100 Books Published, more to come…

On November 28, 2018 we published our 99th book.

Today New Degree Press reached the milestone of “100 Authors Published.”

In the next 10 Months, that number is going to double (at least) — I see it. 

Over the past 3.5 months, I’ve been volunteering my time with Creator Institute through “the Creator Institute — New Degree Press Partnership.” Creator Institute is a Human Accelerator that helps young, first-time creators (college students, grad students, young-working professionals) develop the first draft of their Creation Event (a Book, a Podcast, etc).

Creators go through the Creator Institute bSchool (Book School) Program to develop their 1st Draft Manuscript. After successfully completing the program, they are eligible to publish with New Degree Press. The entire program lasts 10 months — 5 months to create a 1st Draft, 5 months to publish.

We’re able to do this because we’ve launched a set of clubs at colleges and universities across the United States. We started these clubs because “community” makes a big difference between success and failure. This has allowed us to focus more on the coaching that drives author-momentum, and let the process run. Think TEDx but for creating a book. A Community model, just works.

On November 1, 2018: We talked to our 1st Club President.

Between then and now:

• We started over 60 Clubs at Colleges/Universities across the United States
• We launched 2 Communities outside of the United States (Canada, Scotland)
• We now have 150–200+ Active Members of these Creator Communities (numbers are not yet finalized)

All of these creators started their January during the month of January. These authors are targeting Launches during the month of November 2019. But before that happens, between now and October 1, we’re aiming to launch another 50–60 Books.

The short version: New Degree Press is growing — fast.

These books publish today (Source: New Degree Press)

What I’m really excited about though is how authors will publish through New Degree Press going forward — the “Bookstarter Model.”

The Bookstarter Model is a fancy term for a “Pre-sale campaign.” An authors will pre-sells 100 signed copies of their book, alongside other pre-order rewards (Recognition in the Acknowledgments, Early Access to the Manuscript, etc.) to fund their publishing costs.

We’re using The Bookstarter Model because it is practical.

The Bookstarter fundamentally transforms an author’s ability to turn their idea into reality, and publish their book. 

Publishing is expensive. From the Cover Design to working with multiple Editors to doing Layout and even Launch & Promotion. To publish a book right, it takes time and money. You can try to save costs, but in my experience it isn’t worth the money saved (unless you get exceptionally lucky). The Bookstarter Model solves this.

The only variables that should matter: (a) the effort you put in, and (b) the quality of your work.

That’s it.

New Degree Press is developing a new Program.

Garyvee on “Sales vs. Marketing.” Watch this video. Practical insights. (Source: YouTube)

Beyond all of this — I am working on a passion project. Over the next 10 months, I’m working with a high-calibre author to get their book published. The Author is a co-founder of a company founded after Sandy Hook (in 2012). A book on “Comfort Dogs” and “Mental Health,” the author shares a powerful message of “Comfort, Well-being, and Community.”

This book is unlike any I have ever worked on — in terms of scope, potential, and impact.

My goal is to develop a program that would every year help a select handful of authors with a mission-driven purpose publish their books. These books otherwise wouldn’t be published by a traditional publisher (Random House, Simon & Schuster, etc).

I can’t share much about this book just yet, because it’s still in the early publishing stages. What I can share is from the moment I first talked to the author on December 11, 2018 — I saw great potential. Her book is something truly special.

For this book, I am collaborating with two of the leading minds on the Bookstarter Model. Needless to say, I am going to learn a lot. I already have, and I only just started.

My 2019 Success Cocktail: Equal Parts — Learning and Collaborating.

The next 10 months are going to see a lot of change and growth — for me and New Degree Press. I just have to remember why I’m doing it…the impact it has on other people:

• December 2018 — After 7 interviews a 20-year-old College Studentreceived a summer internship offer from Nike. (Nike is known for hiring MBA interns)
• January 2019 — An author received a personal email from the President & CEO of Gucci congratulating them on their book, after a journey of recovery. This author has had dozens of other incredible moments happen.
• Just this past weekend — An author who will publish in September 2019 got accepted into the MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise Program at Cambridge. It’s a competitive program.

There are 100 Creators. 100 Stories. 100 Lives Changed. So Far.

So many stories — both in terms of lessons learned and their personal stories.

I could write a blog series…or a book (don’t give me ideas — unless you want to collaborate. In which case, let me know).

This is all working towards my larger goal of — 1000 Books Published in 3 years, and at least 1 author from 200 Schools.

How to Make Yourself a Success Cocktail. (Source: Garyvee)

There are a couple of key ingredients I am working on to develop my success cocktail:

1. A Mindset of “Always Be Learning” — Every. Single. Day.
2. Collaboration — It takes a village to publish a Book or Produce a Podcast. As NDP, how that village becomes a city will be a fun question to answer. My greatest collaborators and partners-in-crime are my friends and family. I look forward to sharing this journey with them. It’s unreal.
3. “A Giving Mindset” — Give first, ask questions later. Work to make a real difference.

So much I could write and say. I’ll just leave it at this — for now. In the meantime, I’ll keep my head down and keep on working.

To quote an author publishing today, “Onwards and Upwards!”