Entrepreneurs, The World Needs Your Book. Don't Let Anyone Talk You Out Of It
There are two fundamentals to a successful book launch.
One, write a good book. Number two, make sure your social media following is significant.
That’s the message from Scott Miller, who’s published three books in the past two years and has three more coming out this year!
“Most publishers won't even speak to you if you don't have 50,000 Instagram followers and 100,000 YouTube subscribers, and you've maxed your Linkedin and maxed your Instagram and your Facebook,” Scott tells host Josh Steimle.
SOCIAL MEDIA ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL BOOK LAUNCH
“Too many authors say ‘I don't want to play that game’. Then you're not going to sell a book. There is no book promotion without social media. Get over your social media phobia, and it'll take you two years minimally to build your social media.”
Scott is author of Management Mess to Leadership Success. In May 2021 Marketing Mess to Brand Success: 30 Challenges to Transform Your Organization's Brand (and Your Own). September this year will see the publication of Master Mentors: 30 Transformative Insights from Our Greatest Minds
Scott was recruited 25 years ago by Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s team to work at FranklinCovey. He recently served as chief marketing officer there and is now a senior advisor at FranklinCovey on thought leadership.
“Writing a book is about 20% of the process of publishing a book. I'll do 125 podcasts just for Marketing Mess alone.
“Ninety-five percent or more of all the marketing comes from you: it’s podcast, webinars, speeches, keynotes, your website, social media, sending out galley copies to anybody and everybody,” he explains, noting that in contrast, the publisher’s role is to edit, print, and distribute your book.
Scott stresses that his social media success is often due to the fact that he focuses on others.
“I post two and three times a day in my social media, putting a spotlight on others, making sure I'm an abundant contributor. I nurture my social media extremely methodically, hopefully abundantly and generously.”
DON’T LET ANYONE TALK YOU OUT OF YOUR BOOK
While all the marketing and promotion may sound daunting to some authors, Scott encourages entrepreneurs not to be dissuaded.
“Don't let anybody talk you out of your book,” says Scott. “Yes, the world needs your book if your book is good. So if you've got a book in you get it out of you.”
Next up, think about why you want to write your book, and be clear on that. Is it because you want to go become a speaker, you want to build your brand? Do you want to become a consultant?
Understanding the why behind writing your book is important, because no makes money on a book.
After that, determine what kind of writing process you will use to organize your thoughts and your book. Some authors use cards, while others, including Scott, use Post It notes. Next, think about your writing schedule, and do what works for you. For Scott, that means being at his desk every morning from 4 a.m. to 5:30 every day non-stop.
Scott encourages entrepreneur authors to be forward when it comes to reaching out to publishers - if that’s the route you choose to go. He says: “Every publisher is always looking for new books. So don't feel like you should be embarrassed or walk on eggshells. Every publishing house is always looking for new authors and new books.”
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Josh Steimle
Today my guest is Scott Miller. Scott was recruited 25 years ago by Dr. Stephen R. Covey's team to work at Franklin Covey. He recently served as chief marketing officer there, which I love because my first book was all about CMOS. And he's now a senior advisor at Franklin Covey on thought leadership. He's the host of the Podcast on Leadership with Scott Miller. He writes a column for Inc magazine. He's a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and he's the author of the upcoming Marketing Mess To Brand Success, which I've got . . . my advanced copy right here. But by the time this comes out, you'll probably be able to get your own copy. Scott, welcome to the show.
Scott Miller
Josh, thank you for the invite and the platform.
Josh Steimle
I'm so excited to talk to you. There’re so many things that you have experienced with that are prime for this audience, entrepreneurs who want to learn how to write a book. But give us a little bit more background about yourself. Tell us a little bit about where you come from and what your work history is outside of Franklin Covey, and how you got to this point where you're writing all these books on leadership.
Scott Miller
Sure, well, I'm 53. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah with my wife and our three sons. I'm originally from Florida. I'm a Florida boy worked for the Walt Disney Company for four years. They invited me to leave, which is how they do it there when they fire you. So Disney kicked me out and where does a single Catholic guy go from Orlando will Provo Utah Of course where is like the Catholic steam right back in the 90s. That was crazy. Join the Franklin Covey company lived around the world of Chicago for six years lived in London for our office there. Was in sales and sales leadership for about 15 years, the CMO, the company's only ever CMO for about 10 years. And then I was interviewing someone on the podcast and I'm actually on the set for right now. That is now the world's largest weekly leadership podcast, which is about 7 million each week. And I was interviewing someone and I kind of had this epiphany, where you know what, I couldn't write a book. I think I was 48 at the time 49 maybe. And I wrote my first book, it's behind me in blue called (right there) Management Mess to Leadership Success. And it was basically kind of how difficult leadership is and not everybody should be a leader. I shared 30 of my leadership challenges, the book did extraordinarily well. And the publisher then signed me to a 10-year, 10-volume series and the Mess of Success brand. So as you mentioned, Marketing Master Brand success comes out in May. And then Job Mess to Career Success will come out in next January, followed by communication mess, sales mess, parenting mess, relationship mess . . . about 10 different additions over the next decade.
Josh Steimle
You know, I've heard of authors taking on commitments to write three books, maybe four or five books. I've never talked to another author who committed to write 10 books.
Scott Miller
Well, let me top that not only do I have 10 books going on, in the marketing mess genre, but I write a book every year for Harper Collins called Master Mentors. That's a book launching in September, where I take 30 of my favorite podcast guest every year and write a book about them. So I've got two 10-year books going on. I don't know if I'm bragging or confessing is probably more the option.
Josh Steimle
Yeah, this sounds like some sort of addiction maybe.
Scott Miller
I speechless. I think you're right. Is this therapy? Has my wife signed me up for a therapy session under the guise of a podcast?
Josh Steimle
It's all a trick. We're just here to help you out or help you to this is an intervention.
Scott Miller
Thank you, doctor.
Josh Steimle
But yeah, so 10 books? How did you feel making that type of commitment? And what made you feel like, yeah, this is what I want to do. I want to write these 10 books, plus all the others I'm working on.
Scott Miller
Well, I feel honored, first of all, and I feel humbled that, you know, people bought the first book Management mess to leadership success, and it struck a chord. So it's almost like, How can I not write it? How can I not share, you know, 30 years of my own career messes in the hopes that people coming up behind me or alongside me, can benefit from my extraordinary access to all these authors in this amazing brand that I've worked with. So for me, I don't want to say it's a duty but it's an honor to do it. It's a big it's a big task, right? I mean, my books are not Good To Great or War And Peace. My books are breezy, they're fast. They're funny, they're real. They're fairly easy for me to write. You know, I'm, I interviewed Adam Grant this morning, right, the famous psychologist from the Wharton School, he wrote, Think Again. My books are not Adam Grants, right? But my books serve a purpose. And I feel humbled and honored to be able to write them and that readers and publishers believe in me.
Josh Steimle
Fantastic. Now did writing the books . . . Let's see, when did you start? When did you write your first book?
Scott Miller
So I'm 53. Now, my book launched not quite two years ago. So summer of 2019 was my first book. I've published two since then, and have three more coming out this year, so five books in three years.
Josh Steimle
And when did the transition from being the CMO at Franklin Covey to this advisor role over thought leadership?
Scott Miller
When did that transition happened about two years ago I was reading Liz Wiseman's book Multipliers, I think it's the best leadership book ever written, how to run the program, and I realized, Oh, my gosh, I am an accidental diminisher. I am not a multiplier. And honestly, I stepped down. The CEO asked me to stay in the job three times, like, you know what, Bob, this is enough time. I stepped aside to do another executive role in the company. But I stepped away from the CMO role kind of in the middle of me writing this book. The first . . .
Josh Steimle
Gotcha. So it was related. There was a connection there between the writing and the . . .
Scott Miller
There was, yeah, there was a self-disruption. That was very intentional going on in my career. And I was turning 50 to 51 at the time, and, you know, I have since actually retired from my full-time role with Franklin Covey, I'm now a consultant and advisor on a contract. And as an officer in a public company, I wasn't able to do some things I wanted to do as an officer. So I had a great departure with the CEO and the board. And here I am still at Franklin Covey today taping this podcast because we're in great standing, but it allows me some latitude to do some things on my own. I want to do with the company's blessing that I couldn't have done as an officer in a public firm.
Josh Steimle
Now, Franklin Covey is well known for leadership. Of course, those of us who are a little bit older, I mean, the kids won't understand. But Franklin Covey got big because of paper planners. And I've got a couple of those still, with all my notes, and everything and ABC and all that stuff. And they're huge, and they're heavy. And today, Franklin Covey seems to be more about leadership training than it is about organization and productivity. Is that right?
Scott Miller
Yeah, I think it's very right, we really gained our influence on two things simultaneously, the planning process, the planning tool, from the Franklin quest company, and the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People from the covey company, they merged in 97. And then about a decade later, the company completely divested ourselves and all the retail stores, have the planning tools, if you will, and became an organizational performance improvement consulting company, solely about a decade ago, we almost exclusively reach all of our individuals through organizational performance.
Josh Steimle
And thought leadership is a subsection of leadership. What is the role of thought leadership in the Franklin Covey Empire these days?
Scott Miller
Yeah, I liken it to the new public relations. You know, gone are the days where you're issuing press releases and trying to get a reporter to cover you. There are no more reporters, there's no newsrooms, they're gone, right. The Salt Lake Tribune is now on Sundays only. You can't even get the Wall Street Journal, in Utah print anymore, it doesn't come. So thought leadership is really the megaphone that I'm responsible for holding up and sharing our unique point of view on our topics like strategy, execution, productivity, time management, building a high trust, culture, leadership, development, sales performance. My job is to make sure that our podcasts or books or articles or columns or keynote speeches, our appearances are pointed aimed at the right individual that's interested in learning from our expertise. So our job, the team that I lead . . . is to make sure that our thought leadership is targeted at and consumed by the people who need it.
Josh Steimle
So how often do you get in a conversation with an executive there, Franklin Covey, and they're talking about thought leadership and you say, you know what, you need to write a book?
Scott Miller
Never.
Josh Steimle
Never. That's not your job?
Scott Miller
That's not kind of . . . Well, I mean, occasionally, right? I mean, we have a, we have a book pipeline that is about three to four years out, as you know, any solid book takes you a good year to year and a half minimum to write. And then about another year to launch. The books that are coming out in 2023, they've already been written and decided for most publishing houses, right, so and then the bigger a book . . . the bigger the book, the longer it takes to write. Brendon Bouchard is a good friend of mine. And he takes about three to four years to write his book; spends a million dollars on research, Tony Robbins, who I don't know personally, but we share the same literary agent, he usually has three ghost writers working at any given time simultaneously helping him. For us, we're very strategic in how we launch our books, usually in alignment with one of our solutions. And then occasionally, I will look at maybe the CEO or someone and say, should we write a book about that? And they'll usually say yes, but I don't want to write that book. Find someone else. Like, it takes a lot as you know, to write a book and then even more to publicize it. Writing a book is about 20% of the process of publishing a book. I'll do 125 podcasts just for this book alone.
Josh Steimle
That's incredible. So tell us a little bit more about that. What's the 80 other 80% . . . for those who are listening to this entrepreneurs . . . they're thinking about becoming a first time author, what do they need to know about the book writing book, publishing process and that other 80% that might be a mystery to them?
Scott Miller
I could talk a long time about this I'll try to keep it short. First of all, don't let anybody talk you out of your book; yes, the world needs your book if your book is good. So if you've got a book in you get it out of you. The first question I would ask though is why are you writing the book? Is it because you want to give a memoir to your children? Is it because you want to go become a speaker, you want to build your brand? do you want to go . . . become a . . . you know, a consultant? Because no one's going to make money on books it's like you know the upper 1% is making money on books. So first is be very clear on your why. Sounds like a cliche but it is the most important thing. right. and then decide what is your book writing process. For me, I use Post It notes. So I sit in my office and put Post It notes up on my wall and organize them in colors and themes. And I start to write books every morning from 4am to 5:30 every day 4am to 5:30 non-stop ‘til it's done; that's my writing process. I think not everybody needs a literary agent. If you know you know someone in the business but if you don't find one. By the way every publisher is always looking for new books. So don't feel like you should be embarrassed or walk on eggshells. Every publishing house is always looking for new authors and new books. In the fiction world your book should be done. And the nonfiction world it is enough to kind of have an idea and an outline. It's a very different world. But I think the key to all successful book launches are two things. One, write a damn good book and then, two, you got to build your social media. You know most publishers won't even speak to you if you don't have 50,000 Instagram followers and 100,000 YouTube subscribers, and you've maxed your LinkedIn and maxed you Instagram and your Facebook; you've got to build a social media. And too many authors say Yeah i don't want to play that game. Then you're not going to sell a book. I don't believe in billboards or radio or tv you've got to get over your stigma around social media. There is no book promotion without social media. So have a martini throw a dinner plate in the garage whatever you got to do . . . get over your social media phobia and it'll take you two years minimally to build your social media. And then I think your whole idea is what are you going to do to launch the book because don't mistake your publisher for anything more than they are your publisher increasingly rarely pays you in advance. They edit your book they print your book and they distribute your book, meaning they get it from the printing company to Amazon's warehouse, to Barnes and Nobles' distribution system through probably Ingram. But don't mistake printing and distributing your book for marketing your book. Your publisher does not market your book now they might do this here and there, some SEO searcher, get it on walmart.com to compete against Amazon if you're lucky for a pricing war. You might get that if you have a genius publisher. But 95% or more of all the marketing comes from you: podcast, webinars, speeches, keynotes your website, your social media, sending out galley copies to anybody in everybody, messaging every high school girlfriend, every former professor who hated you in college . . . and everybody, everybody! Working tirelessly to build your book that is your job as the author, you are the promoter.
Josh Steimle
Now you've got your successful podcast, you've got social media. What are some other parts of your platform that have been especially valuable for you when it comes to marketing your books?
Scott Miller
So keep in mind i don't market my books through the podcast because the podcast is owned by Franklin Covey. Some of my books are theirs and some of my own, right? So for example Marketing Master Brand Success, I own this book; you will never hear me speak about it on Franklin Covey's podcast; it's not appropriate. But I mentioned, I think I just think all things come down to your social media because that is the megaphone. You need to have an email database, right? I will send messages to all of my connections on LinkedIn in the hopes that they'll be interested in the book. Keep in mind, I've been nurturing that for years, right, with weekly articles that I've written for LinkedIn for my Inc column. I wrote an article for another business magazine in Utah. I post two and three times a day in my social, putting a spotlight on others, making sure I'm an abundant contributor. So I nurture my social media extremely methodically, hopefully abundantly and generously. I have an opt-in email database, I have websites for all of my books, and all of my products and tools. I also develop derivative products. So for example, like the book, I have a card deck. So for every content I teach, I have card decks that I use for keynote speeches, I'm involved with speakers bureaus, I'm constantly out evangelizing my book on podcast as a participant, so depending on the kind of book, your strategy might be different, but I got a 25 point plan to launch my book. And I'm tirelessly building Facebook, Ambassador groups, right and launching other people's books for them, so that they'll give me the same treatment when my books launched. It is, um, I probably spent 150 hours writing Marketing Mess, I'll spend 2000 hours publishing Marketing Mess.
Josh Steimle
That 25-point plan that sounds pretty interesting. You could write a book about that, too.
Scott Miller
You know, I could absolutely write a book about how to launch a book, and have it all be focused on it is your responsibility to build a plan that is relevant for the industry relevant for the month, the year, the day when you're launching it? And it all comes down to what are your goals for launching the book, right? Because everybody's got everybody's different goal for the book. A lot of people want to write a book and they're going to make a ton of money. Now you're going to make about maybe if you're lucky, $3 a book. That's a lot of books, right? Kind of like opening a donut shop, you got to sell a lot of donuts to make any money.
Josh Steimle
Yep. So how do you benefit from your books, then if you're not really making money off the book sales? How does it benefit you?
Scott Miller
We also I everybody, again, has different motivations. Right? So from an economic standpoint, yes, I'll make some money off the books. But for me, it's primarily keynoting. Right, is it's kind of hard to be a credible keynoter without a book behind you. And so for me from an economic standpoint, the revenue upside is generally in keynoting. Live and virtual conferences, company events, sales, kickoffs, industry associations, things like that. I write these books because like I said, When I opened up, I'm humbled and grateful that people want to consume my wisdom, mainly from my mistakes, not from my successes. So my primary motivation is to give back and to educate others. Watch out for that pothole, walk around to that pothole, because I'm sitting in that pothole, right. from an economic standpoint, for me, it's mainly around keynote speeches, and also driven products, right, I sell a lot of tools like this and card decks, and I have a coaching series online called ignite your genius. And so for me, I'm building a multi decade brand that has a lot of different touch points and from my experience, but it's the advice I give every author, Josh, is be very clear on your why. Because your Why might be to build a brand for your consulting company, your Why might be to share your story just because you want to give back. Your Why might be you want to sell books to develop a speaking career. It's a really first question everyone should be very clear on because then your book should be written to support that motivation.
Josh Steimle
Has your Why changed since you wrote your first book?
Scott Miller
No, not really. I'm in - knock on wood - great demand for speaking. Because not all authors have a stage presence, right? For what I lack perhaps in intellectual gravitas to my books, I make up for real life application that I can bring alive in a way that connects to an audience on a stage or virtual. But no my Why is the same. My Why is probably to is to share my knowledge with others and earn a living. And I'm unabashedly not ashamed of that, right? I don't I don't ever apologize for having my top professional value be to earn income. I'm the sole provider for four people who are dependent upon me financially. And I take that responsibility very seriously. And I hope that the way I earn money is being seen as credible and ethical, and value add to others people are willing to pay money for your knowledge and I'm happy to tap into that.
Josh Steimle
Now you have a lot of books on the shelf behind you for those who are listening. What do you think it? Yeah, and on the sides too? The wrap the room! How important is it for a writer, for an author to also be a reader?
Scott Miller
I couldn't imagine you could write without being a voracious reader. I mean, I've read all these books behind me, there's hundreds of them. I know I'm not the smartest cat in the world, right? I've had I've had a decent education, and I've had a great professional experience, but my books are not, you know, empirically research. They're not meant to be they're meant to be experiential. And this is what I suffered from. And much of my knowledge is as an aggregator. So most of my books, Dan pink taught me this Seth Godin taught me that Doris Kearns Goodwin taught me this, Liz Wiseman taught me that so most of my books are me sharing ideas and lessons that I have learned from others, whereby I give them credit. And I talk about how that lesson has worked in my life or how I struggled against it or failed. So at heart, I'm an aggregator, and I unabashedly admit that, I'm proud of that. And to answer your question, it's been instrumental could not imagine writing a book without being a voracious reader and learner, because I don't know who it was, was it wisdom, Churchill, or someone said, I'm going to slaughter this, you can only think, as deep as your vocabulary is broad, or something like that.
Josh Steimle
That sounds pretty good.
Scott Miller
And if you're not reading, how else do you build your vocabulary?
Josh Steimle
Yeah. Now, Franklin Covey, you've been surrounded by some great leaders. Before we started recording we are talking about Blaine Lee in his book, The Power principle. I'm good friends with one of Blaine Lee’s sons and you worked with Blaine Lee directly. You also of course, worked with Stephen R. Covey before he passed away. What are some of the most valuable lessons that you've learned firsthand from some of these great leaders who have come through FranklinCovey.
Scott Miller
I am delighted you asked me that. Dr. Blaine Lee was one of the founders of the Covey Leadership Center. He wrote the book behind me and blue called the power principle next to the book that I co- authored. Everyone deserves a great manager of all the things that Blaine Lee, who passed about maybe 13 years ago, 12 years ago, he said something that I've heard many times, but I think it's profound. It's nearly all, if that all conflict in life comes from mismatched, or unfulfilled expectations. I think that is just absolutely piercingly insightful. Think about the conflict in your life, and how often has it come because you didn't declare your intent. You didn't move outside your comfort zone, you didn't discuss the undiscussables and get clear on what you would or would not offer someone else, what you can and cannot expect from someone else. Dr. Covey said so many wise things, you can't talk yourself out of a problem you've behaved yourself into. He shared that you build trust with those who are present, when you are loyal to those who are absent. He also shared this concept that I struggle with daily and that is with people fast is slow and slow, is fast. You cannot be efficient with people, you can be efficient with taking out the garbage, washing your car, mowing your lawn, sending some tax posting some social things, but you can only be effective in relationships because an organization's most valuable asset are not its people. It's not true. People are not a company's most valuable asset. It's the relationships between those people. That is what's irreplaceable. irreparable, you can't replicate it in a culture. So I've learned a lot from I've learned almost everything I know. From my 25 years at Franklin Covey, it's been a blessing.
Josh Steimle
There’re some great takeaways here for authors who are developing content and trying to form a connection and relationship with their readership.
Scott Miller
There are I think, as an author, you have to have an inherent abundant mentality. You cannot be a scarce thinker and hoard information. Because I think you're going to want to ask people can I write about you in your book is going to get their permission, you cannot write about someone without their permission. true or not, especially if you're working for a company. And so you want to be able to pull on people's research and share their examples. You want them to become your champion. You want them to endorse your book and promote your book and exchange you promoting there. So I think there's a significant basis of reciprocity that comes in writing a book that's grounded and having an abundance mentality.
Josh Steimle
I really do have a feeling that we could talk for hours about this and it would be fascinating to listen to some of the lessons you've picked up. Let's change tax a little bit and let's talk about your book that is coming out soon marketing master brand success. Now what's the release date for this?
Scott Miller
May 11 in hardcover, it's available on Amazon and all the retail sites now for pre-order.
Josh Steimle
Awesome. So if you're listening to this, you can preorder it right now you can probably by the time this comes out, you'll probably be able to actually go over to the hardcopy. Why was this the next book in the series that you wrote? Well, I think
Scott Miller
The publisher and I reviewed five or six different topics that I had experience and passion, mistakes, messes around. And I just come off this decade long tenure as the chief marketing officer and executive vice president of thought leadership. And I had a very successful run. I'm extraordinarily proud of the role that our team of almost 35 people in the marketing division had had, I was privileged to lead a team of insanely competent, trustworthy people. And I found that there was a great need in organizations to help other marketers build a career for themselves, how to understand what is the role marketing plays, in a private company in a public company in a not for profit in a solopreneur entrepreneurial setting? How does marketing coexist with sales, I'm not a big sports fan. But you know, being from Utah I know the Jazz well, and I liken marketing to the famous Jazz duo, Karl Malone and John Stockton, you always heard that Stockton to Malone. And I always I very much see marketing as John Stockton and sales as Karl Malone. And for those of you who are old enough to know, there was that famous maneuver, I guess, you know, Stockton to Malone, John Stockton, his job, in many cases was to set Carl Malone up at the net. And I may have that partially right and partially wrong. But I very much see marketing, in a support role, helping sales. I think too many marketers focus on creativity and their outlets and building brand, only a number of impressions. Last time I checked, Josh, you cannot staple brand, to the back of a deposit slip for the bank. brand is enormously important. But marketers have got to be attached to revenue, and cash in the bank, the lifeblood of every company. So I want to take my sales experience. And my executive office experience as a C as a C level officer and help marketers become really relevant. And by learning some of the lessons that I've you know, either succeeded or failed in so for me naturally, coming off the CMO role, marketing, that's what's next.
Josh Steimle
Are there any of these principles or lessons from the book that you would say are particularly relevant for authors for entrepreneurs writing a book and trying to get that out?
Scott Miller
Yeah. Number seven, and this is the card deck I mentioned, if you actually preorder the book and go to marketingmessbook.com, I'll email you a digital copy of the deck. You also can buy them there, and print. But challenge seven is bruise hard, and heal fast. And I think that's so important. You need as an author, not just to surround yourself with people who love you and adore you and validate you, you need a circle of critics, you need people who are challenging you that say that chapter sucks, or that's a good idea, but you didn't take it where I thought you should take it. Don't just write your book, in a vacuum of people that adore you and love you. That's not helpful. You need to build a circle of challengers, people who disagree with you who perhaps don't like you, or don't like your writing style, and then take their point of view, or leave their point of view. But it's important to hear it so I think bruise hard and heal fast. And here's challenge 13 This one is called more is not better, better is better, more is not better, better is better. Do not as an author fall into the trap where your publisher has given you. Well, you got to have 55,000 words, b s, let me tell you something, no one wants to read 55,000 words. It's why Josh, the last half of every book sucks, because most authors only have about 35,000 words in them. So they phone the second half in with filler. It's why most of us only finish the first half of books, write the book, and then stop. And if your book is 34,000 words, then so be it. You're seeing books be shorter and shorter. Now there are some thresholds on how many words you need to also tape an audio book. I think it's 35,000 words he should know that because audio books are on a steep rise right now. both print and digital are about flat. They're very strong book sales in general, are very robust across the world, audios and a hockey stick right now. But more is not better, better is better. You write the book that you think your readers need. And don't write a single word more. And you find the right publisher who believes in that book at that size.
Josh Steimle
So good. So Scott, you're saying that you wake up every morning you write for an hour and a half? Are there times when you just don't want to do that? Are there times when you sit down to write and you get stuck, you get writer's block. How do you push through that?
Scott Miller
Yes, because I'm human. Here's a great example, that this one was a little bit unusual. I woke up at 230. This morning, I couldn't sleep I had so many projects. I woke up unusually at 230. Usually, it's about four. I woke up before. But let me tell you, I crashed at 930. I am asleep at 930 every night, provided my boys are in bed. This morning, I wake up at 230. And I'm writing a book for Harper Collins that is a softcover book. And in softcover books you don't, I don't have the benefit of having the jacket that has the flaps that fold in. So there are some softcover books that have what are called French flaps, and a French flap are when the softcover book folds in and provides you the flaps. Well, the I have a book for HarperCollins. And today, it was due to the publisher, all of the text for both inside of the French flaps. So I spent from 2:30 a.m., to 4 a.m. writing all the content for these different flaps, I send it off, I'm so proud of myself, it's four o'clock, I'm going to get my day started. I get a call from the editor about 8 this morning, I'm on my way to the studio or take the podcast. And he calls, I'm super busy, like I can't talk. It's like I got a problem. What's that? Thank you for the content for the French flaps this morning. But you wrote it for an entirely different book. Can I tell you I spent an hour and a half this morning writing content for a different book I'm writing for this book. And for an hour and a half, I didn't realize that
Josh Steimle
So many projects going on.
Scott Miller
More is not better, better is better Miller, take your own medicine! So I think it's important that you write when you should write Dan pink in his book, When, popularized the concept of knowing your circadian cycle, right, your peak your trough and your recovery. And my peak is usually about 4am to 10am. That's where my energy is highest. I tend to trough from 10 to two and recover from about two to six or so. So my advice to your listeners and viewers is what is your peak? What is your trough? And what is your recovery? And right in accordance with that. some people write best in the evening, some write best on the weekends away from their family and a cabin somewhere everyone's got a different process. Find your own.
Josh Steimle
So talking about writer's block again, have you gotten stuck ever for an extended period of time? And how did you break through it?
Scott Miller
I did I and I hadn't until recently I owed a book to a publisher. And I literally had to put it away for about six weeks. I'm a Catholic. It haunted me the guilt. I was missing the deadlines. I had to call and grovel and beg and they had to push the deadline. You know, publishers, like I said had these books planned years out and involves shelf space and distribution. And post-COVID printing books as a problem. Now a lot of the printers went belly-up. So actually, it's not hard to get your book distributed. It's hard to get a book physically printed right now. Don't let anybody tell you print books aren't popular. Print books are wildly popular. They're just less important to Amazon than the 80,000 cappuccino machines they'll sell today. So Amazon's way backed up on their print books. But yeah, I just came clean. I called it my author and said I'm not feeling like this. I need a break from this. And they were very generous to me, this is not a new thing to them. Writer's block is a real thing. And for everyone, it's different. Right? For some you may have to completely check out for some you may have to you know, go on vacation. For some they have to read some books and get regenerated, rejuvenated. But it's very real, it will happen. And just move through it. Might take you longer than you longer than you'd like. But it writer's block should be more like writer's . . . What's the word? Not block, like writer's mud, right? You're going to move through it, it's going to be dirty, but it's not going to stop you. It might just stall you and then refocus you.
Josh Steimle
For you, was it a burnout type of thing? You're just I'm just tired. I just don't want to do it, or was it a hang up where you were like, I'm writing this and something's wrong. And I've got to figure it out before I can proceed?
Scott Miller
Yeah, it's insightful of you. Total burnout. I'd written half the book. And I was writing two books simultaneously, not to mention, you know, a vast list of other life obligations and I just need to step away from it for about six weeks. I did come back roaring, finish the book off and under three weeks over the Christmas holidays. I was super proud. I am super proud of this book that will come out, and about nine months from now called Master Mentors. And I needed to step away. I had spread myself too thin and it was, I hate to admit it, it was sapping my creativity, it was more of a chore than a joy. If your book is a chore, it will show, it will read as such; if your book is a gift and a joy, it will show, it will read as such.
Josh Steimle
I mean, writing multiple books at the same time, it's kind of like training for multiple physical events like a marathon and a triathlon and something else all at the same time.
Scott Miller
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it. But for me, it has worked. Generally speaking. I'm reading two more books starting in about two months. I will write them simultaneous because they're very different books on different topics, right one is going to be Job Master Career Success. The other will be Master Mentors, Volume Two, they're very different books. But I usually do fits and starts, right, I'll work on one for 10 days and stop it, and then work on another for 10 days and stop it. I still think about it. But it isn't like I spend 45 minutes reading one and then 40 writing another I tend to go on a journey, and then unpack and go on a different journey for the different book.
Josh Steimle
So I once heard an author say that the best marketing tool for their book was their next book as somebody who's written multiple books do you see the truth of that?
Scott Miller
That makes sense to me. But not everybody's got multiple books in them right? And I don't think you have to I think you I my advice would generally not do what I do is that I would get really focused on the book you're writing. I have the privilege like you have interviewing some pretty phenomenal guests, me excluded, and they all do share one thing in common the big names the Dan Pinks the Seth Goldens the Liz Wisemans, the Rachel Hollis says they're usually the Ryan Holidays. They're usually obsessed on the book that they're writing. And they don't know what's next, they have an inkling. But they usually write furiously for a year or two, they launched for nine months. And then literally, they do nothing for four or five months, they repair, they heal, they rejuvenate, they cogitate, they explore. And then something starts to come in their mind and they kind of have to validate it, and then they're on to the next project. So I think again, it's just a different facet for everyone. I think here's what I would leave you with this thought. I think too many of us, including, me spend too much time studying other people. And we don't spend enough time studying ourselves. And when you spend time studying yourself, you know where you find joy, where you find energy where you deplete, where you infuse, you know how you will write best. Study yourself, get to know your own style and needs and distractions and focal points. Study others less.
Josh Steimle
I think that's a great place to wrap things up. Scott, if people want to learn more about you, where can they go?
Scott Miller
Josh, thank you for asking. ScottJeffreymiller.com, go figure, is my website you can visit that all my books are there the Genius Coaching series is there, and 14 modules you can sign in and subscribe to. You also can visit the site for this new book marketingmessbook.com
Josh Steimle
Great. Thanks so much for being with us here today, Scott, and sharing all this wisdom. It's been fantastic.
Scott Miller
Josh, thank you for the spotlight, man. Nice meeting you.
