Nobody's Changed by the Book You Don't Write

Early Bird Discount Goes Away Today

Hey there, just a quick reminder that today is the last day to sign up for my Write a Bestseller Course at the lowest price available. Normally, this program is $499, but I’ve deeply discounted it for those wanting to start the year off right by starting to write their first (or next) book.

Between now and the end of the month, if you sign up for Write a Bestseller, you’ll get it for 80% off. But if you join before midnight tonight, you’ll get an additional $20 discount—for only one payment of $79.

Grab it here before the price goes up tomorrow.

Why am I doing this?

Although I shelved my courses a few years ago, every once in a while I like bringing one out of the vault (just like Disney) when I think it’s a good time to share this material with those who may not have benefited from it before.

I know everyone is just getting back to work and recovering from the holidays (especially financially), so I’ve tried to make this material as accessible as possible. Thousands of people have gone through it and written their books as a result, and I believe it can help you, too, if you’re feeling stuck.

Yesterday, I shared that the most important legacy we can leave in this life is that of our words. To be sure, our actions and presence matter. But some things need to be said. Some stories must be told. Otherwise, they will be forgotten.

Do you have something to say, a story to tell, an idea to share?

No one will be changed by the book you are thinking about writing. No one can be transformed the story that remains untold.

It is a brave thing to open up your mouth and share your truth with the world. To be so bold to say something worth disagreeing with. And, of course, that’s the only way we can ever change anything.

Write a Bestseller can help you do just that.

Start Writing Your Book Today

This self-guided, six-month program will walk you through my A-to-Z process of what it takes to:

Plan your book. Starting with your big idea, I will guide you through the process of choosing the right structure for your book, validating the idea, and outlining it so that you can begin with a clear plan.

Start writing. This includes a 90-day action plan to help you finish your first draft, what to do when you feel stuck, and more.

Edit your book right. Here, I’ll teach you what editing really is, how to find a good editor (or do it yourself), and what else is needed to get your book ready for publication.

Publish like a pro. Whether you want to self-publish, sell to a publisher, or work with a hybrid publisher, we’ll help you figure out the next right steps for you to bring your book to market.

Launch your book. In this final module, I’ll teach my method for how to build initial interest around your book, launch it right, and continue to promote it long after its release. Most importantly, though, you’ll lean how the best books have the marketing “baked in” to them and how you should be thinking of how the ideas in your book will resonate with readers while you’re writing it.

Why is it called “Write a Bestseller”?

Because I have long believed we need to rescue the idea of “bestseller” from the scam artists and charlatans who are lying to you about how many copies they’ve sold and how big of a deal they really are.

No, this is not about selling a few copies, hitting some obscure “bestseller” list on Amazon and using those credentials to become an “influence.” Nor is it about gaming the system to buy a bunch of copies of your own book and debut on the New York Times list while your book sits in a warehouse somewhere, unread.

What it takes to be a true bestseller is you have to sell a lot of copies of your book. More than the average. It has to be, quite literally, a best seller.

So just how many copies does the average book sell?

The numbers vary depending on the source, but last I checked, the average self-published book sells a few hundred copies in its lifetime. The average traditionally published book sells around three thousand copies.

The main reason for this is that authors tend to think a lot about writing and very little about promotion. Once the book is done, they move on to the next project and don’t spend much time or thought on promoting this thing they spent months, if not years, working on.

That’s a shame.

I like to say that before you can launch a bestseller, you first have to write one. Meaning, you have to write a book that is worthy of selling more than the average amount of copies. You have to believe in this thing more than anyone else does.

Then, you have to write the best damn book you can and not give up on it after a few months of hard work. That’s what it means to write a bestseller.

Are You Stubborn Enough to Succeed?

F. Scott Fitzgerald was famously rejected well over one hundred times by various publishers and publications before he got his big break with Scribner’s and published This Side of Paradise in 1920.

The book made him an instant star and allowed him to marry his wife Zelda, who allegedly told him she wouldn’t marry him until he was a published author. The novel was released on March 26, and a week later, they had their wedding.

After some initial success—and a fair amount of drama and drink—Scott lost a lot of his initial drive and began focusing on the wrong things. When The Great Gatsby was published five years after his debut and was not the instant success he and others expected it to be, the author took it to heart and slowly started descending into despair. Sadly, he never lived to see his greatest work become the success it eventually became.

It takes a certain kind of stubborness to succeed. As Jeff Bezos once remarked, you have to be “stubborn on vision, but flexible on details.” Sometimes, we writers get the inverse of that. We focus too much on the details and lose sight of the big picture. Do that long enough, and you end up obsessing over book covers and title revisions (as Fitzgerald did) instead of making sure your message gets in front of the right people.

The authors who see their books succeed are most often the ones who believe so strongly in what they’ve written that they continue to talk about, share, and promote their books for years after writing it. It’s not easy, most people don’t do it, but that’s what it takes.

To begin, though, we have to write something that is worth believing in. So, let’s ditch the hype, write something true and good, and then let’s talk about how to promote it. In the meantime, start writing something worthy of your own stubbornness.

Click here to watch a video about what’s in the Write a Bestseller Course, check out the overview of lessons, and shoot me an email if you have any questions.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

P.S. I’m not gonna send you a bunch of emails about this, but I’ll let you know before the deadline passes at the end of this month, just so you don’t miss it. As a personal aside, I appreciate your support and encouragement, regardless.

If this is not a good fit for you but you know someone who might benefit from this course, please feel free to share this with them. Or you can message me at jeff@goinswriter.com about how to gift it to a friend.

Thank you for reading The Ghost. This post is public so feel free to share it.

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© 2024 Jeff Goins
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104
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