Ep247: Marcia Reynolds – Do Proper Research When Writing and Publishing Your First Book

By Andrew Stotz | 08/17/2020 |

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Guest profile

Dr. Marcia (Marsha) Reynolds, Master Certified Coach, is fascinated by the brain, especially what triggers feelings of connection and possibility. She draws on her research and life events as she helps coaches and leaders make conversations into transformational experiences. She has provided executive coaching, training programs, and keynote speaking in 41 countries.

Interviews and excerpts from Marcia’s books Outsmart Your Brain; The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations into Breakthrough; and Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction, have appeared in many places including Fast Company, Psychology Today, and The Wall Street Journal. Her latest book, Coach the Person, Not the Problem, became a bestseller the day it was released this past June.

Marcia’s doctoral degree is in organizational psychology, and she has two master’s degrees in education and communications. She also feels she gained an invaluable education when she turned 20 in jail. With the support of her cellmates, she chose to rise back up and show the world she could succeed even when she was told she would fail. She went on to accumulate degrees, rise in male-dominated corporations, and now teaches leadership and coaching classes worldwide. She is recognized by the Global Gurus as the #5 coach in the world.

“Easy usually is a bad investment. You have to take your time and research your book well.”

Marcia Reynolds

Worst investment ever

Marcia always saw herself as a writer, and so when she left her last corporate job and had time, she wrote her first book. A friend insisted that she works with a certain woman to publish her book. She said that she would make life so easy for Marcia.

The said publisher would make all the decisions, find all the people Marcia needed, do layout and covers, and anything else necessary to publish her book. Marcia would not have to worry about a thing. Hearing this made her quite excited since she had no experience. How nice it was to have someone do everything for her.

A costly affair

The publisher seemed a little expensive and kept charging her for stuff, but Marcia thought that meant she’d produce high-quality work and make her book a bestseller. She ended up spending $40,000, which she never made back.

The biggest flop ever

Marcia’s book was a colossal flop all because of the title the publisher chose. The publisher went with a title that Marcia thought was catchy. However, this title was the reason why Marcia’s book never got reviews and into bookstores. The title was The Rapture.

Marcia had no idea that the word rapture had anything to do with any religion. Every bookstore thought the book was a Christian book. Marcia still has books sitting in her garage after losing a cool $40,000 to an inexperienced publicist.

Lessons learned

Always get references

Before you hire people to work with, look at past experiences and what other people have said about them. If possible, talk to references to find the expertise of the person.

Run your titles by your target audience

Ask your audience what they think about your titles. You could do a survey monkey and have your fans help you choose the best titles.

Be careful of the wow factor

Be careful of people who make it sound like it’s going to be easy for you. Publishing your first book is not easy, so don’t let anyone tell you that it. If they do, then you shouldn’t work with them.

Andrew’s takeaways

Go for experience

When looking for a publisher for your first book, go for people with proven expertise and experience. Check out their references to ascertain their expertise.

You’ve got to put in the work

If you want good results as you write your first book, you’ve got to work for it. Once you put in the work and the time you’ll give your book value and make it a bestseller.

Work with people’s strengths

It’s hard to find one person with all the strengths that are useful for your book. So when looking for people to work with, look for their strengths. This could be choosing a title, artwork, editing, etc.

Actionable advice

Publishing your first book is not as expensive as you think. There are good people out there for half the price, so don’t let the price fool you. So if you’ve been wondering how to find a publisher for my first book without spending a fortune, you just need to find the right people to work with.

No. 1 goal for the next 12 months

Marcia’s goal for the next 12 months is to launch a massive program called breakthrough coaching. This is a six months online program where people will learn how to change people’s thinking and help them have breakthroughs.

Parting words

“As long as you learn from your mistake and experience, you should never regret it.”

Marcia Reynolds

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About the show & host, Andrew Stotz

Welcome to My Worst Investment Ever podcast hosted by Your Worst Podcast Host, Andrew Stotz, where you will hear stories of loss to keep you winning. In our community, we know that to win in investing you must take the risk, but to win big, you’ve got to reduce it.

Your Worst Podcast Host, Andrew Stotz, Ph.D., CFA, is also the CEO of A. Stotz Investment Research and A. Stotz Academy, which helps people create, grow, measure, and protect their wealth.