John began his professional life as a concert cellist and composer. Then he drove a cab, dropped out of high school and started his own high school. He was a businessperson, he was in sales, and more professional endeavors. The common thread to almost everything he did seemed to involve writing. He was the guy who was chosen to write the newsletter or the article or edit the brochure. He formally fell in love with writing a couple decades ago. He’s currently published 40 books and that’s mostly been since the age of 50.
The very first book he wrote was called “You Call the Shots” and it was a memoir about a 19-year-old wunderkind, Cameron Johnson. They met when John interviewed him for a magazine John started. Cameron had started a dozen businesses and made a million dollars by the time he left high school. That became the first authorship partnership of the dozens John has done since then. Usually what happens is someone has a story; John draws the story out of them and writes the book. Those were ghost writing relationships. Those evolved into co-authoring books where people such as Bob Burg and John would come together (such is the case of “The Go Giver”), combine their ideas and inspiration and write a book together.
Where Does a Book about a Big Idea Begin?
It’s the “Where do your ideas come from?” question that baffles most writers, and that’s the first question most people ask. It baffles them because many writers don’t know where their ideas come from. John can tell you what great ideas feel like and what they look like.
Every book starts with a concept. The word “concept” means to get something pregnant. The anatomy of a great concept is when two dissimilar or even opposite things smash together, kind of like atomic fusion. For example, “a kid goes to boarding school” isn’t a concept. But “a kid goes to wizard school, that’s a concept. You’re taking two things that nobody thought about combining before and smashing them together. That’s the origin story of great books.
In this episode we also discuss:
- Why being an entrepreneur and being a writer are very similar experiences.
- How to test if your big idea is a great idea that should be shared.
- What you need to do once you know you have a great idea.
- The origin story of the book, “The Go Giver”.
- The three components of a successful book equation.
- The biggest problem with self-published books and how to avoid it.
- The importance of “excellent execution” in publishing and how to create it.
- How and when to edit and rewrite sections of your book.
- How to decide between self-publishing and traditional publishing.
- What expectations traditional publishers have and how to meet them before approaching publishers.
- The two things you need to do long before launching your book.
- The number one marketing asset you need to have as an author.
…and other golden nuggets of advice!
About the Guest
John David Mann is an award-winning author whose books have sold more than 3 million copies in 3 dozen languages, including the New York Times bestselling memoir The Red Circle with former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb and the New York Times bestselling parable The Latte Factor with personal finance legend David Bach.
His classic The Go-Giver (with Bob Burg) won the Living Now Evergreen Medal for its “contribution to positive global change.” His book Take the Lead (with former White House staffer Betsy Myers) was named by Tom Peters and the Washington Post “Best Leadership Book of 2011.”
John lives in Florida and New England, where he leads a coaching program called Writing Mastery Mentorship.
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