Why You Need To Publish Your Book: What A Book Can Do For Your Business And Your Life with Anna David at Joe Polish's Genius Network - Genius Network Episode #137

When I started going on TV all the time, I said to my TV agent, like, this is ridiculous. I mean, talk about imposter syndrome. Should I go get a degree? Like, shouldn't I get like a master's in psychology or something? Because I'm going on, they're picking me over doctors to go on. And he looked at me like I was crazy. And he's like, a degree? Why would you need a degree?

Anna David, an author, journalist, coach, podcast host, and TV personality, has personally experienced what can happen when you publish a book. From more business, more speaking gigs and more credibility to improved mental health and a connected relationship with her audience, Anna has learned that books are the college degrees of today. In this episode, Anna shares her struggle with addiction and how writing a book opened more doors in business and life than she thought ever possible. If you'd like to learn more about the Genius Network annual event or to apply, go to geniusnetwork.com any entrepreneur who.

Hasn'T published a book is missing out on one of the most crucial marketing tools in existence. There's no better tool for getting media exposure and speaking jobs. As a New York Times best selling author of eight books, Anna David has spent the past two years producing books for entrepreneurs and watching their careers skyrocket as a result. So she's in a unique position to share about the benefits of independent publishing and what can be done to your career as a result. Her title is what a book can do for your business and you'd life. Please help me welcome my co author, Anna David.

Okay, so who of you has come to after a very rough night, looked up at a friend, heard the friend go, oh, you're breathing and not even sounding that happy? Nobody? Okay, well, good. I can't say the same. It was the morning after my 26th birthday, which I had spent. I told all of my friends, which is to say all the people I did drugs with to gather at a bar, and I said, don't bring me a present unless it's drugs. But drug addicts are not known for their listening skills or their present giving abilities. So nobody even listened to me. Except one friend, my friend Drew. And he comes up to me and he's like, I have your present. It's in the bathroom. I stole it from my roommate. And I think we can all agree it's better when a present isn't stolen, right? But I was not in a position to be picky, so I knew what he meant. I go into the bathroom, I see like two lines of cocaine, and I take the Dollar bill that I always had rolled up in my back pocket. And I snort the lines, and immediately I'm like, the world, it's not like it goes upside down or sideways, but it's like, remember Rubik's Cubes? It was like it was being violently twisted by a demonic 9 year old. I was suddenly like, oh, my God. Whoa. And I felt like I couldn't talk and I couldn't move, but I was standing and I was wide awake, so I was like, okay. So I did what felt like the most logical thing, which is like I look in the back of the bar and I just make a beeline. And in the back there's this parking lot, and in the parking lot there's a dumpster. And this, by the way, is the COVID of one of my recent books, because I wrote about this experience in the book and the dumpster was not on, but I was like a dumpster fire at this point in my life. And I go and I lie down next to the dumpster and I just kind of. That's how I spent my 26th birthday. People would come out and be like, happy birthday. And no one seemed surprised that that's how I was spending my birthday. And at the end of the night, I don't really remember this, but I guess two friends took me, put me in their car and put me on their couch. And that's how I came to the next morning with my friend saying, oh, you're breathing. And not sounding that happy about it. Now, that would have been that. But a funny thing happened. In fact, a few funny things. One, I realized I was an addict and I got sober. I went to rehab, and that was November 19th. It'll be 19 years ago. I haven't had a drug or drink since. Thank you. But the really interesting thing is I wrote a book about it. Now, that book, Party Girl, happened to come out at a time when, like, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and all of these girls were making headlines for being party girls. So I started getting asked to go on TV to talk about the party girl phenomenon. That's a phenomenon, as it turns out. So I go on Fox News, and then I go on the Today show, and then I went on. I was on television hundreds of times over the last. The next 10 years talking about the party girl phenomenon, writing articles about it. And it just blew my mind that my only expertise was in rolling up dollar bills and snorting drugs through them. I was good at that, but I had no expertise in any other thing. And so then I Realized what could happen when you wrote a book. And so then I ended up. And as Joe said in the intro, I ended up writing seven more, including one with him. Now, I said, when I started going on TV all the time, I said to my TV agent, this is ridiculous. I mean, talk about imposter syndrome. Should I go get a degree? Shouldn't I get a master's in psychology or something? Because I'm going on, they're picking me over doctors to go on. And he looked at me like I was crazy. And he's like, a degree? Why would you need a degree? You have a book. And that's when I realized books really are the new degrees. And this is how I know this where I went to college. Beautiful. Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut. We were talking about it last night. It's a lovely school. It's called A Little Ivy. Do you know how many people care that I went? Does anyone here care that I went to Trinity College? Oh, that's very sweet, Jason, but really, nobody cares that I went to Trinity College. Do you want to know how many people I meet who care that I have written eight books and that one is a New York Times bestseller. Kind of like everybody I meet, and I'm not the only person this is true for. I did a story for Entrepreneur magazine about entrepreneurs whose lives changed as a result of writing their books. Now, Sheryl Sandberg, great example, Mark Zuckerberg's number two. Then she writes Lean in and suddenly she's like the spokesperson for women worldwide. And Lean in groups are launching everywhere. And then there's James Altucher, like kind of a random investor. Entrepreneur guy writes this book, choose yourself, self publishes it, sells 45,000 copies in its first month. And suddenly he's like everywhere with his crazy hair. And then there's someone you know, JJ Virgin, four time New York Times best selling author. So I spoke to her for that article and she said to me, if people read my books, they'll buy my products. We have a relationship. They just took you into their bedroom or their bathroom? Yeah, I mean, it's true. They do. They feel like they know you. And then someone else. You know, I spoke to Cameron for that story and we talked about Double. Double. You told me I didn't even really want to write a book. I just wanted to increase my speaking fees. And they went from $15,000. I'm sure there are way more now, but they went to $30,000 after that book came out. But you said to me something I thought was even more interesting, which is, I'LL run across people sharing my ideas every day on social media. That wouldn't have happened without my books. So as it turns out, a crazy thing has happened. Authors like the writers, the butt of every joke. We have become the celebrities today. We're the ones that are on red carpets and signing books and with our names on marquees. I mean, how did this happen? Like when I moved to Hollywood 20 years ago, the joke was if you want to make sure you get nowhere in Hollywood, make sure you sleep with the writer. Like the writer has no place. So what has happened? I think that it's like we live in this insta fame society where you can get famous. If you make a video of yourself sobbing, leave Britney alone. You who remembers this guy? Four million views in two days. That guy became famous. He's now a porn star. I didn't even know that. Right. Anybody can get famous for anything and so it's very exciting. So authors are kind of the only ones with credibility anymore. But the problem is that traditional publishing is completely broken. I know this because I did six books with HarperCollins and I watched my book deals go from. My final book deal was for $2,000. That means I probably lost about like $50,000 in terms of the time I spent working these days. Three in 10,000 book proposals written sell to traditional publishers. Three in 10,000. And those that do sell, the publishers don't do anything. What they do is they pick like one or two books a season. They put all the marketing, all the energy behind that. It's always the low hanging fruit too. And then they leave the others to sort of flail in the wind. And I know this because I was one of the flailers. But I see this as a really good thing because the gatekeepers are gone. We don't need those people anymore. Anybody who has a story to tell can tell it. And any business person who is not telling it through a book is missing out on the most crucial aspect of their marketing. There is another thing I've realized and that is what we share in those books is so important. I have found that when I share those things that I might be biggest struggles, those things I'm most ashamed of, those things that have been the greatest lessons. That's when the true freedom comes. Because it's like I get emails every day. I've been really vocal about my recovery from day one and I get emails all the time telling me I would never have come forward if it hadn't been for you. If I hadn't read this thing you wrote. If I hadn't seen this thing you said. And I'm not saying it to brag. I'm saying it because this is what happens when we put our ideas into books. And. And there's another thing. I have done every like, I have done therapy since I was 16. I have done 12 steps since the year 2000. I have done EMDR, trauma therapy. I have done everything. I even do all that, like, crazy shit that Joe always talks about. The floating and the freezing and the like. Everything. I wrote a story for Psychology Today about trying cryotherapy as a treatment for depression. Kind of think it worked, too. But my point is, I have never found the kind of freedom I have found from sharing about my struggles in a book is greater than any of that. So all you have to do to find your book is ask yourself two questions. One, what are my audience's pain points? It's a secret. Write it down. And two, what lights up my soul? Find those two things and you have your answer. Now this is what James Altucher told me when I spoke to him for this story. I wanted people to know how hard it is to fail to confess mistakes in a world where everyone pretends to be perfect. It was this very style of writing that multiplied my readers by 100 times. So that is my message to you. Figure out your story. Share your story. Let it launch you to a new level. Possibly save a life. And it might even be your own.

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