I was at an EO event in LA where Cuban did a fireside chat this past week. I actually got to meet him on the way to the bathroom before he went on stage. :) The fireside chat was interesting, and I thought I'd share my top five takeaways: 1. Know what business you're in. Cost Plus Drugs isn't in the drug business; it's in the trust business. Most businesses are in the trust business when you break it down. Your book isn't a product either. It's a trust-building machine for your expertise. Market it like that's true. 2. Trust = transparency divided by self-interest -> his formula. Cost Plus shows customers its actual cost and 15% markup, and that's the whole differentiator. Authors: show your work. Real numbers, real failures. Transparency sells the next thing you offer. 3. There aren't 15 blue links anymore. AI answers the question before anyone clicks. You can't outspend anyone on ads, but you can be the name AI surfaces when someone asks about your topic. That's the new shelf space. And this is why we have a discoverability audit ... so you know where you stand. You can request yours here. 4. Community is the ultimate path for business success. His investment Alyssa's Healthy Cookies does $25 million a year with zero ad spend. All community. Your email list is the author version. Slow to build, impossible to outbid. By the way, I just filmed a video on the amazing ways Kit is helping authors build their email list. Their latest update makes it the best email service you can get imo. New videos are back in August. 5. Two types of people use AI. Those who use it so they don't have to think, and those who use it to learn everything. Be the second type. AI won't write a book worth reading, but it makes you faster at everything around the book. Which one hit hardest? Drop it in the comments. And if number 3 made you nervous, request the audit. We have book marketing packages that are focused on discoverability. We are taking authors from invisible to discovered with our services.

So I know from lurking around on here I did about 50,000,000 things wrong in the launch and marketing. I had zero budget for anything basically but did end up spending $200 on Fiverr for formatting and some photoshop and Ai help on some of my illustrations. I also paid $60 for another guy to make my book into a coloring book and create a bunch of extra scenes. I was ranked 1.8 million with the coloring book and a little over 800k on my book out the gate. My book is a true story kid’s book that I add a little humor in it for hard headed boys like me to stay engaged. I did some set up stuff on FB for a few weeks to at least let my followers know it was happening but I tried hard not to wear out my welcome. I’m in shock but proud to say the coloring book has went from 1.8 mil to 74k and 299 in the farm animals coloring book niche. The book has went from 800k to 29k and I’m super pumped to 178 in the farm animal niche. I know once these initial sales slow it’s potentially going to flip fast but…..it at least has a chance to be seen. No matter what happens from here I’m very grateful. This has by far been the most chaotic and potentially unsettling time of my life. God has used this as a refuge for me and this community as an oasis.

We just had our 1000th member join, and I am so excited to say it's @Brian Hall Watch your mailbox because @Angela Jones is going to reach into her swag closet and send you a little something extra for being the 1000th person to join Author Lab!! Not to sound creepy ... but we have your address, so no need to do anything. 😁 We are so excited about this community and we're deeply grateful to everyone for your participation and sharing. The members are what make this special and valuable.

Thank you to everyone for participating in the community. It would not be a community without you! :) To change it up this month, I took the top 10 contributors and spun them in a randomized wheel. Watch the video to see if you won!! 🏆 If you're one of the 3 selected this month please email @Angela Jones at team@booklaunchers.com and she'll hook you up with some swag from her closet or a digital prize if you're not in the US. :)

Let's get to know each other! Comment below sharing where you are, a photo of where you write, and what your book is about. 😊