3 secrets, 2 links, 1 book

Reader,
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It’s summertime! Let’s make this quick so we can all go hit the beach 🙂

3 Secrets
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​1. Bestselling non-fiction authors read more fiction

What makes people keep reading is a good story.

Fiction writers are the best storytellers in the world.

They know how to start a scene you can’t stop reading and keep you excited all the way to the end.

When you read their books, you learn their tricks.

Then you can use those same tricks to make your true stories just as fun to read.

Now more important than ever.

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2. Inherent Share-ability

If you’re serious about maximizing the reach of your book, consider tying in an accountability partner component to what you’re teaching and offer to send a free copy to them too.

Again, increasing the shareability of your book.

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3. Recent post by bestselling author Jeneva Rose on how she marketed early on

“Every morning I woke up asking myself the same question: What can I do today to help one more person discover this book?”

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2 Links

1. 4 Hour Workweek author Tim Ferris blog article: Has AI Already Killed How-To Nonfiction? Sales Trends, My Personal Data, and What It Might Mean for the Future. Read here.
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2. On Before The Bestseller this week: How Scott Hogan Sold 300,000+ Copies of Built from Broken | Word of Mouth, Publishing & Book Marketing. Tune in to hear why the books that continue to find readers are often the ones written to solve a real problem, built on genuine trust, and supported by an author willing to keep showing up long after launch. Listen here.​​​​

1 Book

I’m only about 100 pages in but already happy to recommend it.

I’m currently on a very personal journey to examine my faith and what it is I truly believe.

I was baptized christian at a young age but became frustrated with organized religion and all the harm it’s caused in my teen years (a story I know some of you can relate to).

I have some extended family members who are the WORST. They claim to be followers of christ, and work to aggressively push their faith on others, and yet are some of the most selfish, manipulative, people I know.

Safe to say, this has all left a bad taste in my mouth for what it means to be Christian.

That said.

If there is a god, he seems to keep showing up in my life right now.

One example:

I play beach volleyball every Wednesday with a predominately christian group and they are some of the most welcome, kindest people I’ve ever met.

And so I want to understand what it really means to be a Christian.

This has led me to Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality.

This is not a recommendation to read it for it’s spiritual lessons though.

It is simply a non-fiction book with some incredible prose.

If you read secret #1 today it’s more important than ever to become great story tellers and all I can say is with the way this book is written, it totally makes sense how it’s sold millions of copies.

And so I recommend it even if just for the prose.

4 Stars.

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Alex
​BeforeTheBestseller | ShelfLife​
alex@getshelflife.com
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