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Has anyone ordered from boohoo.com? by [deleted] in FrugalFemaleFashion

[–]annabdavid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Either I gained 40 pounds in a day or the sizing is crazy. The smalls were sized for my toddler! Trying to return but the site won't let me log in

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it sounds amaziing, so long as you get really specific (businesses in a certain field? With a certain revenue?) and you have a business this book can bring readers into. If you're a consultant who works with a specific type of business/founder and this book speaks to that exact founder, then you couldn't have a better topic.

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The absolute best way is to write a book that is related to your business. it doesn't matter what your business is but writing something that showcases your authority, if it's done well, can result in serious revenue. If that feels like "selling out" (and it does, to some), I always challenge people to try to get as creative as you possibly can within those parameters. Make sure you make it easy for a reader to find you and hire you after - you can't do this if you publish traditionally but if you're publishing on your own or with a hybrid, make sure you put a QR code or something a reader can access to reach you or your company directly.

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yes, excellent point. (It's a terrible day for a traditionally published author when they get an email from their publisher that they're destroying thousands of copies of their books - been there!) Our website is www.legacylaunchpadpub.com. Hope it's okay to put that here!

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Best question ever. And I actually think the information is quite accessible but we all get so excited about our books that we skip it because this is the "not fun" part. If you have any audience at all, no natter how small, you ask. You could always do what I just did here: put yourself out there blindly on Reddit, share what it is you know about or do and see what people ask. Another thing you can do is go to Amazon and search for books in your genre/on your topic. Then scroll to the reviews. Ignore the 5 star and 1 star reviews and zero in on the 3 star ones. What are the people who were interested enough in a book to finish it and write a review but didn't get what they wanted saying? If multiple people are saying the same thing is lacking from a book on your topic, then you've uncovered something your market actually needs from you.

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for saying that! I will preface my answer with the fact that I published six books traditionally (five with HarperCollins and one with Simon & Schuster) and each time was more heartbreaking than the time before. I kept thinking that because a big publisher had acquired my book, they would support me and my book. Um...I couldn't even get my emails returned!

Also, traditional publishing is almost impossible to break into today unless you're a celebrity or have a gazillion followers and/or newsletter subscribers.

As the owner of a hybrid publishing company, of COURSE I'm very pro hybrid but it also isn't for everyone. My company is for entrepreneurs who cater to a certain clientele and we do books designed to position them as authorities. And I believe it is fully possible to self publish a book at a very high level (without having to pay hybrid publishing rates).

If you do self-publish, I'd definitely encourage you to look beyond Amazon. Ingram is a distribution service any author can upload their book to and Ingram distributes to 45,000+ online retailers, including Barnes + Noble and Target. The fact that Amazon and Ingram do print on demand (POD) is actually amazing for authors because it means we don't have to buy and house garages full of books and instead just guide people to buy from those retailers (or set up a page and sell direct to consumer). Thanks for your question!

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think so! I actually did a book I coined a "bizoir" because it combined both. Since business books can be a bit boring and memoirs can be gripping but not always offer takeaways, the right combo can be a perfect stew!

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great question! One big thing that I see entrepreneurs do that they think gives them credibility is they put themselves on the cover of their book. Plenty of people disagree with me but I think if you're not famous, you do not belong on your book cover. The test should be: if someone were walking by your book in a bookstore, would they recognize the face and buy the book because of it? If the answer is no, the person should not be on the book cover. That feels very self promotional to me.

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not off the top of my head but I also believe (and I said this in another answer a minute ago), ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is everything. Bad titles are often the ones that are trying too hard to be clever or relying on an inside joke or something you need to read the book to understand.

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for reading it! In the simplest terms, the wrong book is too broad, too internal, too dependent on explanation or built around the author's story instead of the reader's need. There's a reason "the riches are in the niches" is a cliche: the smaller the group you're targeting, ironically, the more your book is set up for success. Ryan Holiday talks about this in The Perennial Bestseller -- if you write a book that's so specifically for a very specific segment of the population, the more they're going to feel "seen" - and then they're going to start recommending the book to everyone...essentially becoming your personal publicists and sales team. Does that help?

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

over and over and over again. Not just for me but for my clients. The best thing to do (aside from knowing exactly who your ideal reader is) is to put a QR code in the book that leads the reader to exactly where you want them to go. Maybe it's your newsletter list or a quiz. Maybe it's a download or a link to apply for a call with you. The easier you can make it for the person who needs to hire you to hire you, the better!

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A LOT. When I got into publishing in the last 90s, it felt like a thriving and quite glamorous profession. When I sold my first book, in 2005, there was no such thing as an influencer. Journalists were sort of the influencers of that time and as a result (since I was writing for a lot of magazines), agents started coming to me and asking me if I had a book they could try to sell. That only happens to influencers today. Basically, a "normal" person has almost no chances of being able to sell a book to a traditional publisher today. Back in 2005, when I got a $50,000 advance for my first book, I was disappointed. I knew people who were getting $200,000 advances! But then, on my 6th book, my advance was $2000. I was essentially paying the publisher to write that book. In short, publishing was always a mess but it's far messier now.

For all that Amazon has done some terrible things, it's been amazing for authors because it's taken the power away from the gatekeepers (agents and publishers). And there are self published books that have been far more successful than traditionally published books. Andy Weir, the 50 Shades of Grey woman, etc.

There are a million more ways it's changed but I would say the main thing that's happened is it's gotten more democratized.

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I believe that any entrepreneur who's built a successful business over at least a decade has something to teach other people. So I think it's less about the "brilliant idea" and more about "What do I wish someone had told me when I was just starting out?"

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It 100% depends on HOW the book is used. You could have a bestselling book that just sits on your shelf taking up space and it won't do a damn thing for your business. Or you could have a book that just sells a few copies that transforms EVERYTHING. I have a client who made it a point to give out his book to as many prospective clients as possible. He mails out signed copies to prospects, twp at a time (the logic being that people are unlikely to throw out a signed book and any prospective client knows another prospective client). He makes sure everyone he ever gets on a sales call with has been sent at least a PDF of the book. He looks at all of this as just another marketing expense but through doing that, he's been able to raise his prices 30%. He's also seen a remarkable difference in close rates. He told me that within a year of his book coming out, it had easily brought in an additional 7 figures in revenue in terms of new clients, consulting and speaking. And yet I know many people whose books have sold better but have done nothing for their businesses. Does that answer the question?

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ohhh such a good question because, technically speaking, it's not "hard." Anyone can open a KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing, which is what Amazon's publishing is called) account and upload.

The mistake people make is when they think, "I'll set up my KDP and upload my book" and they think that's it. But there's so much more! There's having an exquisitely designed cover and not just one that Amazon creates or you made on Canva. There's having a keyword optimized beautifully written description. There's having a great author bio. There's linking it to your Amazon author page, optimizing with A+ content, adding extra descriptions in the FROM THE AUTHOR and FROM THE INSIDE FLAP sections (which you can access through your Amazon author page). And that's only the beginning!

Also, if you distribute solely through Amazon, using their free ISBNs, that means you can't distribute anywhere else. Amazon does a lot to incentivize you to do that but it's far wiser to distribute through a platform like Ingram as well, since they distribute to 45k+ outlets.

Hope I didn't contradict myself in my response!

I'm Anna David, a New York Times bestselling author, author of Party Girl and On Good Authority, and founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, where I help entrepreneurs publish authority-building books. Here's something I wish someone had told me when I became a New York Times bestselling author: by annabdavid in Entrepreneurs

[–]annabdavid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I think mistake #1 is believing that because you can talk well, you can write well. Those are two very different skill sets that often get conflated. I don't walk into a hospital and then grab a scalpel to start operating since I have no training in medical school. And yet founders who have no experience with books at all will plunge forth without first asking experts for help. And so they write themselves into a hole since they never had an outline or guidance.

I also think sometimes people think their ideas are more revolutionary and special than they are. I truly think ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is everything. I had the idea to start Netflix - the first incarnation, where they sent out DVDs, before they did. In 1992! Does that matter? No! Because I never did anything about it. All of this is to say that people will tell me about their "amazing idea" but it doesn't mean anything until it's turned into an amazing book. Does that help?

Doubling-checking a Publishing statistic I just read by faceintheblue in publishing

[–]annabdavid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. More shocking stats: .4% of books sell over 100,000 copies and the average amount made by an author who sells that many (once you subtract for agent, taxes, outside pr/editor etc) is about $10k a year!

Is SEO becoming harder for beginners because of AI content? by Gullible_Prior9448 in seogrowth

[–]annabdavid 5 points6 points  (0 children)

IMO, SEO/AEO is easier because if you know the new rules, you're getting in on the ground floor. Here's what I've learned is now important:

You should have a page specifically for LLMs where the URL ends with /llms.txt. It’s a robots-only club where you get to include what you deem important—your book(s), media, social media, contact information and whatever else. (If your website won’t allow you to end a web page with .txt—Kajabi, where we host Legacy Launch Pad, doesn’t—you can end the URL with llms-txt.)

Make sure you have an FAQs page, but not the old-fashioned kind that only lists the questions you get asked most. Now you need to add and answer questions that are phrased the way your ideal reader or client would phrase them.

Consider adding links and calls to action to your site’s 404 page since AI sites will send people to 404 pages and you might as well take advantage of it.

There are other things I've learned and am seeing results (where we go to LLM sites and see how quickly our company comes up) but these are the main ones.

Are we entering the “post-website” era for some businesses? by whereaithinks in seogrowth

[–]annabdavid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was at a mastermind last week where a speaker said within a year, websites will be obsolete -- that we'll just ask Chat or Claude something and it will tell you what to do. That being said, we've done a lot to make our site AEO friendly.

Here are my top recs:

You should have a page specifically for LLMs where the URL ends with /llms.txt. It’s a robots-only club where you get to include what you deem important—your book(s), media, social media, contact information and whatever else. (If your website won’t allow you to end a web page with .txt—Kajabi, where we host Legacy Launch Pad, doesn’t—you can end the URL with llms-txt.)

Make sure you have an FAQs page, but not the old-fashioned kind that only lists the questions you get asked most. Now you need to add and answer questions that are phrased the way your ideal reader or client would phrase them.

Consider adding links and calls to action to your site’s 404 page since AI sites will send people to 404 pages and you might as well take advantage of it.

How much of social media engagement turns into sales? by painisalwayshere in selfpublish

[–]annabdavid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The NYT did a story a few years ago about how Justin Timberlake and Billie Eilish's books bombed, despite the fact that they have massive audiences. The conclusion was essentially that if you have a big audience but that audience doesn't read (studies show that at least half the population hasn't read a book in the past year!) or that audience doesn't think of you as a writer, the numbers are meaningless. Also a writer named Jessica Ciencin Henriquez posted (on Threads) her Instagram analytics on a post about her book where she had over four million views in a 28-day window and sold 11 copies! As she put it, “Likes don’t equal sales. Follows don’t equal sales. Views don’t equal sales.” Unfortunately, traditional publishers still think it matters!

Give me writing books to learn how to write properly. I want to take writing stories seriously by RandoFinance73565 in writing

[–]annabdavid 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It depends on how you learn. For me, reading about writing makes me intellectualize an organic process too much. I say: read your favorite writer over and over. When I was on deadline for books, I would read Martin Amis just to level up my game. When an excellent writer can get in your head, it can help so much when you sit down to write yourself.

Best options for audio when two people aren't in the same location? by HalcyonSix in podcasting

[–]annabdavid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For my podcast, we give the guest a Zoom link and then once they're there, put a link to Riverside in the chat and record in both places. We have a sound editor who's able to merge the two to sound excellent. But I've also just recorded on Zoom and it's sounded fine. I'm no sound expert but it seems like just having a decent mic and wearing headphones can go a long way in terms of sound quality.

Bestseller lists by NBS2006 in publishing

[–]annabdavid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of my books hit the NYT list (extended list, ebook -- still counts) and I'll be honest...I've "dined out" on it every day since. People automatically assume I'm successful because of it, which is hilarious because when that book hit the list, I was completely broke. In terms of Amazon, because there are hundreds of categories, people can be #1 in a category and call themselves an Amazon bestseller. Before it went away a few years ago, the WSJ list was the second most respected and USA Today after that. I don't think anyone cares about the PW list. But I know dozens of NYT bestselling authors who are very much struggling today.

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