New podcast with Tyler Wagner- Authors Unite

Parents, is your teen college ready? Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or excited about your teen applying to college? Do you know what colleges are looking for? And if your kid gets in, do you know what you'll pay for it? College admission has never been so competitive or expensive. Shellee Howard will take you on a journey to help you and your teen get college ready. Now here's your host, Shellee.

Hello, listeners. This is Shellee Howard with College Ready and Parents. Is your teen college ready? Today I have an amazing guest, Tyler Wagner. Can you introduce yourself, please?

Yeah, of course. So Tyler Wagner, as you said, I run two companies. One's called Authors Unite. The other is called Infinite Partnership System. And I think today we'll probably talk more about Authors Unite. But essentially my story in a shortened version is I was 19 years old and I decided to drop out of college after being there for about a year and a half, 2 years. And I wrote a book, it became a bestseller. And now 12 years later, we've helped, uh, a little over 4,000 people become bestselling authors now. So kind of crazy. I never thought I'd be a book publisher or helping people with books, but that is the path that was somewhat laid out for me after some actions that I took. So that's the story.

So I love to ask my guests the question of, did you know in high school that you would be in the book business? Anything that has to do with books?

Nothing. No, I had no idea in high school. I remember my mindset in high school, which is probably not the best mindset, is I'm going to figure this out once I get to college. So I was just putting off even the thinking of anything my future would be, but it ended up working out. So, but the answer to your question is absolutely not.

Right. So for those listeners out there who are frustrated when adults say, hey, what are you going to major in? And they feel like they should know, are you saying it's okay for them not to know?

Totally. I think it's okay for them not to. And I think What I've come to realize, and hopefully this is really helpful, is a lot of figuring things out in life is taking action and then assessing how everything went when you took that action. How did you feel? What was the result? And like, for me, my major in college when I first went was accounting. I am like the biggest people person in the world. Accounting does not fit me in any way, shape, or form. I am not the guy that's going to be at a desk by himself for 10 hours a day crunching numbers.. But to figure that out, I had to major in that and feel the pain of it to then realize like, oh no, I need to be doing something where I'm around people all the time. That's what lights me up, you know? So take action and then reflect and then keep moving towards the, the, the positive.

I love that. It aligns fully with why I wanted you on the show. So let me share. Yeah. So as part of being a college-ready student, students commit to 200 community service hours. Why 200? Because it is Shellee Howard's belief that if every teenager before they graduated high school did 200 hours of serving their community, our world would be a much different place. And it helps them to figure out what am I good at, what do I want to do, what I, I shouldn't do, right? If you did this as an accountant, or somebody with numbers, you probably would have figured it out before it was your major, right?

Absolutely, absolutely.

So that is why I wanted you on the show, because we have some students who are more of the liberal arts mindset— the writers, the journalists, the historians, the communication, you know, yearbook— those students. How can those students utilize what you've built to help them prepare for college?

Yeah, absolutely. I think so. There's two things that come to mind. One is, you know, and you know about this more than me, as far as like what helps somebody get into the best college or not even necessarily the best college, but whatever the best college for them is. And to me, it seems like a no-brainer that if a student like the one that you are kind of avatar in there were to take the time to write a book and let's even put like bestseller to the side. Like if you become a bestselling author and you're, you know, middle school or high school, to me that is, you will be such a unicorn. I mean, I think you can, I don't know, I would imagine that would help you get into any college you wanted almost. There's other elements, but I think that would help a lot. But let's just say that you took the time to just write a book, didn't hit bestseller, but you became an author. To me, not only what that would have colleges and, um, uh, jobs look at you, like the way that they would view you would be incredible, but the experience that you would personally go through and what you would learn from taking the time to write that book, it would be so invaluable. I mean, the perseverance, the consistency, like everything you would learn about yourself and gain as far as just becoming a professional. Writing a book is like no joke. Like, it is hard. Like, it's one of the hardest. So I just think if you were to take that on in a middle high school time, it's just, it would be looked at so amazingly by anybody that would be considering accepting you to a college or hiring you. And the person you would become from doing it, you know, would just be incredible. So that's one thing I'd say. And the second thing I want to say is just from the experience of doing this for as long as I have, you know, a lot of times when you're more like artistic or on that liberal art side of things, you know, you, you still want to think about things from a business side, right? Like making a bunch of money from book sales, it's, it's super rare. It can happen. Like I have friends that are authors that have sold millions of copies and look, it happens, but it's like one in a million, totally. So if you're, if you are writing a book, then think about what are some other elements that, you could like make money or do things with it. Like for example, maybe you want to get a job in a certain, um, uh, a certain niche, maybe write the book in that niche. And then the person who you're applying for that job for, if you have a book about it, it'll be easier to get that job. Or let's say for my example, I wrote my book when I was 19 years old after I dropped outta college and I wrote it because I wanted to be a public speaker and my book was called Conference Crushing. And it was basically how to network at conferences. So what I did is I wrote the book, became a bestseller, and then I would pitch conferences to have me speak for an hour to open up their event. So it was like very planned out, and there was other revenue-generating activities on the back end of the book. It wasn't just the book. So hopefully those two things are helpful.

So helpful. So I have to share briefly my— how I became a bestselling author because it is— it was not by choice. Okay. It was kind of like maybe a little bit like your story. So when my son was preparing for going through high school and preparing for college, I spent about 20 to 30 hours a week after becoming a Certified Independent College Consultant because I couldn't find anybody to help him. His dream was to be a brain surgeon and go to an Ivy League school. And I was the first to go to college. Like, we're not talking medicine in my family at all. And so I'm entrepreneur-minded. I'm like, let's just build it, right? And so when he graduated, long story short, he had 7 top-tier offers, got a full ride to USC, and Harvard matched it. So when I dropped him off at Harvard, he said, Mom, you have to write a book how we did this. And I said, son, if you graduate with honors from Harvard debt-free, I will write the book, thinking there's no way that's going to happen. So when he crossed the stage at Harvard graduation, he handed me his diploma and he's like, mom, where's the book? And I was like, what the heck? You remembered the book? That is what happened. So I kept my word and I completely shut life down for 3 months and I wrote my heart out. I poured everything that was up here into the pages. And the book is called How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money. And it was released and a bestseller in 24 hours. And It was the craziest thing because it was hard and I'm not— I don't enjoy writing. But what motivated me is he did what he said he was going to do. So I had to do— keep my word. So for those listening out there, if you're not just like, woo, I can't wait to write a book, like, yeah, that sounds awesome. You just heard two people say like, that was not really part of my vision in life, but it really made a massive difference. Would you agree?

Oh, absolutely. And I think there were so many good points that you just brought up there. Like, I, and I, I run a publishing company and I honestly, I don't really enjoy writing either and I don't think I'm good at it. I just have really good editors and I'm good at marketing. So it's also like about staying in your genius zone and then hiring other people to fill in the other Areas. So yeah, I love, I love the title of your book too. I think that's awesome. Bestseller in 24 hours. That's incredible. And yeah, I don't know, I couldn't agree with you more. And one last thing I'll say is for me too, my mindset was when I was 19 and I wanted to be the public speaker, and this is how the book really changed my life besides, you know, besides the fact that it created my entire career, cuz I didn't know that was going to happen obviously, but I did know that if you go to conferences, you'll, you'll notice this now for anybody listening. Most of the speakers at conferences are authors or bestselling authors. Like, if you look at a roster of, let's say, 20 speakers at any given entrepreneurial event or really any just business event, 15 out of 20 are gonna be authors, like, guaranteed. So when I realized that, I was like, okay, my age is against me. I'm 19. Who's gonna, and I have like no experience really of what Andy says, you know. So who's gonna pay me? Yeah, that's— I was like, I always say the joke, I'm like, they're gonna pay me to like leave. So it's like, that's what I thought. But, uh, once I had the brand of bestselling author, the whole age thing was at the wayside. Like nobody even— in fact, it almost like then it actually was a pro because people were like, oh my God, you're only 19 and you're a bestselling author? Like, yeah, I'd love to have you speak. And I was getting paid anywhere from 1 to 3 grand at a, as a 19-year-old, like my rent was $400 a month. I remember this so vividly. Like, I really, that was probably the richest I ever felt in my life. Like my first, like 3 grand speaking gig. And I was like, oh my God, I'm good on rent for the next 6 to 8 months. This is incredible. Like, I remember like vividly thinking that. So either way, yeah, it changes your life, especially from a branding perspective.

It's huge. So let's talk a little bit about the— you don't have to go into deep detail, but say a student or a parent's thinking, you know, this would actually be a really great way for my student to stand out. What might they expect? Do you help them come up with the topic? Do you help, like, from, from ground zero?

Yeah.

What, what does that look like?

Yeah, I'll give it in like a macro view. So first thing is we'll meet you wherever you're at, right? So in some cases, people come to us and they have a rough draft, right? So they've already written and they just need editing, publishing, and marketing. So we can meet you right there and we would handle all of that. We'd edit it, publish it, make sure it hits one of the major bestseller lists. And then after that, there's even more things we can do. But once it has the bestseller, then I think it's at a point where you can leverage it, right? And then there's obviously marketing's limitless, so there's more things after that. But, or let's just say you have no desire to write, like maybe me or you, even though we did decide to do it, the desire wasn't necessarily there. It wasn't necessarily the funnest time of my life writing the book. But so if that's you, No problem. I mean, it's called ghostwriting. So basically what happens is one of our writers would interview you and then we pull the story out of you on like weekly Zoom meetings and we write the whole thing for you. So yeah, I mean, it, it could be a situation where you actually don't have to do really anything except show up for maybe like 6 to 10 weekly Zoom meetings for an hour and then everything else is handled.

Outstanding. Wow. It doesn't get easier than that. If you're listening, let me tell you, that wasn't my path.

Yeah, maybe.

Peter had a lot of lonely afternoons for sure. Me too. It does. The length of the book matter? A lot of students are like, well, how thick does it have to be? Right? That's their big concern. Does that matter?

I get that question all the time. So my answer to that always is, to me, I, I don't think it matters. And from the success of books, I haven't seen any like this page count or this range is the most successful. I think more what it is, is you— the process is more artistic, right? So you basically get everything out of your mind and then you cut away all the stuff that isn't necessary. And then what you're left with is the masterpiece of everything that is necessary to be in there without any fluff, right? A lot of stories, a lot of value, but it's not— it's only what needs to be in there to provide the most value for the reader. Now for my book, it was only like 70, 80 pages, very short, very skinny. It was more like a guide almost, the Conference Crushing one. The average like business book is anywhere from like 150 to 200 pages. That, that's kind of the average. But again, I, the idea of somebody starting their writing and trying to fit it into a box of a length, to me, I think that would really hurt the creativity. So I just think it's the length of whatever it needs to be, honestly, you know. Now, is there too short and too long? Like, it shouldn't be under 20 pages. Like, 20 pages, it won't even have a spine, so you can't even like print that. And then if it's 500 or 600, maybe that's actually kind of cool, but you know, most people might not read it because it's, you know, it's so long. So I think there's a happy medium, but there's not like an exact amount that it needs to be.

What about subject matter? Does that, you know, how would one decide as a 15, 16, and 17-year-old, what could I possibly write about? How, how does that come together?

I think at 15, 16, I think it would be like whatever you're most curious about at that time in your life. Like for me, and I, and I was 19, right? So few years off, I had been going to a bunch of conferences and that was— besides reading books, that was my number one way of learning things is just going to these events and connecting with people. And I had come to realize that I would leave these events and I would literally connect with like everyone. I was getting so much value from all these events and I would hear others talking about how they sometimes didn't get a lot of value. And in my mind I was like, oh, To me, the biggest reason was they were so focused on the content and not about the relationships. So that's kind of one of the core kind of values or things like in the book. So regardless, I think at 15, 16, it's unlikely that you're like a master at anything, although you could be. So anybody listening, maybe you are, and I apologize if so, but it's unlikely. So I would switch it more into a curiosity path of like What interests you that you're willing and you would find fun to maybe interview some people on that are experts, right? Like you could totally write a book and inter— like say it was golf, just a random example. You, you're not great at golf, but if you interviewed 20 golf experts, then you could write the book about what they say, add in your own stories, and there you go. Now you're viewed as a golf expert and you kind of are cuz you did all the research. So that's what I'd say is like, whatever you're curious about and you think would be fun, uh, research that, interview other experts that are already experts, and then put that into a book. That's how I would do it.

So fantastic. I can think of so many students who would benefit huge. I have several students who are doing really great research projects right now that could take that data and then turn it into a readable book versus a periodical. Um, and so that just kind of got my mind spinning. Now, what, how, like, what's the commitment? Time, money, like, what does that feel like?

Yeah, so a lot of times, as you, uh, definitely, uh, would know, I mean, I think you said you started 7 businesses, I think you had said. Um, so it's, it's a lot of times it's either time or money, right? So if you want to put in a lot of the time, then the money's less. So I'll break that situation down. So say if you want to write the book yourself, which is the most time-consuming part of the process, then our publishing is $8,500. Editing's custom, normally a couple grand. So putting the marketing to the side, you'd be looking at $10,000 to $12,000, something like that. If you want us to ghostwrite it for you, then it jumps up pretty dramatically. We charge $50K for that. So, you know, then you're looking at like $65K to $75K, but instead of having your head in the computer for 3 to 6 months or a year or maybe years sometimes, you know, all that time is avoided and it turns into, you know, 6 to 10 hours only and the whole thing's written for you. So, pretty big difference. And then for the bestseller stuff and making sure that it gets the viewership that it, I guess, would deserve, that ranges anywhere from 9,500 all the way up like New York Times bestseller, that's a crazy one. You're looking at like multiple six figures. And honestly, for somebody 15, 16, I wouldn't even recommend attempting that list. I would just, you know, Amazon, Barnes Noble, even Wall Street Journal would be incredible. But all in anywhere from $10,000, $12,000 all the way to like low, like $100,000 if you wanted us to go all in make it huge success, um, that, that's the range.

Okay, that's super helpful. So to break it down, the more time the student puts into it, the less expensive it will be, and vice versa. So you have time or money, it's the old adage of which you have more of. And then what, what is the, the process? Do you start with an outline Uh, do they have to turn in so many pages a day? Like, like, what does that look like? Can they stretch it out over, you know, if they start as a freshman and complete it by the time they're a senior? Is there a time limit? Like, just trying to make it available.

Yeah, we, uh, that would be completely custom, right? So it depends on like the way that— I guess depends on their lifestyle and what works best for them, but If we were writing it for them, that's normally weekly 1-hour Zoom meetings, and then each week our writer will complete 1 to 2 chapters, and then before the next week's session, the author will review those 1 or 2 chapters, provide feedback, and it's that basically loop over and over again until it's finished, you know, and it ends up normally being like 15, 20 chapters all in. So 6, 10 weeks accomplishes that normally. And then if you're writing it yourself— oh, and one last thing I'll say on that. We've had some people, which I think it's a little crazy, but some people actually pick a Sunday and they'll just have a 10-hour Zoom meeting and they just— their entire story out. And then instead of it being spread out like that, it's just one long, really fun day. So you could do that. And then if you're writing it yourself, that's something that you and like one of our book coaches would decide on, you know, like an outline, obviously. Yeah, that would come first, your book idea. And then what are the chapter topics? And really, like, what is the end result that you want the reader to get? And then you reverse engineer the book to make sure that the reader gets that result. But again, depending on your lifestyle, it'd probably be 1 to 2 chapters a week until the rough draft's finished. And then editing takes about a month, maybe 2 months, and then publishing about 1 to 2 months, and then it's out.

Okay, so the process on the short end versus the average or long end, what are you thinking?

Yeah, shortest would be 4 months. To write, publish, and hit bestseller. Like, all that could be accomplished in 4 months. Um, and then long end, I'd say a year.

Okay, I think that's good, right? For, for families who are listening to this and they have an 8th, 9th, 10th grader, right, where you have more time than anything, um, versus a senior who's applying to college at the same time to trying to write a book, maybe a little bit challenging.

Yeah, a lot going on.

So when you are working with students, do they have one person connection? Is that you, or how does it work as far as what can they expect?

Yeah, so we have like author managers for every step of the way. So if we were ghostwriting it, they'd have 3 different writers that are a part of that team and then 2 different editors later in the process. And not all 3 of those writers would be on every meeting. It'd probably be 1 at a time, but you want to have like different outlooks, right? You don't want the same person that writes it to also edit it. You need like different eyeballs. And then once it gets to publishing, Terry and Chris, those are just the names that they run my publishing department, and then we have a bunch of different designers and everything that we do too is like unlimited revisions. It's something that I just really believe in of like, I don't ever want to do something and then be like, hey, even though it's taken us 5 tries now and you're not happy, well, that's the limit, you know. It's like, no, until you're satisfied with everything, we're not finished. So unlimited revisions of the book cover, of editing of the book, everything. So, um, in every step of the way, somebody's there holding your hand. And I'm more of like, you know, overlooking the company at this level because I've been running it 12 years now, um, but I am still involved. So I'm I don't just like run away as soon as you join or anything, but I am, uh, I'm not the one like doing the calls though most of the time.

Got you. So I have the honor of doing the podcast with the founder. Yeah. So for families who are like, ah, this is perfect, we really need this, how can they reach you?

Yeah, so a couple different ways. So authorsunite.com, that's the main website. Um, and if you want to email me actually and like tell me or ask me any questions about a particular story, tell me more about your son or daughter and their situation, and then I can provide feedback and say if I even think it's a good fit. Tyler@authorsunite.com, that's my email. And then I guess last thing I could share is my social, Tyler B. Wagner's my Instagram. And yeah, I think like kind of how we led it off, I think both of us are kind of viewing this as just like I know how much this changed my life to become a bestselling author. So no matter what the goal is, better college, better job, just better overall lifestyle, that's kind of what mine, what it was for me, becoming a bestselling author, it's huge. So I can't recommend it enough.

I love that. Well, Tyler, thank you so much for your time. And listeners, go check it out. There is so much opportunity. When I saw what they were doing at— is Publishers Unite?

Uh, Authors Unite.

Authors Unite. I was blown away. I so wish I had this when I was going through the process. So Tyler, thank you for being on the show.

Of course. Thanks for having me.