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Reader,
“I’m not even supposed to talk about this but I don’t care”
“I’m really not supposed to talk about this, what the hell”
2 lines pulled from my recent interview with Tom about the writing of his book and the publishing company that almost ended it.
and so for this week, I want to focus on a very different type of author than I usually do….
NYT bestselling author Tom O’Neill
we talked about his book that started as an attempt to write an anniversary article in the late 90’s and turned into a 30 year obsession with uncovering the truth about the Charles Manson murders.
during that time Tom was:
– sued by his publisher
– had to borrow money from his family
– his co-author had a panic attack and backed out
– was physically threatened by his stories’ characters
but his book Chaos, ended up on the NYT Bestselling list for 27 MONTHS and continues to sell hundreds of thousands of copies every month.
and from a different type of authors we get to expect different marketing tips…
3 Secrets:
1. Getting rejected by Joe Rogan:
Tom had a friend who happened to be roommates in college with Joe Rogan.
That friend (inspired by Tom’s work) offered to share it with Rogan while Tom was still writing it.
At first Rogan didn’t really pay attention and threw it aside to focus on other things.
Years passed and Tom finished the book.
Tom asked if his friend would be willing to share it one more time with Rogan.
This time Rogan, (who loves a good conspiracy, maybe too much) jumped on it.
Tom’s book hasn’t stopped selling since.
Goes back to the elementary school rhyme of
If at first you don’t succeed
Try, try, try again
Now if only we all had a friend who knew Oprah…
2. Index card inspiration:
Just to remind you, Tom went through the following while writing Chaos for 30 years:
– sued by his publisher
– had to borrow money from his family
– his co-author had a panic attack and backed out
– was physically threatened by his stories’ characters
Not to mention, it TOOK HIM 30 YEARS!
Who stays inspired and commited for 30 freaking years?
Tom says that a big part of what kept him going was a 3×5 index card he kept in his pocket where he wrote down all the truths he’d uncovered in his work.
While going down hundreds of rabbit holes it kept him focused on his true mission, The Truth.
For 30 years, that index card reminded him of the importance of what he was doing.
Find an index card and write down what you’ve accomplished so far and why it matters to keep going on your darker days.
3. World events matter
Tom’s book is about conspiracies and the government being caught up in some seriously sketchy behavior.
*This may be offensive to some of you, it’s not meant to be. Focus on the marketing takeaways of this next part*
“Trumps presidency has helped my book because people don’t trust anyone anymore and a lot of that is because of him” -Tom (not advocating that this is a good thing but just talking about how it relates to his book)
“I watched (Trump get shot) on television and my first thought was
1. Is he going to get up?
2. My book sales are about to take off.”
Now you can’t (nor should you) orchestrate an assassination
BUT Charles Mason becomes less relevant every day.
SO WHY is this book so popular?
Our world right now is (unfortunately) one of deceit and distrust and that’s what this book is really about.
What is your book really about?
2 Links
- Listen to Tom O’Neill about how he went from journalist to an unrelenting obsession that turned into one of the bestselling books of today….30 years later. Listen here.
- K-LYTICS (not a paid promo) gives authors more accurate data on industry book sales than BookScan.
1 Quote
“I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Happy Prince and Other Stories
with love and sincere appreciation,
Alex
BeforeTheBestseller | ShelfLife
alex@getshelflife.com
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