SUB-PAGES

• Book Outline
• Book / Title Brainstorm
• Favorite Stories Index / Outlines
• Influencers / Publicity Partners
• Publishing Industry 411
• The Publishing Process
• Comparables: Books & Movies

 

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Action Plan : 2025.01

1 >TITLE

1. nail a catchy title

2 > SOCIALS

• lock down all the handles
  1. Insta, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, etc
  2. YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Discord
  3. SnapChat, Pinterest, Telegram, Twitch

3 > DOMAIN

• get a few domains .com, .ai, .book

4 > BOOK

• get the book publication-ready
• self-publish

5a > PODCAST

• Youtube core
• parallel publish to all Pod Platforms

5b > MARKET

• SEO
• modest ad budget
  • Google AdWords,
  • Facebook Ads,
  • YouTube Promotions
  • Amazon Ads
  • TV: MNTN mountain.com / vibe.co
• social amplification / influencers

6 > DOCUMENTARY

• for a modest budget (<$100k)
• film a documentary
• submit it to festivals

7 > SPEAKING TOUR

• TEDx // Taylor Conroy
• personal story of inspiration
• talent, sabotage, and redemption
• venues: colleges + corporations + prisons

8 > SNOWBALL

• speaking tour sells documentary
• documentary sells books

9 > AGENT

• once all that is done,
• THEN find a Hollywood agent
• to shop it for big-screen / streaming adaptation
  • sell the option

10 > STREAMING

• Amazon, Netflix
• serialized / episodic
• i.e. Monster (Menendez Brothers)

11 > ADAPTATION (Silver Screen)

• “based on a true story”
• triad : Star, Director, Studio
• feature film

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Original Action Plan : 2024.01

1. investigate (online & books) how to get a book published
   1. an agent
   2. get signed with a publisher
   3. get a monetary advance
   4. go on a press tour
   5. an appearance on Oprah
2. define success metrics
   1. sales (units, gross)
   2. profit (sales – expenses)
   3. New York Times Bestseller
   4. movie option
3. Dream Big
   1. the success of the book gives me a platform
   2. from which I can speak, and spread the message:
      1. of dSky. of Naturalism. of Health. of GPO. of Physical Culture.
   3. talk show circuit
   4. speakers bureau

 

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6 Steps to Traditional Publishing

1. Finish Writing the Book
2. Query Literary Agents
3. Wait while your Agent pitches Publishers
4. Sign a book deal
5. Start final edit and pre-pub business
6. Go on Book Signing Tour

These steps from Tiffany Hawk

The Big 5 Publishing Houses

• Penguin/Random House,
• Hachette Book Group,
• Harper Collins,
• Simon and Schuster,
• Macmillan

Strauss Test / Jan 2024 : Writers Roundtable

1. 1. articulate my Specific Goals / Expectations of first 30 days (4 meetings)
   2. X- add to CONTACTS
   3. X- find out who the successful graduate is — Chelsey Goodan
   4. X- determine, after requesting refund, how much I would join for
      (first throught: 1/4th: $25k/4 = $6,250)
   5. X- ask asst for contract

Strauss Expectations for Writers Roundtable

• personal mentorship from Neil
• meeting F2F at a dinner(s) at his house in Malibu
• introduction to agent(s) and/or major publishing houses
• camaraderie and support of other solid authors (community)

Success Story: Chelsey Goodan: Underestimated

Writers’ Roundtable class of ’23 graduate Chelsey Goodan and her book,

Underestimated: The Wisdom and Power of Teenage Girls,
released this week on Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster.

Before the book is even out, Oprah’s Book Club recommended it.

Then Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine posted about it.

And then Time Magazine ran an excerpt.

Amazon then selected it as their Editors’ Pick for Best Nonfiction Books of March—and promoted it across the website.