SPI 624: A Bigger Announcement I’m REALLY Excited About

SPI 624: A Bigger Announcement I’m REALLY Excited About

Announcer: Welcome to the Smart Passive Income Podcast, where it’s all about working hard now, so you can sit back and reap the benefits later. And now your host, he prefers Salt & Straw over Baskin Robins, Pat Flynn.

Pat Flynn: You know, at the time of this recording, I am not really allowed to share what I’m about to share.

So I’m hoping because we recorded these episodes ahead of time, that if you’re listening to this, that means everything’s fine. Right? And if you’re not listening to this, well it wouldn’t have been out and you wouldn’t have been able to listen to it anyway. So the fact that you’re listening to this means I can share this big news with you and paperwork was signed and all this kind of stuff.

And you might be like, Pat, what did you do? Did you like sell the company or something? No, I signed a book deal. That’s right. My next book is, like, coming , and the reason why I wanted to record this now even before I understand that this episode is allowed to be out, is because it just happened, like, within the last three days.

So I wanted to record my thoughts and my excitement and really take you along the ride from the beginning. You know this is what we do here. Whenever I try something new, just like I did with Deep Pocket Monster, I share the beginnings of it and just show you what happens and sometimes it goes well.

Deep Pocket Monster’s been amazing and continues to grow. In fact, we are currently sitting at, because I love to give you these updates, 315,000 subscribers. We’ve been growing at a rate of 58,000 subscribers per month over the last months, and it doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down anytime soon. What is accounted for that?

Storytelling, more on that later. But for right now, let me just tell you this story about this book deal. I may have mentioned in the past. In fact, I know I’ve mentioned in the past, in person and in office hours, especially in big shoutout to the office hours crew. What’s up, office hours. Those are for the students of my courses who show up, and many of you show up every single week.

You know about this book and this book idea and the humble beginnings of it, right? A lot of you heard the just sort of messy cloudiness of what this was, and the fact that I had certain tactics and strategies that could be in this book that were kind of just not really organized very well, but definitely there and I knew could turn into something amazing, something beautiful and what I’m hoping will become a masterpiece one day.

There’s another sort of part two second special announcement that goes along with this that… More on that in a sec. Again, I’m just, my mind is racing. I’m so excited, by the way. I’m absolutely thrilled that I get to start writing a book again and using my creative juices for the written word and to inspire people in that way.

It’s one of my favorite mediums. It’s one of the most difficult mediums, writing a book. Anybody who’s written a book can tell you that for sure. Will It Fly was one of the hardest things I ever created, back in 2014, 2015. Big shout out to my book coach Azul from Authors Who Lead. Highly recommend you check him and his partner, Steve, out.

They will help you write an amazing book and get it published and all that stuff. Anyway, thank you Azul. Superfans was a presentation that then turned into a book, and that book continues to gain momentum even without any marketing behind it. And that just speaks to how valuable the information in that book is.

And I’m not just saying that to toot my own horn. It is valuable. It is helping people, and it is changing lives in this landscape that we’re in with the creator economy and building communities right now. It is now more relevant than ever and that was a way that I was looking forward to where the puck was going. Not where the puck was. Right? Superfans. That’s what we need to build for.

This book is gonna be my first attempt at something that is not separate or different, but something that would help more people than just those in my core audience. And this is exactly why, because these principles are much bigger.

They can have a much more bigger effect. From the world of education, which many of you know who’ve been following me for a while, is very, very important to me, to parenting, to managerial skills and leadership as well as entrepreneurship. And because of that, because it’s not just my core audience, this is why this book is going to be traditionally published. And talk about sharing the journey from the start is literally starting right now, and I’ll be sharing that journey along the way and revealing what I’m allowed to reveal. And again, I, this is so new. I don’t even know if I’m like, Can I share the numbers? Can I share? I don’t know if I can . I don’t. I will eventually, most likely. But I, for, for right now, because it’s so new, I’m not gonna share with you the advance amount cuz there was an advance.

I’m not gonna share with you the specific goals right now in terms of number of copies and whatnot. That stuff will come. But I just need to tell you about why traditional, I’ve shared that a little bit. This message can be more wide reaching and as a result of that, I need some help with distribution. I also know that as a result of going traditional, which I’ve had some people who have shared this with go, You are absolutely insane.

Why would you do that? You are, A, giving up a large portion of the revenue that can come from this book. That being said, my counter to that is always, Yes, the direct revenue that comes from the book will be affected as a result of this, but the indirect revenue could be exponentially higher, right? As any good entrepreneur will know, the book is just a part of a much larger process and a piece of a much larger hole. Now, I don’t know necessarily exactly how this fits in yet, but that’s part of the exercise here. Right. And part of what I’m gonna share. Because this is expanding outside of the world of entrepreneurship in a way, but of course very relevant to us and my core audience as well.

I hope it’s gonna have that, that sort of tipping point where it just begins to, to go even bigger. Right? I mean, I have a vision board for this book, and on that vision board is a book from one of my good friends, James. Clear. Atomic Habits, right? That book number one, new York Times seller. I’m not saying that that is a goal of mine, but I feel like that if I have this message, do what it wants, that will happen, right?

If I craft this book in the way that I’m imagining it could be, and to hopefully become that masterpiece that I think it, it has the possibility to do or become. It’s gonna do what it needs to do, right? I don’t think my book deserves to be there if it doesn’t deserve to be there. Right? That being said, there are a lot of authors I know, I know some in particular and have, you know, befriended some of them who have used different kinds of tactics to get on that list and that that’s not the route I wanna go.

If I’m gonna be on that list, I wanna be there because this book deserves to be there. And that book will deserve to be there if this book can help the most people. Right. And that’s where I need a traditional publisher to come and help support that. To be able to craft the message in a way where, yes, I am, like I said earlier, giving up some revenue in exchange for that and the wider distribution bookstores and all that kind of stuff, which comes with it.

I did have access to bookstores with super fans through my publisher at New Type, which was really amazing, but not so far wide, if you will. There were select bookstores and yes, I did have to pay to get into the airport. A lot of that kind of stuff is built into the traditional world and, and it’s part of the deal.

I know that I’m gonna be giving up some creative control, which again, for somebody who’s published three self-published books, one of them becoming a Wall Street Journal bestseller as a self-published book, which I didn’t even know was possible. Again, a lot of my colleagues said, You’re crazy. Why would you do this?

I’ve told you reason number one already with relation to the message and the reach. But the second part is really for you. To be able to have an honest and real life account of the process of traditional publishing will allow me to better serve you. It’ll allow me. To truthfully tell you the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional.

You know, I’ve relayed that before based on stories that I’ve heard and conversations that I’ve had with other authors. And that stuff is important. That stuff is relevant, and those are people I trust. But I need to know firsthand because when I, when I go through a, a new process and I learned something firsthand, what my brain, my brain does this, and this is, this is one of my superpowers.

It’s not my core superpower. It’s taking a process that is confusing and complicated and just frustrating and turning it into something that makes sense, right? Can still be frustrating. But at least it makes sense. That is my superpower and then I can pass that forward to you so I can share my experience with my publisher.

How much creative control am I giving up? Is that just a myth? I don’t know. Do I have a say what goes where? What is working with an editor on their side look like? How, how much pressure comes with those deadlines? I’m hoping quite a bit because that’s what gets me to move is pressure. And with my other books, I had to, I had to create that pressure on my own right in order to get these books done. The launch date for the previous books that I published were sort of just made up. I mean, I selected these dates as best as possible. And of course this is another part of it. I don’t know when the right time and the timing of the market and what’s going on in the spaces with, you know, relation to who’s publishing what and when, and seasonality, like I don’t have access to that kind of data.

So I was kind of just shooting in the dark and with a publisher who is there behind me, I mean, a lot of their experience and research and, and marketing efforts will be around a lot of the stuff that they already have that kind of experience. But I’m just so excited. I’m so excited to finally announce this.

The book has a tentative title. It’s likely going to change, and again, a lot of market research has to be done. And the biggest thing that I’ve learned with this before I share the book title again, tentative, if you haven’t heard it already, and sort of what it’s about, is that there is a long process to make this happen, right?

Sure. Several months to write the book. But even more than that, purposeful time between the point that the manuscript is finished to when the book is published, to get all the pieces into place from the pre-orders, to the marketing, to the excitement. And I’m sure I’m gonna be asking a lot of my colleagues and friends for, you know, a favor to have me on their podcast and, and, and review the book in advance.

And, you know, this is one thing that I’ve been working on for a very long time. Not this book, but what this book represents. It represents the time for me to ask for help from people. Very rarely have I gone to a lot of my friends and colleagues and ask for help. Usually I’m offering to help and I have helped from partnerships to just simply reaching out randomly and seeing what a person might need help with.

This is what Jordan Harbinger here on the show once said. You know, it’s, it’s digging your well before your thirsty, right? It’s serving first without asking for anything in return. And then when the time comes, you’ll have already provided so much value that an ask doesn’t even feel like an ask at all. A person’s gonna do whatever they can to help you.

Now that being said, I know that there’s gonna be friends of mine and colleagues and other people in this space who just, maybe the timing’s not right, or the message is not something they wanna support, or it’s they’re busy. I understand that. But most importantly, that is something that I’m definitely excited to, to experience is, is that sort of ask, because I’ve, I’ve been giving for quite a long time here, and we’ll see what happens. But I’ve already had a lot of friends of mine who have shared this book with already reach out and say, Hey, when the time comes, you let me know. I’m gonna amplify it for you.

And that, that’s just incredible, right? I’m in this, as you know, for the long term. I never do anything for the short term. And, and that’s, I think, key when it comes to starting your businesses. Yes, you want some short term wins, but it’s, as Gary Vee once said, Micro hustle, macro patients. Micro hustle, macro patient.

And when he said that, that, that has just always stuck with me. And whether you’re a Gary Vee fan or not you, you gotta understand that that is the way to succeed. You. On the micro hustle. And by that meaning you make decisions, you try things, you take some risks here and there because if you don’t, then you’re not gonna move anywhere, right?

It doesn’t mean you have to stay up till 4:00 AM every single night. That’s not the kind of hustle I’m talking about. The hustle is make decisions and do something and then see what happens. Because the more often that you do that, the more often that you’re going to learn from those mistakes and those failures so that you can get up and go again in a better direction with that in mind.

And on the macro, that patience that comes with being an entrepreneur is really key because oftentimes in this world, especially for you younger entrepreneurs, you’re so used to getting things so quickly. And the juxtaposition between what life was like for my father growing up, and what success meant to his generation, right? Work at the same job, steady job for 40 years and retire. He did that, you know, and that’s very uncommon today. But I’m not saying you have to work the same job for 40 years, but what I’m saying is patience is, is absolutely key here. And for me, I know that that’s gonna be a challenge when it comes to this book because there might be a 12 month to 18 month runway after the manuscript is done.

So spring 2024, maybe fall or even 2025. I mean, we’re recording this at the end of 2022 right now. Right. And that’s like, that’s just insane to think about, but also really, really exciting. Also really, really exciting because I think that’s a great amount of time for me to begin to also now in my forties coming in December, I’ll be on December 6th, 40 years old. And also early happy birthday to my partner Matt Gartland, the now CEO of SPI Media, who literally shares the same birthday and year with me December 6th, 1982. We will both be turning 40 on the same day, which is insane. I was bigger than him when he was born, but then I don’t know what happened. He just kept going and I stopped like, Matt, is Matt Towers over me anyway? What are my goals in my forties? And I think this book can definitely help me springboard into a lot of different areas that would allow me to have a greater effect in, in other aspects of my life that are very important.

Not that I necessarily going to leave SPI behind. And you know, I’m always gonna be here for an audience like you in in one way, shape, or form, but I’m just so excited for this. So what is the book? Tentatively, the title is The Lean Learner, similar to like the Lean Startup, but applied to learning. and the idea being, you know, we’re all suffering from content bloat today.

There’s so much content coming our way, and we often feel like we have to have all of it, but you know what? We’re stuffed and as a result, we’re tired, we’re lethargic, we’re, we’re just heavy with content and we have little time to take action. So this book is all about the filtering of that learning because having access to information is not a problem anymore.

It was back in the day if you knew more than others facts and those kinds of things. I mean, you were the smart one. You were, you were seen as the smart person in the class. But today, I can answer any question that anybody asks simply by pulling out my phone and faster than some people. And because we all have access to that information in the same kind of way. It’s the application of that knowledge that you find and, and the understanding of what it is that you want, that is absolutely key. That is the pathway to success. It’s the, it’s, it’s not even about learning less, if you will. Right. Even though the title Lean Learner sort of assumes that in a way.

It’s about understanding what you should learn and learning those things faster, going deeper with them, and being able to be okay of letting go of some of the other things that we often feel like we have to learn as well. You’ve heard me talk about things like the 20% itch rule before. Just in time learning, these are a couple of the principles that are mentioned inside the book, and I’m excited to write this for you.

I’m so excited and I, and I hope you’re excited too, not just for the book, but for the journey. It’s gonna be a new pathway for me and I’m very grateful to have a lot of friends who’ve gone through the traditional publishing route who have already offered a ton of advice. Some of them still disagreeing with me going down this route, but I know that this is for the best and I hope I can count on your support.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you. Let me know what you think. If you heard this and you’re, pat, that’s amazing. Just, if you share the excitement with me, hit me up on Twitter or Instagram, let me know that you heard this. I appreciate you so much. I will reply back and thank you for that and I’m looking forward to, again, sharing the journey with you.

So thank you so much. Make sure you subscribe if you haven’t already. I’m looking forward to continuing to share this over time here on these Friday episodes. These Friday episodes are a great way to kind of keep you updated on, on those parts of my life, as well as share the microphone with some amazing people here as well every once in a while from SPI Pro. But for now, you’re gonna get me for a few more weeks and then we head into the end of the year and I wanna win you all the best.

Thank you. Peace out, and we’ll see you on the next one. Cheers.

Thanks for listening to the Smart Passive Income Podcast at SmartPassiveIncome.com. I’m your host Pat Flynn. Our senior producer is Sara Jane Hess. Our series producer is David Grabowski. And our executive producer is Matt Gartland. Sound editing by Duncan Brown. The Smart Passive Income Podcast is a production of SPI Media. We’ll catch you in the next session.