Jake Ducey is 24 years old and he’s already written three books with Penguin Random House. Jake’s making money from his books - but he’s out to make a difference. Last year he raised 345,000 pounds of food for homeless people off the back of his book tour. Tune in to hear Nathan and Jake talk self-publishing, how to launch your writing career, and why patience is everything.
Famous Five:
Favorite Book? – Pitch Anything
What CEO do you follow? — Oren Klaff
Favourite online tool? —Youtube
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Pretty close
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be?—Patience
Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:11 – Nathan’s introduction
01:45 – Welcoming Jake to the show
02:00 – Jake wrote a book not expecting to make money from it
02:55 – Wrote his first book, Into the Wind, aged 19
04:00 – Self-published; have now sold 30k copies
05:00 – Made around $100k from that book alone
05:40 – Got a literary agent because he wanted someone with experience and a mentor
06:30 – Founded in 2012 and had only $200 topline revenue
06:25 – Agent’s name is Bill Gladstone at Waterside Productions
06:50 – “I would recommend going through Amazon if you’re self-publishing”
07:35 – Next book, The Purpose Principles, was published by Penguin Random House
08:50 – Had an advance on the contract - around $30k
09:36 – Jake was starting to pick up momentum by this point
10:03 – “I want to influence people’s lives”
11:00 – Took Jake around 4 months to write his 60,000-word book
12:30 – “It’s nice to write a book with support and an editor and help”
13:37 – Having a publisher is also a credibility stamp for speaking engagements
14:00 – Jake mostly makes money through speaking engagements
15:13 – Hired Ryan Holiday for book launch strategy sessions
16:05 – The next book, Profit From Happiness, will be published in June 2016
17:40 – Plans to give away his book to underprivileged youth: for every book that’s bought, he’ll donate one
19:10 – Jake hopes to expand internationally and keep writing books
20:00 – Connect with Jake on Facebook
21:40 – The Famous Five
3 Key Points:
Don’t be afraid to self-publish. Publishing houses are more likely to pick you up if you’ve already had some success.
Profit has to intertwine with service and fulfilment. Make sure you’re helping other people.
Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in a decade. Be patient.
Resources Mentioned:
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives