series
in terms of notifications for any live
session the easiest way is one if you
subscribe obviously it’s easy you get
you get notified by email and two if you
click that bell you see a lot of
youtubers now singing I click the bell
you’ll get notifications we are think
about some other method you know either
from our website or newsletter or
something the major ones I’ll do on my
newsletter if it’s a big hangout on the
main channel I also have another channel
just for live hangouts and so if you
want more live stuff and you want to ask
me questions 101 that’s a great place to
subscribe to we’ll link it up and you
can head over there and subscribe and
then also Friday mornings I play League
of Legends on Twitch and I answer
questions and so if you have a question
you want hit me up live every Friday
morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern you could
jump on with other members of believe
nation you could chat you can help you
can watch me play League of Legends and
cheer me on as well as answer your
business questions to help you with your
one word or whatever else you’re facing
in your business so let’s say for now
guys it’s a long video but I wanted to
get my thoughts and help answer some
questions I learned a lot in this entire
process and I’m better armed with more
information for the next time through
again I would love your feedback and
thoughts and questions around the book
if you have any any questions you want
to share put it down in the comments and
I’ll answer you next week and also your
thoughts on what you want this series to
look like and how you want to continue
superweapon your feedback leave it down
below thank you guys so much I believe
in you I hope you continue to believe in
yourself and whatever your one word is
much love I’ll see you soon
things that I did right and wrong
with my book launch what’s that believe
nation I’m excited to be here the book
has been out for a little bit we’ve
gotten some great reviews great
testimonials
it’s been amazing seen the results
people in getting by going through the
book and the audio book and ebook it’s
it’s been an awesome experience and I’ve
been thinking I’ve been thinking over
the past couple months what I did write
that really helped that really work and
what I did wrong so that one if I ever
write a book again I’ve learned a little
bit and – for those of you who are
thinking about writing the book these
may be some lessons that you can take to
avoid having some of the pitfalls that I
went through in launching my first book
so let’s start off with what I did right
the first thing was I fought for what I
wanted when I first talked to my agent
about this book he didn’t think it was
gonna be a book he thought it was a
workbook like a little tiny worksheet
thing and in my literary agent felt the
same way that it wasn’t really a full-on
book and I had to I had to fight for it
I had to prove to them that it was a
full book that this is the book right
like I wrote twice this amount right
this is 65,000 word something like that
and I and that’s a typical book I wrote
one hundred and twenty thousand words I
wrote two books worth of content because
there was so much in there that you
could potentially apply your one word to
and at the beginning they didn’t see it
and so I had to show them and I fought
for it and I think a lot of times at the
start you know you hear music this is
that quote about you hear in music and
so you dance and the people who can’t
hear the music think you’re crazy ready
to this person dance and you can’t hear
the music you think they’re crazy it’s
kind of like what’s kind of what
entrepreneurs are is what I was doing at
the start of this book process I had
this vision for what I wanted to do and
people around me thought it was crazy
and so talking about it more wouldn’t
help I had to show them and I was really
proud that I fought for what I wanted
because I’m really proud of the book
that that came out of it so if you’re
really convinced that your idea is a
good one and it has to be created fight
for it the second thing is I used a
structure that I wanted to I was really
adamant that
I hate reading books that have long long
long chapters it really bothers me right
most books have these crazy long
chapters and I would find myself reading
the same page over and over and over
again and I would find myself forgetting
where I left off and I hate closing a
book in the middle of a chapter because
then I forget what happened I want to
end it at the end of the chapter ended
on a bolded Paris something some clear
demarcation so I know where to pick up
the next time and so what I wanted to do
was be able to have a book where every
page was easy to read like the language
itself was easy to read but you could
pick it up at any point and exit at any
point and so if you look for those you
have the book you know I’m talking abut
see you like that there’s the end I
could stop there I could flip to the
next page right there’s another chapter
title at the start right like whatever
page you’re on there’s a clear point to
stop reading if you want like it flows
but there’s a clear point to stop
reading
I have quotes at the top of almost every
page and I like that format and at the
start again my publisher wasn’t a fan of
it and my way around that was just to
not tell them and just keep going with
it they wanted longer paragraphs longer
pages not have so many quotes at the top
and I just kept going baeksan to the
point where we got the deadline and it
was gonna be too late to change it and
again I’m so glad that I did that
because it’s been one of the things that
people like most about the book aside
from the content which is amazing right
people like that it’s easy to read and
then you can pick it up at any point and
there’s a lot of motivational quotes and
things are tie in a lot of practical
examples and so I’m really happy that I
stayed with the structure that I had in
my mind as well and this is generally a
good lesson if you’re frustrated with
something you know I was frustrated with
a typical reading experience
let me find an example like here’s an
example here’s something um somebody
gave me this book legendary book said it
changed their life a lot of people
talked about this book Atlas Shrugged
legendary book and I’ll and I load it
and it’s like look at look at this look
at that
it’s just thousand pages of intense
stuff and so I need to I need to prepare
myself to read this book and it’s only
because it became it came so highly
recommended that it’s even still sitting
on my shelf otherwise it’s crazy and so
if you’re frustrated with an experience
you’re frustrated with reading books
like that you’re frustrated with
anything that’s happening in your life
it creates an opportunity that’s what
entrepreneurs do right we solve problems
we see it a problem and instead of
complaining about it we find a solution
which is what I tried to do in the book
I was frustrated with the regular book
experience and so I created one that I
thought was a better one and thankfully
a lot of you guys agree the number three
thing I did right was I got a test
audience this was another surprising
really interesting thing that is not
done in the publishing industry so I
finished her manuscript at 120,000 words
and I said well how did we how do we
split test the titles and how do we
split tests the covered how do we split
test the content – to see right like in
the movie business they’ll make a movie
and then to put it in front of a test
audience and they’ll see what the
reaction was did people cry when you
wanted them to cry that people were they
yawning and fall asleep in the movie or
not and at what point did they enjoy not
enjoy when you’re looking at creating a
new product you go to a test audience
and you know here’s a new chocolate bar
I want to make okay let’s go sample it
and see what people think oh there’s too
much peanuts
oh the too much corns here whatever
right like you test it you test you test
the product and great products come when
you mix what you love doing with what
the market wants right this business
basics yes you have to love it yes you
have to see an opportunity yes you have
to create something from your soul and
at the same time the audience has to
like it
there has to be a need for it otherwise
you’re just in a hobby you’re doing
something that you love but nobody cares
about it so you’re just off on a hobby I
didn’t want this to be a hobby I wanted
this to have an impact and in the
publishing world there is no sampling
there is no test audience it’s just not
done which was surprising and so I said
okay I’m gonna make my own test audience
if that’s if if this isn’t part of the
system this isn’t part of the process
I’m gonna make it part of the process
because that’s how you launch high
success
product and so I got 30 people half of
whom were entrepreneurs and half of whom
were not entrepreneurs I felt like it
would do well with the entrepreneurs I
wasn’t sure if she’s so sure about the
nine entrepreneurs but it’s good to get
their feedback regardless and they gave
them the hundred twenty thousand word
manuscript and they went through it and
they you know I got it back after them
and they highlighted I kept track of who
highlighted what not so much concerned
about like this person’s individual
opinion but as a whole these 30 people
who reviewed it what were the most
highlighted passages what were the
comments that people liked the most were
what were some parts that people found
were really confusing and I took that to
take my hundred twenty thousand word
manuscript down to the sixty five
thousand words that we have today I cut
out the chapters that people didn’t
resonate with as much I added chapter
highlights from the people from the
quotes of people underlined the most
right knowing how people react to your
stuff can help you make a better product
and so I’m super glad that I went
through that exercise and also really
grateful to the 30 people who reviewed
it for me because they gave me a lot of
insanely valuable information that could
take the book from one hundred twenty
thousand words ten sixty five and my
agent wants to take that other you know
fifty five thousand words that we cut
out and turn that into a book like now
that’s not that’s not that that’s not a
book I’ll throw away that book if I’m
gonna do another book it’ll be something
totally different and I think that’s
part of being an entrepreneur too and
being good at what you do is you create
and throw away more than what most
people even try to make so many people
just sit there with an idea and do
nothing with it we’re the successful
entrepreneurs they try they try they try
to try they create they create decreed
they can be they’re prolific with their
creations and not everything is going to
hit and that’s okay and you take the
best and you keep moving forward with it
and the stuff that didn’t work it’s
great and I think it’s good to get into
the practice of creating and throwing
away more than most people will even
just create throw away more than most
people even try to create you will fail
your way to success and so I’m really
glad to have my test audience because
they gave me the critical information
and then also when I was going through
the back-and-forth with the editor and
the publisher to say hey keep this don’t
keep this I had data it’s not just my
opinion because they had opinions and
said ah we don’t like this or we like
this like well listen
we tested it here’s what people think
real live people who are entrepreneurs
and not Entrepreneurship we’re gonna
read the book here’s what they think and
we will use that test data to be able to
fight for the parts that I really wanted
to incorporate into the books it’s
really helpful the number four thing I
did right was I did it myself getting
into this industry I realized how many
books are not actually written by the
author
there’s ghost written with no credit
there audiobooks are read by somebody
else it’s just basically putting their
name on the front of a book and I
definitely had a team who helped me but
most of the parts that are in the book
and all of the parts that are like
opinion pieces it was me I wrote it I
wrote it it may have been edited it may
have been corrected grammatical issues
but I wrote it and it was one of the
actually the best things from the
editors was they were they went through
everything with a fine-tooth comb and
there’s actually still a few errors that
typos we found in the book but they went
through everything and corrected a lot
of the grammar which is great I’m super
grateful for that but I wrote it like
it’s my words it’s my content it’s my
meat and I think as a result the product
is better I remember I was picking up an
audiobook for a book I was really
excited to read I forget what it was and
then I found that the the person wasn’t
actually the person it was read by some
actor it’s great it’s nothing against
the actor it’s just not that’s not the
purse it’s not the guy I want to hear
from the guy and so when we talked about
doing the audiobook I insisted on doing
it now they wanted me which was good
most authors don’t want to put in the
work to do and like of course I’m gonna
do it I need to do it it’s my book it’s
my voice I need to get it out there and
so really I think doing it myself was a
super important part of the book success
and the number five thing I did right
was I also got a team as much as point
number four was it did it myself
I got a team for all the things that I
wasn’t good at or I wasn’t having a lot
of success at or I just needed help with
right so I have I had my two agents who
made sure that a deal happen and helped
me find the right publisher with penguin
Random House where we found the
publisher who cared who liked the
message who was on board who supported
the vision and that was important
because I don’t know if I would have
gotten that on my own and I didn’t want
to publish without a publisher I had
people who helped me with some of the
research on the book I think about all
of the
that are in the book and how many of
them Jason helped find for me and just
help be an amazing filter so I did have
to go and do all the research
one of my friends another entrepreneur
Jennifer helped me with a lot of the
interviews that I was doing the third
part of this book is me interviewing
people who were also living there one
word and also applied it to their
business and went from $50,000 full-time
income up to 150 million dollars in
revenue off of their one word and so
sitting down and interviewing them and
what I find is when I’m doing an
interview I’m either in the present and
with that person or I’m taking notes and
have a hard time doing both and so Jen
sat in with me on hours and hours and
hours of interview each one was three to
four hours at least she was taking the
notes and she asked a couple of great
questions too and then she compiled the
notes and put it together and it was
really helpful and so if if the words
weren’t my words right at the words war
Christopher Gavigan from the honest
company then she would write those words
and the words that were me I wrote which
is most of the book but super helpful
that we had that team the guys who are
on the audio side were paying so much
attention to the quality and the detail
and the audio book came out fantastic in
a way that I wouldn’t be able to do
myself and so I think it really
important to understand where it is that
you shine I want to come up with a
strategy working with the ideas I want
to write the content that’s coming from
my voice my opinions I want to be the
voice when we’re doing the audio
recording I want to be the guy on the
video this video bonuses of people who
bought the e-book I want to I want to be
that because that’s the most important
use of my time the other stuff I’m not
great at and we can get it done a lot
faster if I have people around me and so
I think that’s important to any
successful launch of any product I
understand what you’re really good at
and going all in on that and surround
yourself with people who can support you
in the other projects so those are the
five things I did right now let’s get to
the five things that I did wrong up
first is the bulk orders versus the 1 to
5 I really focused on bulk orders
because I was told to focus on bulk
orders right and I think you buy the one
but then you can also buy 10 and then 25
figure with the
packages were of books and one of the
bits of advice that came back from one
of the guys on my team was you should do
a package for two and a package for five
if you buy two books you get this you
buy five books and get this and the
advice came while we’re early into the
process and the website was pretty much
built with all the offers and and I
didn’t take it and I should have where I
think a lot of people jumping from one
book to ten books is a big jump but some
people would buy two books and if you
give them incentive to do it or buy five
books to give them an incentive to do it
they would and so most of the sales that
you end up making are going to be at the
lower end as opposed to people buying a
hundred books at a time and so giving
some kind of reward in the center for
somebody to buy one extra book or four
extra books could really make a
difference number two is the lead time
on the cover and on the creative so this
is something I did not anticipate one of
the things that I was really adamant on
was I wanted each page to be the end so
as I let me load up any page random page
oh I told this one works okay so you see
how here it’s at the top there’s a
header there’s a quote and then there’s
content and if I flip to the next page
it’s not right like it’s in the middle
oh where am I here it’s in the middle
and then there’s a quote and content and
then on this side is it’s in the middle
quote content I wanted it to be at the
top I wanted each page to be at the top
I wanted the deadline to be at the top
and then a quote and then each thing
underneath and we couldn’t make a work
it was either I’m so adamant about that
structure that I walk away from the deal
because with the timeline set up we
couldn’t make it work cuz I wasn’t using
the right template and I’m looking at
65,000 words having to rewrite and
reshift everything around it wouldn’t
work for the timelines and so that was
super frustrating also the cover I’m
actually not a huge fan of the cover was
the cover came really late in the
process I again not knowing this process
assumed that we’d have time to go back
and forth and work with different
designers and split test ideas and it’s
not as basically here’s the idea from
our
art department what do you think and the
only room is for a couple of minor
tweaks and improvements and then that’s
what you see what you go with it’s like
well we need an idea we need a final
version in two weeks it’s like if you
don’t have a designer if you don’t have
that you know that skill in-house to go
out and find somebody and get everything
done and get it approved we just ran out
of time
that was on me assuming that we would
have enough time I would seem that the
that the cover matters a cover is
important the cover we would spend a
good amount of time on now my publisher
loves the cover my agent loves the cover
I’m not a big fan of the cover but again
it’s one of those things do I want to
hold up the launch of this book because
of the cover like am I gonna walk away
from the deal because of the cover
no because the content inside is really
really good and if I did it again in
terms of another book I’d make sure I
have a lot of lead time I’d start
designing the cover from the beginning
to make sure that that art is just as
good as the content in the art that’s
inside the book I think it’s important
the number four thing I did wrong was
understanding the importance of the
credo the credo has become such an
important part of the process as I walk
people through it offline so the credo
is the three things that make up your
one words you got your one word and then
the three things that add clarity make
up the credo and so I have believed and
under believe there’s passion you know
believe in what you’re doing there’s
confidence which is believe in yourself
and is conviction which is believe that
it’s going to work out so believe the
one word breaks down into passion self
confidence and conviction and that is an
extremely valuable exercise for people
to go through and what I and it’s in the
book but it’s in the campaign section of
the book where I realize in talking to
people and going through the process
afterwards that really it should be part
of core because that understanding is
not just about marketing which is
campaign it’s about you it helps you
with your life and you make important
decisions and you live a better version
of what you want to do and so it’s
buried more into the campaign section
instead of being more upfront in the
credo so if I had to rewrite the content
that’s one thing that would really focus
on moving the Creed
earlier and making it more important
it’s something that I want people
through when I’m coaching them
individually the people on my team but
it’s not nearly important enough in the
book so for those of you who have it pay
extra special attention to the limited
pages on the Credo because it’s really
important and number five is under
estimating the importance on leadership
I don’t really talk about leadership in
this book I never really thought it I
thought of it as a leadership book it
was more as a self leadership book I
guess for you to manage yourself and
then people to build a team and hire the
right people but not how to lead people
with their one word and understand them
to be better and I’ve been getting a lot
of interviews a lot of requests a lot of
speaking opportunities around leadership
and it’s been so interesting how people
are using the book so we have you know
CEOs and entrepreneurs reading the book
and they think about their team and they
realize how my team should go through
this everybody should find their one
word and find their credo
and if I understand what their one word
is and I understand what their credo is
then I know how to push them to get the
best thing that they want so as an
example any organization will have goals
right we want to hit this amount in
revenue right we all have these common
goals that we’re shooting towards but
how we go and execute that and how we
motivate and push people will be
different so if our goal is to hit a
million dollars in revenue and I’ve got
somebody under me who they’re
responsible for driving that project
forward what’s their one word if their
one word is grit then I have to push
them around getting the work done and
not making excuses and let’s go go go go
if their one word is creativity then I
have to push them around coming up with
creative ideas I know that if I’m just
telling them exactly what to do somebody
who’s one whereas creativity is gonna
suffocate because they need to be
creative right we still have our goal of
what we want to accomplish but the path
to get there will change based on the
people that you have underneath you and
often what you’ll find is when you break
down the credo
there’s one part of that at least that
people are falling short of so if you
know self-confidence is part of
somebody’s credo and you see them not
being self-confident you’re given the
tools to help push them I believe a
leaders role is to take some
who you see has a lot of potential right
they could be up here that down here
right now your job is to help them close
the gap that’s your job as a leader is
to see potential and help close the gap
and so by understanding someone is one
word in their credo they’re giving you
the tools to help them because if you
think everybody thinks like you they
don’t if you think everybody has the
same values and credo is you they don’t
and so understanding that and not just
seeing everybody as you and everybody is
well here’s how I would solve it that’s
not gonna help everybody there’s gonna
be a ton of people who won’t be able to
solve the problem the exact same way you
do and that’s where leaders often mess
up that’s why a lot of you know you even
you look at in baseball some of the best
baseball hitters make terrible coaches
because they just try to teach people
how they do it where what you need to do
is understand them to teach them in a
way that makes sense to them and knowing
what their credo when their one word is
it’s giving you the tools and say this
is what I feel is important to me and so
when you see them falling short on those
things you know how to push them and
it’s not pushing them for you yes if
they do well it helps the company but
it’s pushing them for them they’ve told
you that this is important to them
they’ve told you creativity or believe
or confidence is important to them and
so when they’re not living up to their
own expectations you know how to push
them and so it’s been such an important
leadership tool and a lot of that stuff
isn’t in the book it almost makes sense
as a sequel although it’s not the next
book that I want to write so anyway I
wish that was somewhere in the book and
if I was rewriting it again I would
include that so those are the five
things I did write and the five things
that I did wrong that I would keep in
mind for the next time I write in the
book and hopefully you guys learn from
it as well let me jump to some of the
questions that came in recently from you
guys okay first up is replicant seventy
less you ever in your excitement is so
infectious i pre-ordered the copy
already so a study group format would
really enhance my experience of your
work also someone who is also super keen
to write a book of his own character in
your book publishing journey is mega
valuable to me could all the relevant
videos be bundled up into a book writing
tool box you so deserve your success for
all the value you are giving to so many
people around the world don’t ever leave
us my friend
lots of love in here really appreciate
it so we’re just finishing we just
finished
seven weeks of the book club I made the
book club which was a virtual hangout we
hung out once a week for an hour and
talked about different chapters is seven
chapters so each week was its own
hangout and I did that because I want
people to get it I want people to read
the book not just buy ten copies I have
them sit on your shelf like read it do
the exercises I want you to get value
it’s important to me that you read it
and apply it to your life and your
business and get results from it and not
just buy another book that does nothing
for you so that was a really exciting
process that we just finished last week
all of the videos that are around your
one word there is a playlist if you go
to the main channel and scroll down
there’s one of the playlists I think
it’s called your one word all the videos
that I’ve done that I’ve documented from
the beginning from the idea to the
writing to the excitement of launching
to the pains of negotiate and all the
problems that went through every week
does a new video that we have been
putting up for well I don’t know two
years is so there’s lots to learn I
would encourage you if you’re trying to
write your own book to go through that
experience and hopefully you’ll be able
to learn what it takes to write a book
with a major publisher that was the
intention to be able to document the
series and also have it as an
educational tool for everybody else
who’s writing the book and in terms of
leaving you you know I do the things
that I love doing and right now I still
love YouTube I still love making videos
it’s my favorite platforms people
connect with people and as long as I
love doing it as long as you guys are
enjoying it I will still be here next up
Luke William Evan how can I get a signed
copy of your book I just finished
listening in audibles and I’d love to
have a signed copy hashtag believe best
way to get a signed copy is to come to
Toronto and let’s meet and bring a copy
there’s been people who have had coffee
with and talked about their business
it’s been some people who just stopped
by you know what was that Toronto dance
also doing something else and just a
quick you know five minutes in the
hallway if you’re ever in the city you
want to visit one of the most beautiful
cities in the world and potentially meet
but I can’t guarantee that we’re gonna
be able to have time to grab a coffee
but at least for five minutes just to
maybe take a selfie and
sign the book I’d be happy to that’s the
best way otherwise if I’m on the road
I’m coming to LA and Orlando and Paris
you know if I’m ever in the city that
you’re in the best way there is if
you’re on my newsletter list I’ll email
the people in that city that I’m going
to and we usually find a way to meet up
if I have some extra time next up is
Nora Thank You Evan for the shout out I
really appreciate it I’m reading your
book still trying to figure out my one
word I’m between to explore and create
and it’s hard to find a common word
connecting them both any advice would be
greatly appreciated
this actually is common when people have
multiple words and they’re trying to
figure out how do we get it down to one
and I get that there’s a you want to get
it you want the sense of accomplishment
you want to rush to it and say here it
is here’s my goal I got it you know I
accomplished it as entrepreneurs we are
go getters I really encourage you to
take your time to figure it out this is
one of the most important exercises
you’re ever gonna do in your life and my
opinion understanding yourself having a
self-awareness and then building an
entire life and business around it it’s
important to spend the time to make sure
you get it done properly and I know that
may be hard to hear for us out you know
out and about go-getters but it’s also
important to to make sure that you have
the right one so when going through this
exercise I encourage people to look at
two things the first is see if one fits
under the other so you have create and
explore I talked about having the one
word and then the Credo underneath the
credo is the three things that help
define your one word believe’ equals
passion equals self-confidence equals
conviction that’s what it means to me
does one fit under the other so you’ve
explore and create could explore B or
one word and create is under it and you
have two others that are under explore
or could create be your one word and
explore is under it and you have two
more next to explore are the equal level
of importance or can one fit under the
other it’s a really important question
because once you start adding some
definition to it you can often realize
that this one helps me define the other
one and the other one is actually the
most important if there are equal
importance to you then I’d be looking at
okay what is one thing above it right I
use the example of my book of my father
who was going through
at heart was his one word but he didn’t
know it he ended up with he started with
he loves he cares about people
massively cares is just a genuine human
being and doesn’t like to see suffering
and he loves adventure motorcycles and
ziplining and fun adventure and so how
do those they’ll seem totally opposite I
mean at least create an explorer kind of
close his seemed totally opposite caring
and adventure seemed totally opposite
and would came down to his heart heart
is both hard is caring for people and
heart is going off and doing something
adventurous your heart gets pumping and
so that worked out for him so that’s a
little creative way to figure it out is
there something that can connect create
and explore at the surface it feels more
like the first one where one fits under
the other but at the end of the day this
is your one word this is who you are
this would be something that you love
and the more you sleep on it and the
more you think about it it’ll either
become more and more right or more and
more wrong if you doubt it more and more
and more and more than it’s wrong if you
like it more and more and more and more
then it’s right and so with time it’ll
add more clarity last stop is Anita I
missed it again we need some Calendar a
notification system please think of
something J rise and marvel put their
heads into this to go team I think this
was in relation to one of the live book
streams that I did I don’t know if I’m
doing anymore of the book live hangouts
we’ll see where it goes the book series
is something to play with now right it
was easy to talk about what I was doing
and then the book was finished and so it
became okay how am I gonna market the
book and then that came out and then the
book was launched and I did the live
hangouts and so now we’re into this
interesting phase where I’m thinking
what do I do with this book series I
love your feedback if you guys want to
put something in the comments below and
see how the series continues or maybe it
doesn’t and we do some other new series
in terms of notifications for any live
session the easiest way is one if you
subscribe obviously it’s easy you get
you get notified by email and two if you
click that bell you see a lot of
youtubers now singing I click the bell
you’ll get notifications we are think
about some other method you know either
from our website or newsletter or
something the major ones I’ll do on my
newsletter if it’s a big hangout on the
main channel I also have another channel
just for live hangouts and so if you
want more live stuff and you want to ask
me questions 101 that’s a great place to
subscribe to we’ll link it up and you
can head over there and subscribe and
then also Friday mornings I play League
of Legends on Twitch and I answer
questions and so if you have a question
you want hit me up live every Friday
morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern you could
jump on with other members of believe
nation you could chat you can help you
can watch me play League of Legends and
cheer me on as well as answer your
business questions to help you with your
one word or whatever else you’re facing
in your business so let’s say for now
guys it’s a long video but I wanted to
get my thoughts and help answer some
questions I learned a lot in this entire
process and I’m better armed with more
information for the next time through
again I would love your feedback and
thoughts and questions around the book
if you have any any questions you want
to share put it down in the comments and
I’ll answer you next week and also your
thoughts on what you want this series to
look like and how you want to continue
superweapon your feedback leave it down
below thank you guys so much I believe
in you I hope you continue to believe in
yourself and whatever your one word is
much love I’ll see you soon
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