Writer on the Side: Recent Episodes
Hassan Osman
Most employees want to write a book but don’t have the time to write or don’t know where to start. This podcast will show you how to get your nonfiction book published while working a full-time job. You'll also get simple tips about launching and marketing your book.
Communication expert Chris Fenning shares how he wrote and launched Effective Meetings—from wide vs. exclusive publishing to pricing, reviews, audio, and beyond.
High-performance mindset coach Claudine Chi joins host Hassan Osman to share how she transformed years of coaching Olympic-level athletes into a 365-day journal that builds self-belief — in just five minutes a day.
I share seven actionable lessons from publishing my 24th book, "AI Change Management Made Simple," which became an Amazon bestseller in five categories. Learn about repurposing content with AI, getting early reviews, creating audiobooks in under 5 minutes, and turning readers into email subscribers with high-value bonuses.
How Jay Yang, a 19-year-old author shares how “permissionless action,” cold emails, and a focused writing routine helped him self-publish You Can Just Do Things and grow his audience.
How to write a short, niche book in 4 weeks, repurpose it into courses and content, and use Amazon KDP, Udemy, and Gumroad to grow sales and authority. (From Teddy Smith's Publishing Performance Show).
A deep-dive with author Nat Eliason on writing his first novel Husk, transitioning from nonfiction to fiction, using AI for editing, and choosing self-publishing over traditional routes.
A new course about how to write a book in 4 weeks (using AI to write in your own voice): https://course.writerontheside.com/
Some thoughts on what I've been doing behind the scenes to relaunch it.
A discussion on the weekly Small Bets yap about starting and running 3 different newsletters on the side. I also discuss the launch of my new course on https://course.writerontheside.com/
An in-depth interview with author and entrepreneur Phil Van Treuren, who shares how he built a six-figure self-publishing business selling stoic philosophy books—without relying on Amazon KDP.
This is a repeat episode that addresses giving away your book for free (shifting it from paid to free) when it makes sense to do so.
How do you start with Facebook Ads to get more readers? In this episode, I sit down with Francesco Ambrosian to discuss the effectiveness of Meta Ads, how to create compelling ads, targeting strategies, and the importance of a professional landing page. Francesco also shares his insights on different ad approaches for fiction and non-fiction books, budgeting, and the significance of organic versus paid marketing.
Layoffs are coming. Here's why everyone needs to be prepared by starting a side gig today (a quick backstory)
How do you sell over a million copies of a book? In this episode, I sit down with Eric Jorgenson, author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, to uncover the strategies, mindset, and marketing tactics behind his publishing success. From leveraging digital platforms to building an audience-first approach, Eric shares actionable insights for aspiring authors and entrepreneurs. Don't miss this deep dive into the business of books!
On Feb 11, I'm launching the fourth cohort of my course called "The 4-Week Write Your Book on the Side" System. More details on www.writerontheside.com/course
In this episode, Jonathan Goodman shares the behind-the-scenes journey of his latest book, The Obvious Choice. We discuss his transition from self-publishing to traditional publishing, innovative marketing strategies, and insights on building a successful business and author career. A must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, writing, and book marketing.
A great conversation about how Michael followed a 4-week step-by-step process to write and publish a book and become a #1 Amazon bestseller in multiple categories.
This is a discussion between Chris Stanley and I when he interviewed me a few weeks ago about a couple of my books "Don't Reply All" and "ChatGPT for Nonfiction Authors" and how I got Amazon reviews for both those books.
He also discusses the Mini Book Publishing model and the awards he kindly shared. Check out more details at: https://www.minibook.news/
If you're interested in writing & publishing a book in 2025, sign up to my course starting Nov 19, 2024 by visiting this link: https://www.writerontheside.com/course
Chris Stanley is an entrepreneur, author, and founder of the Mini Book Publishing Model. He has written and published 27 books, with 17 of them becoming Amazon #1 Best Sellers. On this episode, I talk with Chris about how he thinks about book publishing in general and some of the strategies he uses to market his books.
Here's a free tool called NotebookLM by Google that will help you market your book by turning it into a podcast\Here's a free tool called NotebookLM by Google that will help you market your book by turning it into a podcast
A live webinar replay of a talk I gave about how to write and publish a nonfiction Kindle book on the side. I also mention enrollment to my 4-Week "Write Your Book on the Side" System course that starts September 10, 2024. You can learn more here: www.writerontheside.com/course
Here's how you can write a book quickly with me using AI. Live course starts September 10. Check out the following link for more: www.writerontheside.com/course
Nat Eliason is the author of Crypto Confidential: Winning and Losing Millions in the New Frontier of Finance. On this episode, I talk with Nat about how he published his first traditionally published book, and the process he followed while working with his editor and publisher (Portfolio).
Pieter Slegers, founder of the Compounding Quality Newsletter and the co-author of The Art of Quality Investing: How to invest in the best companies in the world. On this episode, I talk with Pieter about how he published his first book on Amazon and hit the Amazon bestseller list.
Adam Tank is a sustainability-driven entrepreneur and public speaker. He’s also the author of Luck By Design: The Science And Serendipity Of A Well-Lived Life. On this episode, I talk with Adam about how he published his first book on Amazon and hit the Amazon bestseller list.
I’m launching my first ever cohort-based course about writing a book on the side (starting June 25). On this episode, I talk about the course and how you can learn more about it.
Mike Taylor co-founded a 50 person marketing agency, created courses on LinkedIn, Vexpower, and Udemy taken by over 350,000 people, and published a book with O’Reilly on prompt engineering. On this episode, we talk about how he published his course on Udemy and ended with a book.
How to package all your books, courses and other digital products in a unique package that can make you some money.
Chris Fenning is the author of five non-fiction books on the topics of business communication and training. On this episode, we talk about how he writes and markets his books.
Kelly Wilde Miller is an emerging writer who wrote her first book in just 5 days. On this episode, we talk about how she wrote and marketed her book.
Dave is the guy behind Kindlepreneur.com. On this episode, we talk about Amazon KDP tips & strategies that authors can use for their books.
I stumbled on a new strategy that some authors might be using to publish multiple books on Amazon using AI.
Amazon KDP released a new audiobook service called Virtual Voice that uses computer-generated narration. Here are some thoughts about trying the service out.
Mahmoud Rasmi is the author of Philosophy for Business Leaders. On this episode, we talk about how he wrote and marketed his book.
Jesse J. Anderson is the author of Extra Focus, a book about guiding people on adult ADHD. On this episode, we talk about how he sold 10,000 copies in the first 3 months.
Jane Leu is the author of Unicorns Unite, a book about how nonprofits and foundations can build epic partnerships. On this episode, we talk about how she co-authored the book.
Nupur Saxena is the author of The IMPACT Roadmap, a book about how to scale profit with purpose. On this episode, we talk about how she uses her book for impact.
Maria Gallo is the author of The Alumni Way, a book about how to build value from your university investment. On this episode, we talk about how she uses her book as a business card.
I recently published a 1-page book called “This Book is One Page Long” as an experiment. Here are some lessons learned.
Rick Lewis has made over $150,000 in book sales from relying on a single marketing channel: speaking. No Amazon. No other platforms or distribution channels. Just back-of-the-room sales after speaking engagements.
After 20 books (100K readers) and 12 courses (320K students), I learned a few lessons about how to create on the side. Here are 5 key ideas you can apply today.
I recently published “Inverse Leadership” in 48 hours (using ChatGPT). This started out as a joke. Here’s the story.
Alex Hormozi recently launched his $100M Leads book and gave a lot of value away for free. Some thoughts on that.
Offering your book for free can be a great strategy for authors. Here are some benefits for doing so.
I’m writing a new book about traveling to a new city with kids. Here’s the approach I take to research it.
Should you force yourself to write books or create courses when you don’t feel like it? A short episode discussing the point.
Here are some of the top questions and answers I usually get about creating on the side (publishing books & courses).
Here are some of the top questions and answers I usually get about creating on the side (publishing books & courses).
Here’s the end-to-end process that Luca follows to publish multiple nonfiction books while working as a management consultant
I just surpassed 92,000 readers on Amazon and 300,000 students on Udemy. Here are the 5 strategies I use to help me create on the side.
“ChatGPT for Better Business Communication” was repurposed from a short course and launched in 10 hours. Here are some ideas about how you can leverage this strategy for your own products.
Logan Kilpatrick from OpenAI talks about ChatGPT and how it's already disrupting the world of writing.
A great conversation I had with Mahmoud Rasmi on his Marketplace Discussions podcast about building a portfolio of side hustles (including books and courses) while working a full-time job.
A repeat episode of how writing a book on the side will help you establish yourself as an expert, make some money, learn new skills, and get exposure to exciting opportunities.
A quick about how and when to update your book on Amazon KDP to take advantage of marketing trends.
A great conversation with Arvid Kahl on his Bootstrapped Founder podcast about how I write books on the side.
Some tips and ideas from Mitra on how “Crush The Engineering Management Interview” sold hundreds of copies in the first 10 days.
Here are some tips that will help you write your book by organizing your thoughts using Notion.
How long is a short book? How do you decide on a book topic? How do you write a great outline?
Seven simple lessons that can help you launch your own book to Amazon Bestseller status
Announcing the launch of "ChatGPT for Nonfiction Authors" - a short book that will help you write better, faster, and more effectively. This book was written with the help of ChatGPT.
An introduction to ChatGPT by OpenAI and how it will affect writers going forward. This episode was mainly written by a ChatGPT prompt.
A repeat episode about the three reasons why I said no to a top 10 publisher when they wanted to republish my "Influencing Virtual Teams" book
Daniel Vassallo talks about how he thinks of businesses as Small Bets, and how he grew multiple products to over 6 figures. His latest course brought in over $400,000 in the last year alone, and in this episode, he discusses his philosophy and approach to how he built it along with a thriving community.
Great insights about how to decide on a topic for a newsletter, how to write it, and how often you should send it out. Louie also talks about how you can make money from a newsletter, and what tools you can use.
A great conversation with Nick Gray about how he launched and marketed his book "The 2-Hour Cocktail Party"
Here’s a step-by-step guide that shows you how to create Amazon affiliate links for your own books
Liam Martin is the co-author of Running Remote, a book that recently hit the WSJ bestseller list. Here are some insights from him about how he wrote and published a book.
In this episode, I cover a simple framework that shows you how to write an outline for your short nonfiction book. You’ll start with a concise introduction, then cover the main content, and then wrap up with a concise conclusion.
Here’s how Kevon Cheung wrote “Find Joy in Chaos” in public and made $4,000 in the first few weeks.
An actual example of how to create an online digital product using free tools and without spending more than two hours on it
Here’s how you can use TikTok to sell more books as an author. A simple strategy that doesn’t involve dancing!
Greg is an author of bestselling tech books. He's sold more than 50,000 copies and generated over $180k in royalties through organic sales on Amazon (on the side).
A simple strategy that helps you unlock more revenue streams by packaging your digital products into one main product (real example).
A great conversation with Espree about leveraging podcasts for repurposing content and establishing yourself as a thought leader.
Here's a step by step example of how I wrote and published a book on a Sunday afternoon by repurposing some older material.
A live Twitter Space conversation with Daren Smith about different strategies that help you create courses that sell
In 3 years, Justin Welsh went from 0 to 150k+ followers on LinkedIn and generated over $1.6M in income with zero ads. Here's how he did it.
Five quick tips that help you create & market a course while working a full-time job (even if you don’t know where to start).
Here’s how Alexandra Watkins, author of “Hello, My name is Awesome,” was able to increase her rates from $500 to $5,000 after writing her book (and made $500K in sales last year as a result of it).
A live conversation with Josh Duffney (on Twitter Spaces) about whether it makes sense to write a book and give it away for free.
Dickie Bush is a portfolio manager, digital writer, and captain of Ship 30 for 30. On this episode, he talks about how he grew his Twitter account to over 100K followers, how he writes viral threads, and how he creates attention-grabbing headlines.
Here’s a simple 3-step process about how to presell a book using Gumroad’s pre-order feature. The total cost is $0 (plus ~2hrs of your time) and the risk of failure is minimal.
Visit https://www.writerontheside.com/wc3 to claim the deal before Nov 30. Over $6,100+ of products for writers for only $49. You’ll get courses, books, masterclasses, and workbooks. Comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Sahil Lavingia (founder & CEO of Gumroad) made over $240K from his book “The Minimalist Entrepreneur” before its official launch date. He discusses marketing, NFTs, and the future of book publishing.
Iwo Szapar is the CEO of Remote-how, a platform for remote professionals around the world. He recently wrote “Remote Work is the Way,” and on this episode, we discuss how publishing a book helps his business.
NFTs can change the game for authors. Guests James Faktor and Marius, the co-founders of BookVolts, explain how the world’s first NFT book publishing company could disrupt the way we write and read books.
Repeat episode: Daniel Vassallo co-authored a book called “The Good Parts of AWS,” and made over $40K in sales in the first couple of weeks. In this episode, he breaks down all the details about the marketing & pricing strategies that he followed.
Here’s an example of how to market your book as you write it. You’ll also save time in creating microcontent for social media.
A repeat episode highlighting an example of how NFTs, or Non-fungible Tokens, can be used in book launches to make over $50,000 in additional revenue on launch day.
I secretly published a couple of children’s books, and my daughter just found out about them. Here’s the backstory of the Lima and Ina book series (and the Mason Nassah name).
Here’s why Amazon advertising is great way to increase sales of your books, and how to run a successful Amazon Ad campaign.
Writing a book on the side will help you establish yourself as an expert, make some money, learn new skills, and get exposure to exciting opportunities.
A few lessons from Terry about publishing the second edition of his book, “Strategic Project Management Made Simple,” and some great advice about how to write and market your own book.
Here's how to use keyword research on Amazon for validating book ideas, marketing your book, and increasing your book ranking. This is a repeat episode with Dave Chesson, the guy behind Kindlepreneur, a website devoted to teaching authors about book marketing and the digital world.
7 things you should know that will help you get book reviews on Amazon without breaking the rules (this episode is part 2 of 2)
5 mindset shifts and strategies that help you get book reviews on Amazon without breaking the rules (this episode is part 1 of 2)
Here’s a simple 3-step process about how to presell a “small bet” idea using Gumroad’s pre-order feature. The total cost is $0 (plus your time) and the risk of failure is minimal.
David discusses how his first book, Workplace Strategies for Technology Lawyers, hit the No. 1 Amazon Bestseller list in multiple categories (including reaching the No. 2 spot in Law).
Here’s an example of how NFTs, or Non-fungible Tokens, can be used in book launches to make over $50,000 in additional revenue on launch day.
Shari Medini and Karissa Tunis are the co-authors of Parenting while Working from Home. It’s their first book, and they opted to publish it traditionally. Here are some lessons learned about the process.
Rob Fitz shares how he published three nonfiction books, including The Mom Test, without having a large platform and without spending a lot of time on promoting them.
Reading strategically will help you improve your writing. Alex from Alex & Books shares some insights on how to become a better reader so that you can write better.
Many prospective authors ask how much money they can make and whether publishing a book is worth their time. Here are some real numbers and three things you should be aware of.
Josh Duffney recently joined Microsoft as a Senior Content Developer. He wrote a book called "Become Ansible" and shares the story of how the book led to getting a job at one of the biggest organizations in technology.
The top 3 most downloaded podcast episodes include guest appearances by Daniel Vassallo, David Perell, and Liam Porr.
Russ Hill recently published his first book, Decide to Lead, and it hit the #1 Amazon Bestseller list. He talks about some great lessons learned about his self-publishing process.
Here are three reasons why I said no to a top 10 publisher when they wanted to republish my "Influencing Virtual Teams" book
Here’s a step-by-step plan that covers an advanced strategy about how to launch a book on Amazon using KDP Select by alternating between free and paid promotions.
If you're planning on writing a non-fiction book in 2021, feel free to reach out and ask me any questions you may have (and I'll answer them on the show). You can reach me via email or social media at: https://www.writerontheside.com/about
Philip Kiely discusses the process behind writing his first book, Writing for Software Developers, which made $15,000 during the first 24 hours of the launch.
Liam Porr discusses how he used GPT-3 to publish blog posts and articles, as well as the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence models for writing nonfiction content in the future.
A discussion with Stefan Palios about how he wrote his book, “The 50 Laws of Freelancing” and some interesting insights about pricing books in international markets.
A great discussion with Rob Archangel about how to publish your book, the difference between Gumroad and Amazon KDP for authors, and some tactics for book marketing.
Zeno Rocha recently published his first book, 14 Habits of Highly Productive Developers, and it made around $18,000 in 6 weeks after launch. He translated it to Portuguese and is working on the Spanish version now. Here's why this is a good idea.
Alex Wieckowski runs Alex & Books and The Reader's Journey podcast (a podcast about interviewing interesting authors and their books). Here’s an interesting conversation about writing and publishing books on the side.
Tips from Simon Mcmahon about how authors can apply simple tweaks to their WordPress blogs to help them with SEO and improve their ranking with Google search.
Arvid Kahl wrote a book called “Zero to Sold” about his experience bootstrapping and selling a SaaS (Software as a Service) business. He made over $8,400 selling the book on both Amazon and Gumroad (in one week only) and talks about how he did it on this episode.
Chris is an international speaker and founder of “Beyond Thank You.” He wrote his first book about virtual team games in around 6 weeks and it hit the Amazon Best Seller list. Here’s how he did it.
The final results of writing a book and donating profits to COVID-19 efforts are in. The book is about Fun Virtual Team-Building Activities and this episode breaks down all the numbers for you, as well as highlighting some lessons learned.
I recently launched "Fun Virtual Team-Building Activities" on Gumroad to help with COVID-19 efforts. The book made $1,423 in sales during the first 24 hours. Here are some lessons learned.
Here are the tools I use to write all my books (hint: I keep it really simple). I also cover a quick update about the book I’m writing to help out with COVID-19 relief efforts.
I recently listed a book for pre-order on Gumroad, created a book cover in 90 seconds, and got a few sales within a few hours. Here's how and why I picked Gumroad over Amazon KDP for this new book.
Alison Jones has a unique voice in publishing. She was a Director of Innovation Strategy at Macmillan, and currently leads Practical Inspiration Publishing. In this episode, we talk about everything from writing to publishing in today’s world.
I decided to write a new book about virtual team building games, and I’ll be documenting the process on my site, www.WriterOntheSide.com. I’ll also be donating the profits to COVID-19 relief efforts.
If you’re stuck at home as the coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads across the world, here are a few thoughts on writing and how you can take advantage of some downtime.
As an author, you will undoubtedly receive negative reviews about your book on Amazon. Here’s a point of view about how you can address them.
David Perell teaches an online writing course called Write of Passage, and runs a weekly newsletter with over 17,000 subscribers. Here’s why he thinks everyone should write, and how to build a personal monopoly.
Daniel Vassallo co-authored a book called “The Good Parts of AWS,” and made over $40K in sales in the first couple of weeks. In this episode, he breaks down all the details about the marketing & pricing strategies that he followed.
Four simple steps that explain how to collect email addresses from your readers, and which tools to use. This includes creating a freebie, creating a landing page, and using an email service provider.
Here are the podcast episodes that will probably help you the most with writing a book in 2020 (they’re the most-viewed episodes of 2019).
A webinar I hosted about how to write a bestselling Kindle book on the side, even if you don’t know where to start or how the publishing process works.
If you’re planning on writing a nonfiction book in 2020, this episode will cover the 3 mistakes to avoid, including writing an autobiography, thinking that writing a book will make you rich, and not researching your book topic well enough.
A few steps you should focus on before you publish your book, including designing a cover, preparing the marketing materials, and reaching out to early reviewers.
The author of “Friend of a Friend” and other bestselling books shares the importance of starting a newsletter and building a platform to engage readers. He also discusses some advantages to traditional publishing vs. self-publishing.
Tara Powers is the CEO of Powers Resource Center and the author of "Virtual Teams for Dummies." She discusses some lessons learned about how she wrote and published her first book.
If you keep thinking about writing a book, then you probably won't. Here are a few tips about how to get started on writing and publishing your first book.
Getting your book listed as an Amazon bestselling book is much easier than most people think. Here’s a quick overview about how to accomplish that by researching low-competition categories, listing your book on KDP, and targeting specific sales numbers.
Does your employer have any rights over your book? Would you get into any trouble for publishing a book while being employed? Here are four issues you should consider before publishing your book.
Dhruv Garg explains how you can get reviews about your book through BookSirens. This is a paid service that authors can use to get honest reviews on Amazon & Goodreads (and is permitted by Amazon's community guidelines).
Does it make sense to offer your book for free on Amazon? On this episode, I discuss the advantages of listing your book for free, and how you can still make money.
Teresa Chahine is a faculty member at the Yale School of Management and the author of “Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship.” We talk about some lessons learned about her experience publishing traditionally, and why she’ll do it differently next time.
Learn how to write in a casual tone, why you should separate writing from editing, how to fight writer’s block, and when to hire a ghostwriter.
Learn how to force a block of time, how to find your quiet zone, what tool to use, and why you should avoid setting a daily word count.
Here's how showing up on one podcast show helped me hit the Amazon #1 Bestseller list in 5 different categories with my latest book "Effective Delegation of Authority." I discuss some lessons learned that can help with your own book launch.
Learn how to use Amazon keyword research for validating book ideas, marketing your book, and increasing your ranking. Dave Chesson is the guy behind Kindlepreneur, a website devoted to teaching authors about book marketing and the digital world.
Rob Archangel is the owner of Archangel Ink. He helps busy authors self-publish their work so that they can focus on their area of expertise.
On this episode, we discuss everything about how to create an audiobook version of your book.
David Jahr is an award-winning writer and PR specialist. He has helped launch three NYT best-selling books (including "The Daniel Plan" and "The OMNI Diet"). On this episode, we discuss everything about ghostwriting and how the process works.
You have three options to design a book cover on Amazon KDP. You can design it for free, design it for cheap, or design it professionally. Here are the pros and cons of each option.
In this episode, we'll discuss how to write a book outline for your short nonfiction book using a simple framework. You’ll start with a concise introduction, then cover the main content, and then wrap up with a concise conclusion. That’s it!
In the last few months, I went through a couple of book launches. One for Celine Zabad’s “Between the Lines” book, and the other was for my “Project Kickoff” book. I learned two lessons that will help you avoid some pitfalls with your own book launch.
Amazon KDP Select is the best marketplace to self-publish your first book. Here's a detailed explanation of why (with real examples).
For 99% of prospective authors who are interested in writing their first nonfiction book, self-publishing on Amazon KDP is the way to go. Here's why.
On this episode, I talk about Amazon Verified Purchase reviews and a strategy that authors use to get them without having customers purchase their book. It’s a strategy I follow for all my published books and it can help you get more exposure on Amazon.
On this episode, I share with you the strategy I’ve followed to launch all my books, including three Amazon No.1 Best Sellers. And you can follow this strategy without spending a single dime on marketing.
Céline Zabad recently published “Between The Lines: Volumes of Words Unspoken,” her first poetry book that hit the Number 1 Amazon Best Seller list. On this episode, we discuss the launch strategy we worked on to get her book published.
I address a few of your questions on this episode, including whether it makes sense to pay for Amazon book reviews, the process for editing books that I follow, and the Createspace vs KDP Direct move by Amazon.
If you’d like to write a nonfiction book in 2019, follow along by listening to this episode because I’ll be sharing a real case study of publishing my own book (Project Kickoff) in early 2019.
The title of your book is the most important element that helps in marketing it. This episode will cover the four things every successful nonfiction book title needs: grab attention, explain the outcome, define the outcome, and contain relevant keywords.
Does it make sense to start a blog while writing a book? This episode discusses some of the pros of blogging and how it can help you write content, build a following, and have a central home base for your readers.
Understand how to narrow down your book's topic so that people want to read it. You can do this by narrowing down the outcome, and narrowing down the target audience of your book. This episode will outline four different ways to help you with that.
Picking the right topic for your book is critical because if you make a mistake at the beginning, it'll be very hard to recover from it later. On this episode, we'll cover a quick framework that'll help you understand how to choose a book topic using four simple filters.
Most employees don’t have the time to write a book. In this episode, we’ll cover how to find time to write and address other tips for writing a book. You’ll also learn what tools to use and the cost of writing a book.
Can you make money writing a book? Listen to this episode to find out how much money authors can make per book. You'll also get an overview of whether the return on investment is worth it if you work a full-time job.
Welcome to the first episode of Writer on the Side, a podcast about how to write your nonfiction book while working a full-time job. In this episode, we'll cover an overview of the show, and discuss Rule #1 that every author should follow.