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Reader, “Did you know your book is a favorite in the Marine Corps?” Steven Pressfield had no idea until a friend told him. How did he do it? Steven says it was luck. I say it was the 27 years he spent writing and perfecting his craft before his first hit, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was discovered. Steven gives us a lot of marketing tips, but after our interview it became VERY clear that Steven spent so much time becoming a great writer that it’s really his books that sell themselves. 3 Secrets If Happiness = Reality – Expectations, then having the right expectations and understanding of the game you’re playing is half of it. Steven Pressfield first launched The War of Art with hardcover early reader copies and in his words, “it didn’t do diddly.” He exhausted his marketing options for the first 6 months and then waited. After 3 YEARS he finally started to see a trickle of organic sales. Steven says any serious author should expect it to take 5-10 years for a good book to actually take off. “You have to do it out of love, it’s so hard and it takes so long you have to do it out of love.” He references an agreement Elizabeth Gilbert made when she first started out. She made a deal with her writing. She said, “I will never ask you to support me, I will always support you” “If I have to be a waitress at Hooters, I’m going to do that.” It turned out pretty well for Elizabeth (author of Eat, Pray, Love). 2. Getting Steven Pressfield on the podcast took over a year After finding his email address online, I sent him this cold (but genuine) pitch:
Steven responded pretty quickly but said to try back in a few months due to the impact of a recent natural disaster on their home. It was time to be a human being caring about another human being.
8 months later, we were finalizing our interview schedule for 2026 and so I sent over a nudge.
This time my outreach lined up well with the release of his new book, The Arcadian.
We recorded on March 26th, just shy of one year after my initial cold outreach, well worth the wait to interview one of my favorite authors in the world 🙂 3. Target micro-communities and focused events rather than scattered distribution Focus on concentrated distribution within specific communities where members frequently interact such as conferences, conventions, churches, schools, and mastermind groups. This creates ‘echo chambers’ where buzz builds naturally as community members discuss the book, making non-readers feel left out and motivated to read. Many authors we’ve had on Before The Bestseller emphasize that giving away a few hundred copies at one event creates more impact than reaching hundreds of scattered individuals. 2 Links
1 Book If you’ve been following along with this newsletter for a while, you know we believe there are no shortcuts to success. Consistency over time. When consistency is key, your own mind is the enemy. I read The War of Art for the first time over 10 years ago and have since gifted at least a dozen copies to friends and fellow dreamers. Keep it in your bathroom or wherever else you can open to a page for a quick daily reminder of the internal battle you’re fighting to show up consistently. 5 stars.
Alex P.S. Know someone who needs help marketing their book? We offer a $500 referral bonus 🙂 |