Authors Who Lead - Learn to write a book from bestselling authors and leaders

Send us Fan MailTal Gur is a nomad and avid goal seeker.  Around a decade ago, he made a decision to pursue every big dream to live life on his own terms. He wrote a bucket list of 100 life goals - from Ironman triathlon, to non-stop travel, to become financially free - and gave himself exactly 10 years to achieve them all. Little did I know that that night would change the course of my his life.  Through relentless focus, Tal traded his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, as a location-independent entrepreneur and coach. He tackled financial, physical, and spiritual dreams one by one: mastering English in pulsing Melbourne, completing Ironman New Zealand, creating financial independence, surfing at the world’s most sought-after beaches, and rebuilding a Peruvian family’s flood-ravaged home, among other adventures. Tal shares not only his journey but how the book was a celebration of this journey.   

Send us Fan MailScott A. Huesing is a retired United States Marine Corps Infantry Major with 24 years of honorable service, both enlisted and as a commissioned officer. His book, Echo in Ramadi,  is a ten-month snapshot in time that changed the face of operations on the battlefield; a captivating story of Echo Company, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines during the Second Battle of Ramadi in support of the Multi-National Forces (MNF) Surge Strategy in 2006. His true-life account provides keen insights into what may be an unfamiliar world to readers, but very familiar to those, like Scott, who lived it and endured this historic fight. Echo in Ramadi was written to honor the sacrifices and spirit of his Marines and the families they supported – it is his tribute to them and his honor to tell this great story. Readers will feel the pain, emotion, laughter, intensity, and friction that Scott describes in unvarnished detail. Scott shares the struggles he had writing his book and how he overcame having his computer stolen which had his only copy of his first draft of the book. He also talks about how his book was picked up by a traditional publisher and the importance of reaching out when writing a book  Scott and I first connected because of a mutual friend and guest on episode 08 Major (ret.) Joshua Mantz the author of The Beauty of a Darker Soul a fellow veteran who made a huge impact with his book on several veteran authors. You will love this episode.    

Send us Fan MailScott is an unlikely fiction writer, he is a physics teacher who loves literature. He started writing short stories and quickly went to writing novels. His first book The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko was an award-wining breakout novel was published and he is working on his second. In this interview, he discusses how he finds his ideas, writes his books and how he landed a publishing contract for his first book.    Scott Stambach lives in San Diego where he teaches physics at High Tech High Media Arts. He also collaborates with Science for Monks, a group of educators and monastics working to establish science programs in Tibetan Monasteries throughout India. He has written about his experiences working with monks of Sera Jey monastery and has published short fiction in several literary journals including Eclectica, Stirring, and Convergence.

Send us Fan Mail Aidan Mcgeath wrote his first 500-page fantasy book while still in high school. He found time at night and between classes. He was done with his book by 18 and published it by 19. He plans to keep writing and shares some insightful lessons about how he plans his novels, where he generates names for his characters and why he feels he is Born to Write.    If you thought you didn't have the time or were not skilled enough or just had any doubts about how to write a book, this interview will inspire you. 

Send us Fan MailDominic Carrillo is a teacher who I met while living and working in San Diego, California. He when I first met him he told me he was working on a book and he was thinking about self-publishing. I was fascinated and he was the only friend I had at the time that had done so successfully.  He has since published 4 books and his most recent book The Usual Suspects, is a Young Adult novel set in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he teaches. He often gets his inspiration from inside of the classroom. Though he still teaches full time in an international school he still makes time to write daily.  His stories have been published in a variety of print and online magazines, and he's a regular contributor to San Diego Reader magazine. Dominic has written a travel memoir, Americano Abroad, a literary novel To Be Frank Diego , and two young adult (YA) novels:The Improbable Rise of Paco Jones  and The Unusual Suspects (2018). Because Dominic's novels are used in some classrooms, he occasionally speaks at libraries, schools, and education He is a great guest and his way of looking at writing and how we can write books even if we work full time jobs is really helpful. 

Send us Fan MailMajor (ret.) Joshua Mantz is the author of The Beauty of a Darker Soul, a book dedicated to helping people overcome emotionally traumatic experiences. A graduate of West Point, Josh served as an Infantry Officer in the US Army for nearly a decade, and is the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor. He is a highly sought after speaker on the topic of emotional trauma, having shared his message at TEDx, Got Your 6, and hundreds of other events. This incredible author shares about his journey of writing his book and how revealing is Darker Soul was so important to its success.   

Send us Fan MailKarin Roest is known as the “Industry’s Best Kept Secret” as she’s focused on creating fame for celebrities for 15 years instead of for herself. She has worked behind the scenes as a Celebrity Talent Scout and Producer with Grammy Award-winning musicians, Nobel Peace Prize Winners, highly paid TED talk speakers, New York Times Bestselling authors and Award-winning philanthropists. But jet-setting around the world with celebrities was not enough, so she disappeared to do one year of meditation in silence (yep, no talking for a year!) to find a deeper purpose and meaning in her own life. Now, merging the best of both the business and spiritual worlds, she helps authentic leaders create a customized blueprint customized blueprint in 8-weeks or less get on a solid path go from unknown to A-list Famous for a good purpose. Let's find out why authors can use Hollywood secrets to grow their purpose. 

Send us Fan MailCharlie Hoehn is the author of Play It Away, Play for a Living, and Recession-Proof Graduate He has spoken at the Pentagon, U.S. military bases, Stanford, and TEDx. Previously, he was Tim Ferriss’ Director of Special Projects, whom he helped edit and launch The 4-Hour Body. Currently, Charlie lives in Austin with his wife and daughter, where he is the Head of Author Marketing for Book In A Box. Charlie Hoehn runs a podcast called Author Hour.  Today, he shares some great stuff about the leveraging the power of storytelling by making it identifiable, dealing with the “expert” syndrome, and how to handle negative reviews.

Send us Fan MailDownload this episode to your computer Seth Hanes - Leveraging His Book to Create Authority Seth Hanes is the author of the book, Break into the Scene: A Musician's Guide to Making Connections, Creating Opportunities, and Launching a Career Seth is a classically trained musician who graduated from the Music School of Philadelphia. Today, he shares with us his thought process behind writing his book, his goal for writing a book, and how he leveraged his book to get more opportunities and help more people in the process. [03:35] Why Write a Book Seth has long been thinking about starting a book while at music school. His biggest issue with the music world is the tremendous lack of practical training for musicians, specifically how they can monetize their skill sets. Like many creative types, schools teach students a hyper-specific way of doing things and how to approach their craft. But they're taught little to nothing about how to go out into the world and turn that into a career. His book, Break into the Scene came out when he was trying to solve his own problems. Having read some books as well as some online courses and worked with business coaches, he tried to figure out how to go about turning his skill set into a money-making machine. And he found the striking lack of good resources on this topic out there. Hence, he decided to create something he wished he had access to when he was getting started. It practically took him four years from when this idea was conceived until he finally at down to write it. He knew that if he had to be successful at this, he had to take the time and invest his time, energy, and resources to make it happen. [07:10] Finding the Right Angle for the Niche Seth explains the book was written to be a how-to guide for people, specifically for musicians. The goal is to give them a quick result through equipping them with tools they need to be successful after reading it. What he found intimidating with other similar books is that they're mostly written by university professors. But he felt they lack the rawness of their own story. So he wanted to take a different approach with this. This said, he did have some share of the impostor's syndrome where he doubted himself, which he had to deal with for years and which he considers to be the biggest hangup. But what actually helped him grow his confidence was when he started a blog. He wanted something in a how-to format, presenting really raw, tactical advice musicians could use in specific situations they may find themselves in. He was like creating a little playground for himself where he could test out these ideas - see what works, see what didn't and what was resonating with people. And this was how he approached the ideation of the book, which was a long process to figure things out. By writing his blog to overcome his impostor's syndrome, he saw how his audience was reading it and people were getting results. Then he knew he was ready to write a book and all he needed now was to get a game plan to do it. [10:45] The Impostor's Syndrome and How It Impacts Your Confidence Azul focuses the discu

Send us Fan MailIn today's episode, Dr. Ryan Gray talks about traditional vs. self-publishing and why he has done both, what makes a great reason for writing a book and what advice he has for first-time authors. Dr. Ryan Gray is a former United States Air Force Flight Surgeon who found a passion for helping pre-med students on their journey to medical school. Best known for his podcasts, which have been downloaded over 1,000,000 times, Dr. Gray has interviewed to numerous admissions committee members and deans of admissions for medical schools. Through The Premed Years podcast and the Medical School Headquarters sites, Dr. Gray has helped thousands of students gain the confidence they require to successfully navigate the pre-med path. Dr. Gray lives outside of Boulder, CO with his wife Allison, who is a Neurologist, and their daughter Hannah.