In 2009 I had a dream. I wanted to be a published author. There was something about seeing my name on the spine of a book in Barnes and Nobles that turned me on. I had tried two times before to get my author on, with some success; but I was not as disciplined as I am today. Little did I know that daily determination was the missing ingredient to success, not talent, More on that later.I did not care about money; it was all about becoming a real author. Getting an agent and living that writer life was what I wanted. Travel. Radio. Talk shows and my name in lights. The thoughts of hanging with fancy people and doing fancy things were very seductive. The whisper of fame held my attention like a steak to a hungry dog. I had done well in the storage auction business. I had no debt. My car was paid off. I could not think of a better time to chase a dream and make myself happy.
My best friend had cancer I was the first person she told about her diagnosis. I was glad to be there for her during her battle with cancer, which she lost. Chasing my dream helped a lot of people. It is funny what happens when you cast fear aside.It all seemed to make sense, and I was all in. Some days I wonder if I knew just how much work it would take to get a book published if I would I have pressed forward? I guess we will never know.I also had a massive chip on my shoulder and all of the little voices screaming ” you will never do it.” I like to think I wanted to prove it to myself, but truth be told I wanted to stick it to every person that doubted me and there were quite a few members in that camp.
In the middle of dreams, a thing called reality tends to wake you up.
My first book was supposed to be about relationships. A hot topic. Men who wrote relationship books got instant kudos. The market was massive. I wrote my concept down and decided the angle I was going to take was interviewing as many women as I could. I would create the book from the conversations. I spoke to over 200 women. My pitch was simple.“There are no right or wrong answers; I just want your story.” One of the women, a teller at Bank of America, had many things to get off her chest. I gave her the pitch with every intention of speaking to her later. She held me at the counter and did not care about the people waiting to get their banking done. Her expression was ???? and just as fiery. No one complained, and many people listened with dog-eared attention. She was in the middle of a divorce. He left her for another woman. Her soul was torn apart, and she needed to get it out. I was over halfway done before I decided I did not want to be the ” relationship book guy.” One day I woke up and said ” I am not doing this anymore,” and ended the project.There was a stigma, and I saw many of those guys – typecast. I just checked, and most of them are not doing anything. Plus, my book was not going to be the typical relationship book. With an audience that was going to be 90% female, my confidence was slim that it would sell. It did not feel right, and I needed a book I knew was going to sell. I gave myself 24 months to make this happen. I was 3 months in and time was flying by.I made many friends. I also learned many things about women. Some of it scared me! I was surprised by how many women married for security and never loved their husbands. This would shake the average guy, if he really knew how many women do this.One of the main pieces of advice I heard as an aspiring writer was to:
Write about what you know:
I had just spent 10 years of my life, buying storage auction and creating systems and process for the resale business. We had two warehouses and a staff of 15. I knew that ” newbies” coming out had no clue about how the esoteric business worked. At the time, it was 14 months before Storage Wars and Auction Hunters would air on TV. I begin working on that book like a crazy person. No research was necessary. I wrote every day. I struggled quite a bit. The writing was not fun, but I was on a mission. I wrote the first version in 90 days. A friend who happened to be an editor said she would edit my book. It was looking good. After giving her the manuscript, she called me back and had that, someone has fucked up tone in her voice.”I just read your manuscript. Look I need to be honest with you, this is terrible and needs to be re-written. I don’t think you have what it takes to be a writer.” I picked my face up off the floor and said thanks, hanging up the phone. That night I put together my book in PDF form and sent out an offer to my email list. If I had paused, this book might have never seen the light of day. I made $643 in 24 hours. I was fucking proud of my fucked-up book! Yep, it had typos. Yep, it was rough. Yes, I made $62,000 in 11 months selling my book. I got roasted in the reviews, but something else happened. I got email after email of thanks. One guy named Morris bought my book and went to work as a reseller part-time. Two years later, he got laid off.”Hey G, I got laid off today and thanks to your book, I am going to make even more money working for myself! Man, you are a lifesaver.”I can’t tell you how fucking great that made me feel! My little fucked-up book was changing lives and making people money. Eventually, I fixed all of the errors and rewrote the book three times. This is evidence that persistence kicks talent in the ass. I know there are many writers who are much better at lacing words together in a seamless manner than I am. But 95% of them can’t make a full-time living writing like I do.
None of this would have happened without YouTube. The book is dropping sometime this year. Get on this list if you want to be notified when the book drops.