📚 10 Book Summaries, 3 Lessons From Meeting 50+ Authors, 3 Awesome Newsletters.

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👋 Hey everyone,

Here are the 10 most popular book summaries from this year so far (in no particular order):

• “Lean Learning” by Pat Flynn

• “Drunk Tank Pink” by Adam Atler

• “Time Anxiety“ by Chris Guillebeau

• “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins

• “The 5 Types of Wealth” by Sahil Bloom

• “How To Read A Book” by Mortimer Adler

• “The Expectation Effect” by David Robson

• “Tiny Experiments” by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

• “Wealthy & Well-Known” by Rory & AJ Vaden

• “How To Sleep Like A Caveman” by Dr. Merijn van de Laar

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📚 Lessons From Authors:

Instead of a book summary this week (there’s plenty of those above), I’m sharing 3 key lessons I’ve learned from meeting 50+ amazing authors this year.

1) The BEST Way To Sell Books Changes Every 10 Years

In the 2000s, getting featured in a newspaper or magazine was a big deal.

If your book got a glowing review in the New York Times or some other major publication, that one review moved a ton of books.

In the 2010s, it shifted to being mentioned on a popular blog or TV show.

Going on Oprah or Good Morning America would almost guarantee your book became a national bestseller.

Now in the 2020s, it’s about podcasts and going viral on social media.

If you can get on a major podcast like Tim Ferriss or Joe Rogan, you’ll sell thousands of books.

The same is true if you can create, or if someone else creates, a social media post about your book that goes viral. It seems like every few weeks, there’s a book that goes viral on TikTok and jumps to the top of the Amazon bestseller rankings.

It will be interesting to see where book marketing goes from here.

📖

2) TONS of Books Are Written by Ghostwriters

It shouldn't be that surprising to hear that many celebrities, billionaires, and presidents don't write their own books.

Writing is a skill that takes years to master.

And these people are busy traveling the world for their music tour, running a multi-billion dollar company, or trying to get re-elected as President.

For instance, it’s public knowledge that J. R. Moehringer ghostwrote Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare” and Phil Knight’s book “Shoe Dog.”

The top ghostwriters get paid anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000+ to write a single book.

However, what’s been most surprising is that several of the world’s most famous influencers, content creators, and podcasters also use ghostwriters.

I won’t name names, but if you ever wondered how a giant influencer has the time to run a podcast, create social media content, host events, and make time to write a book…

Chances are they hired someone to do one or more of those jobs.

📖

3) How Most Authors Actually Get Rich

Authors make almost no money from selling books.

Most authors earn $2-3 from every book they sell.

Sure if you sell 1 million books, you’ll make $2-3 million, but fewer than 20 authors sell 1 million books per YEAR.

That puts your odds around 0.003%, which is basically zero.

So how do authors get rich?

The real way most authors make their money is from speaking gigs.

A corporation, event, or conference will hire them to speak to their employees or audience.

Here’s a rough range of how much authors can make:

• A new author can charge $5,000-$10,000 for a 1-hour speaking gig.

• If their book is a national bestseller, they can charge $10,0000-$25,000.

• If their book is a NYT bestseller, they can charge $25,000-$50,000.

• If their book has sold over 1 million copies, they can charge $50,000-$100,000+.

Not bad for an hour’s worth of work, right?

BUT…there are a lot of hidden costs that you might not realize.

There are the monetary costs, such as the cost of a hotel, food, and flight. You might also need to hire someone to watch your kids or take care of your pets while you’re away.

You might also have your speaking agent taking 10% of the fee and your speaking agency taking 15% of it.

There’s also the emotional cost of being away from your partner and kids. Even though you’re only doing "1 hour of work”, you might be traveling for 2-3 days, depending on how far and long the event is.

There’s the physical toll that traveling every week or two can have on your body.

Your sleep schedule gets ruined due to jumping time zones, and you’ll likely gain weight from always eating out and missing your gym routine.

And lastly, there’s the mental toll.

Even experienced authors have told me that they still dread speaking in front of hundreds or even sometimes thousands of people. For the weeks leading up to the event, their anxiety skyrockets, and they’re basically on edge until they finally give their talk.

So although it might seem like authors get paid a ton for a 1-hour gig, there are a ton of hidden costs that come along with it.

✅ Actionable Advice

PS: I’m thinking about sharing more in-depth posts about life and authorship on Substack instead of this newsletter. Follow me there to join my journey (it’s free).

💎 Weekly Gem:

Here are 3 awesome (and free) newsletters worth checking out:

1) Jason Feifer: Jason is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine. Every week, he shares one tip that will help you become more effective at work and build a career or company you love. If you want to level up your career or company, check out Jason’s newsletter. Join 70,000+ readers here.

2) World Builders: Read this newsletter to learn how to become a smarter storyteller. Telling better stories will help you become a better writer, create viral content, drive more sales, and so much more. Join 85,000+ people here.

3) Tiago Forte: Tiago is one of the world’s experts on productivity and the bestselling author of “Building A Second Brain.” Every week, he shares 1 tip that will level up your productivity and life. Join 125,000+ readers here.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.

PS: Want to become a better reader in just 2 hours?

The Art of Reading is my flagship course that will teach you how to read more and better. You’ll learn how to find time to read more books, stay focused while reading, remember more of what you read, take notes in books, use AI to become a better reader, and so much more. Join 650+ readers here.