📚 I Spent 3 Days with 50+ Bestselling Authors, 3 Life Lessons, and more.

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👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• I visited the Great Wall of Books in Tennessee.

• A practical guide on how to immerse yourself in books again (part 2).

• How reading books helps regulate your nervous system and relax your body.

Note: I had a hectic travel weekend, so that’s why this newsletter is arriving late, sorry y’all!

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⭐️ Life Lessons:

This week’s newsletter is a bit different. Instead of sharing a book summary, I wanted to share 3 (hopefully) helpful life lessons.

For context: Last week I spent 3 days with 50+ bestselling authors including:

• Charles Duhigg (“The Power of Habit”)

• Shane Parrish (“Clear Thinking”)

• Will Guidara (“Unreasonable Hospitality”)

• Lori Gottlieb (“Maybe You Should Talk To Someone”)

Here are 3 big lessons I took away from it (click the post below for more pics):

📖

1) How To Sneak Into Rooms You Aren’t Qualified For

The event I attended was an annual author mastermind for authors who’ve sold 1M+ books.

I, however, haven’t sold any books. Heck, I haven’t even published my book yet.

So, how did I get in?

First, you have to network. That means building relationships with people. Relationships run the world.

Every opportunity in life comes through a person. The more people you know, the more opportunities can come your way.

There’s a famous 1973 paper by a Stanford sociologist about the strength of weak ties.

He followed how 282 adults got their jobs and found that a person’s weak ties–their casual connections and loose acquaintances–were more helpful than their strong ones in securing a job.

Your weak ties connect you to networks that are outside of your own circle. Or said differently, need people lead to new opportunities.

It was a new connection, not an old one, that got me into this room of bestselling authors.

There are countless ways to network and build new connections without feeling icky:

• Start hosting meetups or dinners for people with a similar career to yours.

• Ask your friends if they’re attending any events this month and go with them as a plus one.

• Look up upcoming events in your town related to your career and make it a rule that you can’t leave until you talk to at least three people.

I’ve done all three and met at least one great connection each time.

Also, stop telling yourself you aren’t good at talking to people. Communication and socializing are skills that you can learn and get better at.

Here are 3 awesome books that can help you:

• “The Fine Art of Small Talk” by Debra Fine

• “How To Talk To Anyone” by Leil Lowndes

• “The 2-Hour Cocktail Party” by Nick Gray

Read them and start applying them in the real world.

📖

2) What To Do When You’re The Newbie In The Room

In addition to sneaking into the author mastermind, a few years ago, I snuck into a business mastermind for entrepreneurs earning 7-8 figures ($1-$10M+).

I don’t make anywhere close to that amount of money, so how did I get in?

Again, by networking.

But once you’re in, what do you do?

The answer is simple: find ways to provide value.

I did this by taking notes about what was discussed and then sharing them with the group.

Even in the age of AI, people appreciate a well-written recap by a human. It shows effort and ambition (which are two things successful people respect).

Here’s another way I provided value for the group: I helped recruit new people.

For the author group, I reached out to several authors to chat with them and share details about the event. If they were excited about it and it fit their schedule, I connected them with the host to have a final interview.

The host thanked me for finding new authors, and the authors thanked me for the invitation. It’s a win-win-win.

There are countless ways to provide value in any situation.

If you can’t provide value through your experience, you can almost certainly provide value through your energy and effort.

📖

3) How To Make The Most Out of Once In A Lifetime Opportunities

If you know you’ll be attending an event, conference, or have the opportunity to talk to a hero of yours, here’s how to make the most out of it:

First, don’t ask low-hanging questions. That means any questions you can answer via a simple Google search.

Why?

It’s probably a question they get asked all the time, so it’s a bit annoying for them. And it shows you didn’t do any research about them.

If you only have 5 minutes with a personal hero of yours, don’t spend it asking them about their origin story when they’ve written or talked about it countless times.

Instead, spend a few minutes researching the person and getting all of the common questions out of the way. That way, when you talk to them, they’ll know that you put in time and effort, and you’ll be able to dive deeper into the conversation much faster.

Lastly, come up with a few specific questions that you’d like to ask them.

The broader your question, the broader the answer will be.

If you ask a bestselling author, “How do you sell 1M+ books?” They’ll say something along the lines of “Write a really good book.”

But if you ask a specific question, you’ll get a specific answer.

For instance, I asked an author, “How did you decide which book cover to go with?” And they responded with, “I tested several different designs using a tool called PickFu.”

Follow those three tips, and you’ll get the highest ROI on your time.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) How to network your way into amazing opportunities:

• Start hosting meetups for people with a similar career to yours.

• Ask your friends if they’re going to any events or meetups and join them as a plus one.

• Look up events in your town related to your career and make it a rule that you can’t leave until you talk to at least three people.

2) If you’re the newbie in the room, look for ways you can provide value to the group:

• Take notes for the group.

• Help with recruiting or organizing the event.

• Look for ways you can help via effort instead of experience.

3) Here’s how to make the most out of amazing opportunities:

• Make a list of all the people you’d like to talk to at the event in your notes tab.

• Spend a few minutes researching each one and add a few key bullet points to each person.

• Come up with 2-3 specific questions you’d like to ask each person.

💎 Weekly Gem:

Documentary: Rafa (2026)

I’ve never watched a full tennis match in my life.

But this documentary about Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, had me absolutely hooked.

Nadal was ranked a top 10 tennis player in the world for 912 weeks, AKA 18 years, at the top of his profession.

The amount of grit, time, and sacrifice needed to make it to the top is eye-opening and puts into perspective just how much work is required if you want to be world-class in a field.

Highly recommend watching it if you’re interested in sports, human psychology, or greatness.

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

-Alex & Books

PS: Here are two ways I can help you:

1) If you’re a READER who wants to read more books, check out The Art of Reading (700+ readers have already got it).

2) If you’re an AUTHOR who wants to sell more books, check out How to Sell More Books (100+ authors have already got it).