Episode 397 – How to Write a Book
[00:00:09] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:24] Hey, everybody it's Tom here with episode three hundred ninety seven of Screw the Commute podcast. We want to talk about writing a book in this episode, and I'm going to show you how to write a quality book when you know absolutely nothing, OK, about the topic and why you may want to do this now while I'm at it, I happened to be running a series of ebook masterminds. They run 12 weeks and I have one starting next Monday.

[00:00:55] So you want to check the show notes we'll have links to where you can check the schedule for mastermind courses. But in this mastermind in 12 weeks, you'll have a PDF ebook, you'll have a Kindle eBook, you'll have a script for the audio version of the book and you'll know how to sell it.

[00:01:17] Ok, I sell all of them so that that'll happen. I mean, you could do a couple of them really, if you're really gung ho in the in the 12 week mastermind we meet once a week.

[00:01:28] All right. So check that out in the show notes. Hope you didn't miss Episode 396. That was Nathalie Mullinex. She's a long time friend of mine for long. I mean, I don't know how long. Long time, 30 plus years, I think. But she is one of the most prolific reporters in the country. And so I just want to hear her story of how she started a business in one place and said, you know, I can do it in this other place. And she did it in another place, sold millions. And I mean, I don't know how many gazillions of real estate she sold, but she's a she's really got it down. Now, how would you like to hear your own voice here on screen, the commute? Well, if the show has helped you out at all in your business or giving you an idea to help you start a business, we want to hear about it. Visit screwthecommute.com, look for a little blue sidebar that says send voicemail, click on it, talking to your phone or computer. Tell me how the show's helped you. And hey, put your website in there, too, because you'll get a big shout out in your own voice on a future episode of Screw the Commute. Grab a copy of our free automation book at screwthecommute.com/automatefree. And this book has saved me millions of keystrokes, allowed me to steal customers ethically from people too slow to get back the prospects and we sell it for 27 bucks. But you get it free for listening to the show. So screwthecommute.com/automatefree. And of course everything we talk about will be in the show notes. Now, while you're over there, pick up a copy of our podcast app. Put us on your cell phone or tablet. Take us with you on the road, has all kinds of cool features and we have videos and screen captures to show you how to use, so as you're not lost. You know, a lot of people give you an app and then you've got to try to figure out how to use the darn thing. Well, we took care of that for you. screwthecommute.com/app

[00:03:13] All right. Also, check out my school. It's the only licensed, dedicated Internet marketing school in the country, probably the world. We teach hard core skills that you can use for your business or your kids can use to have an actual career. Instead of getting in deep debt at a four year college and being out of the workforce, you have to consider that when you go to a four year college being out of the workforce, because even if they were had a starting salary of forty to fifty thousand dollars a year, that's 200000 bucks down the drain of being out of the workforce. If they made more than that, that's even more. And and the problem is, is a lot of people are getting out and not even getting any salary other than a pitiful job at Starbucks. So check out the school. It's IMTCVA.org. It's the same techniques that I've been using since 1994 when the commercial Internet started. Actually, the techniques are have changed over the years, but these are in high demand by every business on Earth. So you have almost a guaranteed income if you just learn all these things about email marketing and chat boards and blogging and, you know, product production, ebooks, all this stuff, all these companies need this stuff. And you or your children or your grandchildren or nephews and nieces could be right there providing it. And guess what? They won't come home and live in your basement. They'll have their own money. All right. So check that out at IMTCVA.org. It's licensed to operate by SCHEV, the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia. But you don't have to be in Virginia because it's distance learning.

[00:04:57] And we give scholarships to law enforcement, first responders, nurses, military. Yeah, for sure. All right. And a little later, I'll tell you how you can get a full scholarship by being my mentor program that you can either use yourself or gift to somebody.

[00:05:15] Now, let's get into the main event. This topic is about writing about something when you know nothing about the topic and being proud of your quality work when you're done. And if you've been following me for a while, you know, I emphasize quality over everything to give you long term credibility. So how could this possibly be that you can produce a high quality book when you know nothing about the topic? All right. And why would you want to do it in the first place? But let me tackle that question first. So basically, there might be a topic that has good potential for profit and you want to get into that market. And first of all, I want to tell you how I first got the idea to develop this technique. I'm on an airplane. I'm in first class. I think I was going L.A. to Charlotte, something like that. And I'm sitting next to a guy I don't know, look to be maybe in his 40s, but in the seat pocket in front of him, he's got all these go cart magazines. And so I said to him, hey, hey, what's up with all the Go-Kart stuff?

[00:06:24] And while he lit up like crazy, he said, Oh, man, me and my boys raised him. I got three boys and we go on the weekends and race him. And and I said, well, how much does one of them cost? He said, Oh, man, you can't get a piece of junk for ten grand.

[00:06:39] You know, I don't want ten grand. He says, yeah, ours are about thirty thousand apiece upstate. Thirty thousand bucks for a go cart. Are you kidding me? And so my mind is starting to race now.

[00:06:50] I'm adding all this up in my head. All right. There's three boys in him. They get four go carts. They probably have to have a massive trailer to haul them in a big monster truck to pull it.

[00:07:01] And then if they're racing, they got extra tires and engines. The guys got hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in these go carts. So that was the end of that. And I got to thinking to myself, well. What would I do if I wanted to write a book, let's call it How to buy your first racing go cart, what would I do? Now, I didn't invent the technique I'm going to tell you about. I mean, it's been around a long time. It's called the interview technique. Now, how I refined the technique was, was how to find people to interview and to promote your book. Here's how it works. First, you have to understand the concept of discussion boards. They're also known as forums. I mean, these are online places where people discuss specific topics. It's hard to imagine a topic that isn't being discussed somewhere with people highly interested in that topic.

[00:07:59] I mean, even even pig farming. So just to prove this point, you can do this, too. I Googled Pig Farming Forum and and within seconds, I came up with a site based out of the U.K. and the first discussion topic I came up with, I'm not making this up, was what's the best way to turn a profit with pigs? You know you know, I think about that question all the time. I'm surprised I didn't research it sooner. Just in case you think I'm making this up, I'm going to put the link in the show notes to the to the Pig Farming Forum. OK, so let me get back to my Go-Kart book, How to Buy Your First Drayson Go-Kart.

[00:08:56] So the first thing I would do is join a bunch of racing go kart forums and discussion boards, and I'm going to use those terms interchangeably forums and discussion boards.

[00:09:09] Then I would lurk, lurk means you keep your mouth shut and you just look at the comments and the topics they're discussing and you get a feel for the culture of the discussion board. I mean, do they allow promotion and selling of things or are they strictly discussion and you get kicked out if you try to promote stuff? Now, keep a special eye out. It's usually on the left side of each comment, is the person making the comment or asking or answering a question? Frequently there's numbers next to their their handler or their nickname with how many comments they've made, maybe even how many comments they've made that were upvoted as being really good. Comments by the other users could click and upvote on your answer. Now, after a certain number of comments or upvotes, a person may be designated a senior member. Now you may see some people are admins. They're called on the board. Now, what I would do is look for all these senior members and admins, I would contact them directly and tell them you're writing a book on racing go karts and would like to interview them. Now, how many people do you think would turn you down? OK, well, not many. All they do all day long is talk about racing go carts. How much do you think they would charge you for the interview? Again, nothing.

[00:10:39] They love talking about racing go carts now, who do you think would tell everyone about the book when it comes out because they're so proud to be in it? OK, you got it. The people you interviewed. Now, here's the big question that I like. Who gets all the money from the sales of the book? That's right. You do. You are the publisher of the book. And you know absolutely nothing about it before you started. The big benefit is that regular publishers have to pay advances in royalties to the writers using this method, you don't you keep all the money for yourself. Now, some people might say, well, you're taking advantage of these people. That is just ridiculous. They would never have done this on their own. Now, they're not authors trying to make a living, they're just enthusiasts thrilled to see their name in lights. Now, doing this may lead you to some real experts or let's say tire manufacturers or professional engine tuners, I mean, who knows? Now, these aren't professional writers either, and you're actually doing them a favor, giving them promotion in your book. Now, after you record all the interviews, you've got to record these. You have them transcribed and we'll have a link in the show notes to our transcription service, then either you can do it or find an English major to clean it up.

[00:12:12] So it's all good for readability. A lot of times interviews, you know, go on all kinds of directions in and you need to clean, clean up the text for easy readability. But then you put them all together along with an introduction and conclusion, and you got yourself a piece of intellectual property where other people gladly gave you all the info. Now, one thing I would do is make it clear before you do the interview that you are writing a book. And then after the interview, you get the person to sign a release that they know the interview was for a book and that they aren't getting any money for the interview or from the book sales. And you can Google model or interview releases and you'll find samples. Or if you want to spend money, you can get a lawyer to write one up for you. But I don't know anyone who's done that. Now, a spin off of this idea you may have heard of is called an anthology that's a little bit different. These are usually printed books where each chapter is actually written by a person and they pay money to be in the book. They get a certain number of copies for their payment and and the right to claim that they're an author. That's not what I'm talking about here. And I'll probably cover that in a future episode. But if you wanted to do like another book or series of books in the go cart racing field, you just rinse and repeat. May be your next title is Racing Go Kart Tracks of the USA and another one racing go kart tracks of Europe. Or Max, let's see, maximize the tuning of your racing go car. OK, I don't know, suspension tuning of your racing go cart or fuel selection, pure racing go cart to the list could go on and on.

[00:13:58] And a topic like that where you get the name of being the go to company for racing go kart infa.

[00:14:07] Hey, if you get tired of go carts, switch to some other topic and rinse and repeat again. Well, that's there you have it, that's how you write a quality book on topics you know nothing about and you get and keep all the money. All right.

[00:14:22] If you like more help with this or and check out our ebook mastermind's. We'll have the link to the schedule in the show notes and jump on when we're starting a new one next Monday.

[00:14:34] Are we have a Monday night and a Tuesday noon and we're starting a Monday noon next Monday and that'll go for 12 weeks. And then we'll keep doing it as long as people want them. So jump in because they do fill up fast. The first I planned on only having a Monday night and it filled up so fast I had to go over it and do a Tuesday and it filled up so. So don't wait. If you want to get in on this and have a bunch of books and learn the methods that I used to crank out books fast. You know, I have one book that I wrote in four hours. It's brought in three point six million dollars so far and anywhere from five to fifteen thousand dollars a month still. So this is powerful stuff. I've been writing ebooks since year around the year 2000, so 21 years now and brought in millions and millions of dollars at 97 percent profit. Now I do have some printed books, but they're way more hassle and less profitable than the ebooks. And this is a digital world now. So so jump on that. And if you are interested in the school or the mentor program, the mentor program, you can read the details at greatInternetmarketingtraining.com. It's the longest running, most unique, most successful ever in the field of Internet marketing for small business.

[00:15:56] And it gets you the scholarship to the school, which you can either give to someone or use yourself for extra training.

[00:16:05] But I have no trouble promoting this mentor program and calling it the most unique, the longest running, the most successful, because it is nobody I dare people to put their programs up against mine and nobody will do it because they don't have the guts. They'll be embarrassed with line for line, all the things you get with my program. And I've said it on a lot of a lot of other episodes. So you can hear the details or you can just check it out at greatInternetmarketingtraining.com and then come over and talk to me about it.

[00:16:37] There's no high pressure sales here.

[00:16:38] If you don't see the value of the program, you don't get pressured into anything. So don't worry about it. Give me a call.

[00:16:46] All right. So that's it. We'll catch y'all on the next episode. See ya later.