First, want to spend a weekend with a bunch of incredible authors at the Barbie Dreamland House in Las Vegas?
We’ve got 3 spots left till the first-ever Beyond the Book Retreat is at capacity.
Up until now, I haven’t opened up sign-ups to the public but only to coaching clients of mine and a few close author friends.
We’ve been meeting weekly on Zoom for the last few months, and it’s been an incredibly special experience. We have authors doing everything from YouTube, to cocktail mixes, to membership communities, to storyletters, to vertical movies, and more in between.
Some authors make six and seven figures a year. Some are just getting started.
Some write steamy romance. Some write nonfiction.
What brings us all together?
A desire to push beyond the book and put our readers first.
I thought about putting out an application to make sure new members of the retreat are a good fit (we also meet every week on Zoom ahead of the retreat).
But honestly, an application would just be dishonest.
1. Most who joined beyond the book didn’t join with a project going beyond the book but just a desire. In a few months, their view of publishing and trajectory has been transformed.
2. We have had people push forward, make great progress, and teach us all who are at very different stages of life and their careers.
The takeaway?
In the right environment, anyone can go beyond the book and be a pioneer in the future of publishing.
And it’s open to you if you’d like.
Of course, there’s a cost.
It’s $350 USD to attend the retreat taking place October 31st to November 2nd in Las Vegas and get access to the weekly zooms we host in the Beyond the Book Incubator group, just before Author Nation (the largest indie author conference in the world. This does not include a hotel room, but there are many nearby (the house is just 5 miles from the strip).
Why that price?
Because I’m doing this at cost… meaning it’s as cheap as I can make it without losing money (the Barbie house cost just over $4,400 to rent and the retreat will have roughly 12 authors, with a few lucky ones spending the night, but those slots sold out fast).
I am one of you, and I learn with you. This was just an excuse for me to bring some awesome author friends together and learn. Plus… when I found out a Barbie House was available on Airbnb… I kind of had to rent it 😂.
If you want to join us or know someone who would be a good fit, you can learn more and register here:
Sign-ups will be first-come, first-served. If you are willing to come and hang out with us and spend a good chunk of change being with us in person, then I know you are more than capable of being an incredible member of the community.
Unable to make it to the Barbie House in person but still want to join the group?
Email me at hello@authorsidekick.com
I’m super open to having some folks in the group who aren’t coming in person to the mastermind (we already have a few folks in this camp). I honestly have to figure out if there will be a fee for the virtual-only mastermind (the weekly Zoom calls and Discord) or not.
My gut is telling me something like $100-$200 per year is fair (that’s right about $3-4 per session), but I’m not even sure anyone will be interested to begin with.
So if you are interested in virtual only— email me and if there’s interest, I’ll see what works for our existing members and y’all and be super transparent.
Super humbling and cool to stumble into something that is so incredibly useful to people.
This group is what showed me what my next big move beyond the book is— Creatorwood— and it feels so good to be back in the platform game (we officially launched into beta last week wohoo!).
It’s truly an incubator. For ideas. For stories. For businesses beyond the book.
For your future.
And here are some pictures of the Barbie House:
Now let’s dive into this week’s podcast…
An Interview with Jay Yang: The Architect Behind Noah Kagan’s NYT Bestseller Launch
This is one of the most inspiring and actionable episodes of Beyond the Book.
Jay Yang is one of the brightest minds in social media and he’s worked with top entrepreneurs like Tyler Denk (CEO of Beehiiv), Noah Kagan (founder of Appsumo), and now Alex Hormozi (co-founder of Acquisition.com) to grow their following and reach millions online.
He also helped Noah Kagan launch his book Million Dollar Weekend, all about how to start and launch a business in 48 hours. This book hit the NYT Bestseller list!
In today’s episode of Beyond the Book, Jay Yang (who is still a teenager at the time of recording) shares with us:
How to create content that hooks the attention of others and grows your reader base
Why their email list was more valuable in promoting the book launch than their 1 million+ subscriber YouTube channel
How to create outlier opportunities for yourself by doing the work upfront when collaborating with people
Doing the hard work to develop belief in yourself
And SO much more
You can watch on YouTube here:
The quote that stood out to me most in the podcast: “What’s obvious to you is amazing to others.” – Jay Yang
Jay recently launched his first book You Can Just Do Things. You can get your copy here. It’s all about how you can take action and accomplish big things without needing the permission of gatekeepers. If there’s any book that embodies the indie author mindset, it’s this one 😊.
I’ll be back with another podcast episode later this week (got the team trained up and ready to go on helping me get out episodes), and another essay all on the Retailer v.s. Direct mindset tomorrow!
In the meantime, don’t forget…
Together we are boundless,
Michael Evans
The Author Sidekick
P.S. You can secure your spot at the Barbie House Retreat here, and if you want to join the virtual mastermind for Beyond the Book, email me at hello@authorsidekick.com, and I’ll send you more details (I’m still finalizing pricing… so consider this the beta 😉).
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