I told Chris Joseph years ago that his book would lead to a coaching career. He told me absolutely not. He meant it.

It took about two years for him to tell me I was right.

Chris was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer in 2016, and seventy percent of people with that diagnosis are dead within a year. He quit chemo, fired his oncologist with no Plan B and is now about to turn 70.

He wrote his memoir, Life is a Ride, because the story was in his head and he had to get it out, not because he had some grand business plan.

But the book became his business card, his credibility, his foot in every door. People found it and kept asking the same thing: tell me what you did.

He threw himself into new projects (at one point he was doing five podcasts). He did a book tour with a musician friend because he was smart enough to know not that many people show up for an author alone. And eventually, all those "tell me what you did" conversations became Terrain Navigators, the health coaching practice he now runs for people facing the diagnosis he survived.

Chris didn't plan any of this. He just published a real book, took it seriously and let the ride take him where it was going. (It's not an accident the book is called Life is a Ride.)

In this episode:

• Why Chris fired his oncologist with no Plan B (and why he'd do it again)
• How he used his book as a business card to introduce himself to Joe Polish at a gala
• The moment he realized "tell me what you did" was a coaching business waiting to happen
• Why he wrote a memoir instead of a how-to (and why the how-to he's writing now terrifies him)
• What a friend's pickleball book disaster taught him about trying to do it all yourself

Want to learn more about Legacy Launch Pad Publishing—my high-end hybrid book publishing company that helps entrepreneurs turn their expertise into authority-building books? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com

Curious how entrepreneurs use books to generate seven-figure returns, speaking opportunities and high-value clients? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/7-figures

Interested in working with a selective hybrid publisher that focuses on strategy, authority and long-term business growth—not just publishing a book? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/apply

And if you just want to know more about me, 👉 www.annadavid.com

Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.

Kelsey Chittick wrote a book about her husband dying at a trampoline park while she was on a spiritual retreat in Jamaica, and somehow it's one of the funniest books I've ever read. But what I really wanted to talk to her about is what happened after.

Because the book, Second Half, became the thing people hand to someone when the worst has happened. It led to Zibby Owens inviting Kelsey to co-host a podcast about sex that lasted five years. It led to a grief group in her basement that ran every two weeks for three and a half years and is now being pitched as a scripted TV show. It turned her into a speaker, a life coach and someone whose phone rings every time somebody in the South Bay loses the person they love most.

Kelsey didn't write this book to build a career. She wrote it so her kids would know the truth about their dad. They still haven't read it (too embarrassing, apparently). But the book did what books do when they're real: it opened every door she didn't know existed.

In this episode:

• How a death-and-mourning memoir became the go-to gift when someone dies (and led to a five-year sex podcast)
• Why the grief group in her basement is being pitched as a scripted TV show
• The moment Kelsey knew she was done being "the dead-husband woman" — and what comes next
• The cover design that looked like a vagina (her mother-in-law loved it)
• What it means to write something so true to your voice that you can hand someone the book instead of reliving the story

Want to learn more about Legacy Launch Pad Publishing—my high-end hybrid book publishing company that helps entrepreneurs turn their expertise into authority-building books? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com

Curious how entrepreneurs use books to generate seven-figure returns, speaking opportunities and high-value clients? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/7-figures

Interested in working with a selective hybrid publisher that focuses on strategy, authority and long-term business growth—not just publishing a book? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/apply

And if you just want to know more about me, 👉 www.annadavid.com

Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.

Alex Mandossian sold 87 copies of his book and made $2.5 million from it, which is either the best argument for publishing a book or the best argument against caring about sales numbers (or both).

I've known Alex for years, and what makes him fun to talk to is that he'll just say the thing most authors won't admit: the book was never the product. It was the thing that got him in the room. He gave signed copies away on stages across six continents and every single one of his high-ticket consulting clients mentioned the book before they hired him. Not because it was a bestseller (600 copies sold, total, across two books) but because having it made him the guy who literally wrote the book on his thing.

Alex calls a book a "credentializer," which is not a word, but it should be. He also has a collection of one-liners he calls Alexisms that are annoyingly quotable. We get into all of it — how he turned one book into years of content, why he thinks most authors completely misunderstand what a book is actually for and what happens when you stop chasing sales and start using your book as the best business card that's ever existed.

In this episode:

• How 87 copies sold turned into $2.5 million in revenue (and why the math makes more sense than you think)
• Why every single high-ticket client referenced the book before saying yes
• What happens when you give signed copies away on stages instead of trying to sell them
• The Alexisms — and why deceptively simple one-liners are a branding strategy
• Why most authors are obsessed with the wrong metric

Want to learn more about Legacy Launch Pad Publishing—my high-end hybrid book publishing company that helps entrepreneurs turn their expertise into authority-building books? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com

Curious how entrepreneurs use books to generate seven-figure returns, speaking opportunities and high-value clients? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/7-figures

Interested in working with a selective hybrid publisher that focuses on strategy, authority and long-term business growth—not just publishing a book? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/apply

And if you just want to know more about me, 👉 www.annadavid.com

Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.