Joey Pinz Discipline Conversations

#851 Wiebke Tasch: From Bestseller to Book Publishing Strategy 📚

• Joey Pinz • Episode 851

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📚 What really makes a book successful?

In this episode of Joey Pinz Conversations, Joey Pinz sits down with publishing strategist Wiebke Tasch, founder of Digital Authors, to explore the real world of self-publishing, book marketing, and the evolving publishing industry.

Wiebke shares the fascinating story of how her first self-published book unexpectedly became a bestseller, how later books failed, and how those experiences pushed her to build a global publishing company helping authors bring manuscripts to market.

From Amazon algorithms and book launches to AI’s growing role in publishing, this conversation offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at what actually determines whether a book succeeds or disappears.

Wiebke also shares powerful insights about creative systems, building a location-independent business, and creating freedom through entrepreneurship.

✨ Whether you're a writer, entrepreneur, or simply curious about how books shape authority and influence, this episode delivers powerful lessons on turning ideas into impact.

 

🔑 Top 3 Highlights

📖 Why most non-fiction books fail — and how proper market research changes everything

🚀 The critical 5-day window after publishing that determines book visibility

🤖 AI and publishing — where technology helps and where it harms authentic storytelling

 

 

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Join us for enlightening discussions that spark growth and exploration. 

Hosted by Joey Pinz, this Discipline Conversations Podcast offers insights and inspiration.

 

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SPEAKER_02

WebK Tosh, what a wonderful conversation. The publishing industry. What do you know of it? What do you what do you how do you think it's doing? How is AI involved with it? WebK wrote her first book. She's never considered being an author back in 2018. It became a bestseller. Then she decided to write others. They didn't work out so well, had issues with Amazon. She's originally from Germany. When we talk now, she's in Mexico, but she's a world traveler. So now she helps authors publish it. And you know, the editing process, the book cover design. There's so many aspects to it. But we we know, we see that books generally don't make a lot of money. So why do it? Use the credentialize to tell your story. She helps authors do all this. And uh it's a it's it is a great industry. In Europe, it's very different than it is here in the States. States, I believe Amazon has 80 to 90 percent penetration, whereas in Europe it's about half, 50%. But just a fascinating discussion about the publishing world and what it's doing in books. Really, really thank you, okay, for your time. And thank you for watching and listening. Hi, I'm Joey Pins, and here's my 45-second introduction. After starting my business in the 90s, I started developing poor habits of eating in my diet because of working way too much. Before you know it, I found myself 340 pounds. The doctor told me if I don't lose the weight, I'm not gonna see my daughter graduate. Took the next seven months, lost 130 pounds. People think there's some secret. Ask me, how'd you lose that weight? Like there's some secret. There is no secret. How'd I lose the weight? Just one word. Discipline. I've had other successes in life, and I attribute them all to discipline. Now I'm not the king of discipline, but I believe that it can help all of us. Friends, colleagues convinced me to start a podcast. The podcast mission, how do we better ourselves and society? I talked to interesting people in health, fitness, sport, wellness, business, technology, science, art, and culture. And I eventually asked them how discipline plays a role in their life. Podcast vision, growth through learning from others. WebK Tosh, thank you so much for your time. So, what is it about train travel that attracts you so much?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, so when I was my first job in Germany, I was actually a train attendant for the Deutsche Bahn, which is like, you know, the long-distance fast train company. And I just loved it. You know, I had like a uniform, I had a little head, I had a whistle, and I met so many people. I was 18 years old, and I went to every city in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and yeah, just was an amazing job for like a first job. Was was great.

SPEAKER_02

In this fast-paced MSP landscape, how do you stay ahead? Introducing Msp Influencer.com, your ultimate hub for MSP news, insights, and community connection powered by ForzaDash. More than 75,000 MSP subscribed to our MSP Influencer Pulse weekly newsletter. Staying informed and ahead of industry trends. Tune in to emerging podcaster Joey Penn and leading MSP voices, offering essential tips, powerful insights, and success stories. Explore our multi-authored lives, crafted specifically for MSP leaders, delivering fresh perspectives and actionable strategies. Celebrate excellence with the industry-leading Force Dotch MSP Influencer Awards, recognizing innovation, leadership, and impact the MSP community. Join thousands of MSP professionals who trust MSP Influencer.com to grow their business and expand their network. MSP Influencer.com, where today's MSP leaders connect, collaborate, and conquer. All powered by the Force Dotch platform, helping MSP vendors work effectively with MSPs and helping MSPs grow. There is a certain romantic element to trains, isn't there? It's just that you get to sit, you just the country passes you by, you don't have to do anything else. It is nice, especially in Europe. I noticed. We don't do it that that it doesn't have that same kind of element here in the States, but in Europe it does.

SPEAKER_00

It does. But also in the States, so I took a few trains in the States already, like from Chicago to Portland, Oregon, which I loved because it's like it's 48 hours, I believe. And it goes like south of the Rocky Mountains, and it's beautiful. And you have time, you meet people, usually like for me, super interesting people, like older people, you know, who used to take the train, or like Amish people, which I found so fascinating. Um, because they speak German and I can understand them. Interesting. It's so interesting, like for example German, I didn't forgot. Yeah, like or they say like Dutch, German Dutch, or something, or but I can understand what they're saying. So um, for example, I took a train, I think it was like through Utah, Colorado, and there was like a bunch of Amish people, and they just were on the way to a wedding. And so I was sitting in like in a panorama wagon, you know, with like all class, and you sit there, I had my book, and there was like a lot of like Amish girls, and they talked about the wedding, who's single, who's you know, still available, and what are they, how they look like, blah blah blah. And it was like so innocent, like so normal, you know, it's just like a bunch of young girls talking about who's single. It was I found it like very fascinating.

SPEAKER_02

That is wonderful, yeah. And and ballet as well is another passion.

SPEAKER_00

I do, yeah. I started dancing ballet um like a year ago here in Mexico, which is uh it's like half in Spanish, half in French.

SPEAKER_02

Whoa.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, which is interesting. Uh, I love it, yeah. It's good, it's a good training.

SPEAKER_02

Many athletes, many boxers take time to do ballet because they just understand how they move their body. There's a very f yeah, there's a very famous Russian boxer. Um uh forgot his name, it just slipped my mind. But his father at age 13 or 14 had him stop boxing and took ballet for almost two years.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

And then he came back. And so you could just tell as he boxes how he moves his body and his feet, and you could tell there's a strong influence there, and he became world champion. Uh Shabaleko, one of the brothers. I forget the, I forget the I forget how to pronounce her name. But yeah, it's really important, isn't it? Ballet, it's just a whole discipline of your body, just looking at it very differently.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and it's so challenging. Like, it's so I just do it like once a week, and I notice like I'm sitting better, my postures better. I feel more feminine, if this makes sense. Really? Um, and it's it's awesome, like with this bunch of girls, you know, doing all your movements, and it's a nice uh group of women, and it's like my legs feel so much better, like I can do stuff I never could in my life. But it's also just this continued training, you know, like the consistency, because it's I feel it's a slow process, but um it's so worth it. It's like it's it's amazing for everything. What's uh what's a sweat lodge? Oh um it's a it's so here in in um Mexico it's called Temascali, it's a sweatlock, sauna kind of thing, sauna, yeah. But it's here more a little bit like mystical. So like um I go maybe like every three months, um and usually someone you can say like a shaman does it. I go to a place, his name is Eduardo, and you have like old, I think it's like old like volcano stones, and so you you go in and someone cleans you with like um kopal. Wow, and then you go in, and then there's like singing and drumming, and then you have like four rounds, so you like um after every round, so someone opened the doors, and then you get like some air in it, and then after the round, um the shaman, all his help are putting in like more stones, so it's getting and it's like it's very dark, it's kind of like people also describe it as like a room, you like in a mother's room, and it's kind of like a rebirth thing you do, and it's like it's a couple of hours. Um and it's it's a good reset also for your body. And I'm like, so when I was younger, my family we went like once a week to the sauna, like swimming, and then sauna. And for me, it's like it's very nice, it's a good like body reset, it's very healthy, and I never get sick. So, like, since I'm doing it, I'm I'm never sick. I was sick the last time, like maybe five years ago. So, yeah, highly recommended.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, even sauna, they're finding is so healthy. We don't do it as much in the States as we should, but in especially, I think Germany they like it really, really hot as well, like especially hot, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I found the Timascali here, it's not as hot as like the sauna in Germany, but also I think Germany is a sauna country, but not as like Finland and you know the Scandinavian countries. It's like they do like sauna every day, I think.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they treat it very, very differently there. Webk you you create or you wrote your first book at 20 in 2018 and it became a bestseller. Tell me what that was like.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, this was interesting. Um, so I never attended to writing a bestseller. So I was maybe you have to understand the difference between like a United States mindset and a German mindset. It's like the German mindset is just, you know, you you go to school, you study, you meet your future partner, you get married, you do like one job for the rest of your life, and that's it, you know. Wow, just follow the path. And like I, after college, after my masters, I went to the United States and Canada, like for a couple of years. And when I came back, my mindset shifted so much. Like I was like, I don't want to do this like same old, same German, you know, go A, B, C, D, pass. I just want to do my own thing. So I started Googling how I can make money online, because I was like, I just want to, you know, go keep traveling, do my thing. And then I and it was 19 uh 2018, so there was a lot of blog article out there. I think there was a time where like everybody had a blog, and so I ended up on this one blog of how like digital nomad style and how make money online. And someone wrote like through writing, if you're good in writing, you can like make money online. I'm like, uh okay, I love writing actually. So I wrote a book and it was like a nonfiction, like how-to book for women, and I just uploaded it on Amazon, did my own cover, did zero editing or proofreading, and just uploaded it. Yeah, and then but after a few months, I decided to put some money into editing, um, got an editor over it, um updated the cover design, and after 18 months, somehow it became a bestseller in the Amazon niche. And I made so much money, for me, a lot of money back then, and so I quit my day job and just went full in writing and traveling. So, and this was also the beginning of like how I ended up with my publishing agency now US-based, and yeah, this was the very first step to go there, and it was a surprise because I had like actually I had like zero idea what I'm doing. Um, and I still feel it was like a lucky strike, and then I published a second book which failed, a third book which failed, and I but it was it was really a good thing because I could like understand what did I do? Um how could I become a bestseller with like no intention? And I could just see that I was lucky to find a niche which had like very low competition, search volume was high. Um, and after this, with my books, I intended to like keep going and make money. I I couldn't keep up with it because I didn't do like a market analysis and the research and the keywords and and so on, the SEO. So but it was like a good journey for me because I really could understand how publishing works.

SPEAKER_02

And so when you say your second books failed, your second two, I believe they were fiction, they're failed. Define fail.

SPEAKER_00

No cells, or like just like friends and family, and like but I think so. Nothing changed in my writing, obviously. Um, and I like used a similar cover design, but it was just the niche, nobody was looking for. So the the book title of the second one was like Freedom and the Fear of It was also in German, was doing COVID, and it was like very philosophical. Um yeah, but nobody cared. So the T1 is like which is okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And so how did you make the pivot into writing into actually publishing now and being a publisher?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so um it was during COVID. Um I in February 2020 I spent a week in Morocco for like I was invited for like a woman empowerment week, and so I met so many women, and there were like coaches and therapists, and everybody was, you know, were working online. And there actually introduced me to a lot of like other women and a group of coaches, and they asked me, Oh, how did you do this? Like, how could you write a book? We also want to write a book. Um, and so I started coaching people how to write a book, then how to like format a book, what's important for like uploading, what is like uh keywords, um, what's important for the cover design, etc. So I I started coaching women and also men's, like people in general, like coaches, how to like write their own books. And after um was it like after a year or so, I got kind of tired of it, like because I had to like say the same thing over and over, and I never attended to be a coach. Um, so I decided okay, maybe I can like outsource my service. Like instead of me explaining anything, I just like you know, can hire my prices and um ask people, yeah, if you want to do the service, like we can like I can proofread your stuff, um, I can do the layout, the cover. And so I started uh building up a team over the years um to help me. And um yeah, this was like the slow process of doing it. And like today, I feel like today I'm really settled with my team as well. Like I have an amazing team, and in the beginning, I also needed to learn. So, like um, you know, the cover, like the layout wasn't what I really wanted, and I needed to learn how to hire, how to find good people. Um, and there was like a lot of like trial and errors, and especially like with the upload, we had like so many errors in the beginning, like the format didn't fit, and like the platform didn't allow us to move forward, and yeah, it was like step by step. And I feel like I was um I never intended to do this. What I did today, but I kind of this was the whole process of me just trying to work online because I want to be independent to building up a company.

SPEAKER_02

And there's a big difference between being an author and running a company. You've got to learn a lot more different skills there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

What was that transition like?

SPEAKER_00

Um, so I think I had to because there was something happened with my book on Amazon which pushed me to um make money and like online if I like don't want to have a job. So after I so I published a book, became a bestseller. I published it under a pen name, and so in my head was okay, I open a second account in Amazon for my books I published under my name, which I did, and then after, so I make money, quit my job, I started going also like on YouTube interviews, and you know, um told people about my book and my my journey, and then I got an email from Amazon said, You are not allowed to have two accounts under one person, so we're deleting all your publications, and I'm like, Whoa, yeah. And I tried to because I didn't know, and I tried to like contact the Amazon customer service in Seattle, in Munich, in Germany, and I'm like, I tried to explain, like, I'm sorry, it wasn't a mistake, like I couldn't, I don't didn't know, I didn't read like the terms and conditions. Who does? Like, honestly. Um, and and they just like deleted my books, and I had three months because Amazon pays out always three months later. So I knew I had like three months money coming in and had to figure out something. So this is like it pushed, I already started coaching, but it pushed me really to go full in. Like I feel I hadn't like my choice was either I keep going or I go back having a job and this you know 9 to 5 life, which I didn't want to. So it pushed me to think bigger, and I started watching YouTube videos like Alex Hamosi, Lila Hamosi, you know, like how to build a company and stuff. So I started binge watching YouTube videos, and yeah, I had to like grow into this. Um and the the interesting thing is I never expected me to really like it. Like I never saw me as like a business owner, but as more as I grown into it, as more as I learned, as more as like I felt settled in my own role, and with the team today I have, I I love it, and I can't, and I'm so grateful this happened with Amazon back then because otherwise I would maybe still writing books and live in maybe I don't know, on an island in Thailand and just like be alone in my cabin and writing books. So it's it's a good thing, but it was shocking for sure, and it pushed me to be someone I never intended to be. Why do many books fail? Uh yeah. I would say nobody, like a few people really understand the market, and nobody really do like a market analysis. So people publishing a book and hoping oh it's gonna get discovered one day, or like I'm just publishing and do the rest later. But you need to understand the market, you need to understand um what is selling, what people are searching for, and how to position yourself, and then do like a decent, you know, keyword analysis, SEO, put enough like SEO in like the sales text, have a good cover. Oh my gosh, I saw good books, but the cover design is made so cheaply by like some you know assistant, does it very quickly in Canva, or I had like I checked like one book a few years ago. This author wrote a non-fiction book, some like government nonfiction book, but before, like years before, he was like a science fiction author, and so he used his cover was like the same elements as like a non-science fiction thriller. And so for people who want to read like this specific topic in like some government um intelligence something, and he's there, see like a non uh science fiction cover, so it's like a general confusion. So people just like continue clicking, uh, and so it's not selling. But the most important thing is like a market analysis in the beginning, understand the market, the search volume, like what people searching for, and go from there and not just like guessing or wishing, you know, that like really have a good foundation. And another very Important point is when you publish a book, you have five days, like the day you publish, and then plus five days, to convince the algorithm that your book generates enough traffic. So later on, the algorithm helps you to basically do free marketing for you. So, for example, when you publish, having like a decent book launch strategy and like enough like pre-orders, and at least three months, you know, when everything is ready and before you publish, to push out your book, like talk in your newsletter about your book, talk in your content about your book, make people exciting about your book launch. And then on the day of your actual book launch, you have so much traffic, which continues over the first five days. So the algorithm noticed, oh my god, this book brings traffic in. Like people like this book, like people want to read this book. And so, like the platforms like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc., are gonna suggest your books to other readers in your niche if you manage to bring a lot of traffic in the first five days. And a lot of people don't know this and they're just publish and then they're hoping for the best. And this is like it's the main point why books don't sell.

SPEAKER_02

And and if somebody's trying to self-publish on Amazon, what do you recommend?

SPEAKER_00

Do first understand the market, like I said, do like a market analysis. Um, we actually offer this. Like if people like you know overwhelmed, like how to do it, we offer this as well. Um and also understand your target group. I mean, if you just do it as a hobby, you know, just go for it and see what happens. But if you do it like as a business asset for you know your business as a coach, therapist, um, podcast host, you know, people who like writing nonfiction and using the book as like, you know, a client conversion asset should really invest in understand the market, understand their target group, not only writing just for them, like writing for their target group and help other people transform their life through their story. And once this is clear, everything falls into place. Like when you know the audience target group, you know which kind of cover design is important, you know which kind of like book layout is important, you know where your people buying books. Like Amazon is a big player in in the United States, but if you publish in Europe and also like the English market in Europe is also very big, then you have to understand Amazon is not such a big player, so you need to like publish somewhere else as well, like you know, Waterstone in the UK, Talia and Germany, etc. So um you need to understand where your readers are, where your target group, and then everything falls into place from there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we get very used in the States here of Amazon kind of being leading all this, but it's not the case there in Europe.

SPEAKER_00

It's like 50%. And I think like Amazon is in in the US is like 80 to 90. It's like yeah, the biggest player and so important.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, people don't remember. Amazon started with just with books and then they eventually branched out to everything. It seems like a long, long time ago. Where do audiobooks play in all this, WebKe?

SPEAKER_00

So audiobooks, big players, also audible. Um, so far only accessible for like US citizen, like through Audible. An Audible is kind of like Amazon, so you wanna be on Audible. Um, an audiobook is a very good extra, it's not super necessary, but it's a nice, like if you're serious with your book, then yeah, do like an audiobook as well. Also, I wouldn't suggest using AI necessarily, you know, it's like you can do it, but it's still you hear it. And people, especially in book publishing, people wanna have an authentic voice, you know, also in your writing, in like what you hear, and don't have like sometimes those weird little paws and like you know, just a robotic voice. You kind of you can hear it. Um, so yeah, in Europe it's a bit different as well. There are like so many more little kind of um like Spotify or Spotify is actually from Sweden, little kind of uh distributor for audiobooks. So you want to like actually publish through like a distributor, and your book, your audiobook is available in a lot of different platforms, but in the US, like Audible is like the big player to go for.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, a lot of Audible here in the States. Uh so you mentioned AI. Is that helping or hurting the publishing industry?

SPEAKER_00

Both. I would say both. It's an amazing development, and I think the next five years, um, the publishing industry is gonna be so different. What we know from today. For example, I see more like interactive books. So if you like have an ebook and then you can click on something and you have a video, you know, explaining your content, or like an audio and whatnot. Um translations are gonna be amazing. A lot of, you know, um, you write a book in English, and then the next you can like translate it within seconds basically into German and Spanish and Italian, etc. That's gonna be so good, like for authors to reach like a global audience, which costs before like thousands of dollars and like months of like translating a book. Um, what I see a little bit critical, and I already see it, is like people using too much AI for the like actual writing process. And especially using like ChatGTP, I already see the same sentences. I'm not kidding. This was just like the last few weeks I had like two authors, and I I was like like going over the manuscript and seeing the same languages, like the same sentence. And it's and this is the issue with like chat GDP in AI, because it's the average of the average, and it's using the same wording and sentences, so and like people gonna get tired of it very quickly. Like if you if you buy a book and then you see, oh, it's not the system, it's it's no, it's not you, it's not your fault, it's the system. And you think, I have read this like on 10,000 social media posts and like all over LinkedIn and Instagram and whatnot, and now I'm reading the same sentences in a book. I think people getting so tired of it, and and you as an author putting like energy and money into it, and losing selves because you you you know just want to take a shortcut and using Chat GTP, it's it's gonna be devastating. So for writing, I always say take your time, don't rush through it, just because you want to have your book out there, especially if you like invest money into it and like in a good cover and layout design, invest time in it and write your book yourself. You can use you know AI, Claude, ChatGTB, whatnot to like for outline your book. It maybe help with like some proofreading and stuff, but don't let your like AI write your book. And another thing I see with AI is AI, like how AI writes like book chapter, it's kind of like social media posts. It's short, it's horrible for the layout because you have just those short sentences, and it's very hard to make like a good book layout if you just have like one short sentence after another short sentence. And a good book content lives from like long sentence, short sentence, some questions, you know, some rarity of the length. And most importantly, a good book lives from stories, you know, personal stories because people want to read personal stories, they don't want to just read concepts, you know. You can also just ask ChatGB for some content uh concepts. A good book lives from like personal stories. People want to learn, people want to see what you experience so they can learn from it and then you know transform their own life. So this is super important, and no AI can like fake your personal life.

SPEAKER_02

What if discipline wasn't about punishment, but about unlocking your best self? I spent two and a half years writing discipline for greatness, because discipline changed my life. And I know it can change yours too. This isn't a theory. Inside you'll find real practical steps you can use immediately to focus better, build stronger habits, reduce stress, accomplish your goals, and bring more balance to your life. Whether you're trying to get healthier, improve your career, or simply feel more control. This book gives you the framework. Start today. Grab your copy of Discipline for Greatness at joeypins.com slash book. Thank you. You know, talk to me about the editing process, Webkey, because I know with my book that was the most painful. It took you know it took over a year, almost two years, and it was just absolutely painful. Um how important is that? Will AI help there?

SPEAKER_00

So, yeah, editing is like it's kind of the foundation of a book, like you know, at the market analysis. Um it's so important, and it depends on the book and your writing, and if the author has, you know, um experience. But so what we do is actually we do like two rounds of editing. And I always suggest the author before they're before we starting the process that they have like some B reader, like some, you know, if you are very serious with your book, hire another editor. If you don't have you know much fun, then ask friends and family, but it's always better like have like someone professional read over it. Um, and so when an author comes to us, the first thing we do is like uh development feedback, and so we go very deep into the manuscript and say, okay, here this is good, this is bad, we need like more personal stories here. This makes no sense, this makes sense, like and we go through like how the chapters are built on each other, which is super important, and we're going in with the lens of the reader, like because we want, and this is so hard in a book, we want to make sure if someone reads the book, they'll stick with it, you know, they're not just getting tired after a chapter and then say, okay, ciao, I don't, I'm, I don't want to read it. So we want to make sure the reader stays with the content and goes from chapter to chapter and see themselves in personal stories. And this is why like personal stories are so important, because if you you explain a concept and then you you need to tell a story, because stories are what's gonna stick with the readers, you know. They remember stories, they don't remember concepts, but you also need to explain. If you just like tell a story, um, then it's like fiction basically. So it needs to like have a good mix out of like personal stories and conceptual writing. And so in the in the development feedback, we're going through this and make sure the book really converts and like keep readers engaged. And at the end, what we do is um we try to convert them into step by step, uh, usually like the community of the author makes sure they're following. Um, maybe they're at the author have like a private group or like a course or whatever to make sure like um we don't lose the reader, so we really convert them into like followers, and from there, you know, might be um convert into clients, etc. So this is the first step, and then he also goes over it again, and then when the authors is done, they're also free to like ask follow-up question, and then we're gonna go over it until like everybody feels okay, the book is now done. And at the end, we have like Carol is her name, she uh does like the final proofread, and we're checking like just grammar, punctuality, are there any mistakes, and just like is it like a good um flow into it? So, usually like at least two people go over the manuscript when we do it, and like I said, and we always suggest um before have like some B readers, some better readers, and get the feedback, and you know, in German, in the book industry, there's a saying um a book needs to be written at least three times, which is true. Like, first you write a book, um then you go over it, you go over it, you go over it until it's like it's a good content. And it reminds me of this one author. He was like um from the States, he was this I forgot his name. I think he was the leader from the Mormon, uh like in Utah. I think I pronounced it weird. So this one uh yeah, and he wrote like 140 books or so, but he wrote a book, it was just the first draft. This is why he could like publish so many.

SPEAKER_02

You're talking about L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology, yes. He wrote a lot of science fiction books, just yeah, just just first drafts. Nobody edited those things. Very true. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

This is why he could like publish 140 books or whatnot. I don't know how many, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You could tell it was never been edited. But you know, um I had so many editors go through my book, WebK, and I swear I open that up now and I still find mistakes. It just drives me crazy, you know. So it's just you you know, you you do your best you can and you know, get the get probably don't get too stuck on that, I guess is my point, right? You still want to get the message out.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and there's another thing, like if the book is done, 80%, just let it go, because you always oh funny enough, we have like in German a word for this called verschlumbesson, verschlumbesson, which means basically that you can like make or like edit things for the worst, you know, like once you're like 80% done, you're done. Just make sure there's no like major grammar mistakes and stuff, right? But if you keep editing, you you you can like destroy your own book, you know, because then you just like see stuff in a detail which actually doesn't make any difference anymore. Um, so that yeah, you have to like let it go at some point, which is super hard for people, I I get it. Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02

When the author is writing, how often do they have to keep the reader in mind?

SPEAKER_00

Always, always. Um the best approach is going go a step back from your own. I don't want to say ego, but I don't know, have another word, but take a step back from your own story and just see what you your knowledge, your wisdom, how can this serve other people? Because if you're just writing for yourself, like, oh look at me, what I could do and what I done, blah, blah, you lose readers because it's it's about them, it's not about you. And this is like a hard, kind of like a mindset shift to do. Um, to see yourself kind of like as a wisdom vessel for other people, but it's so important because at the end, people buy your book because they want to learn something or they're stuck somewhere in their life, and you have the answer. So having this in mind that you writing for other people, it's it's it's so important and really can help as well in the long run to get more cells in because it's very transformative for other people, and this is what you want to reach.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, very, very true. It's an interesting industry, and um are more books being read and purchased now than ever. Is that is that a difference between the states and Europe?

SPEAKER_00

That's a good question. I don't know. Um, yeah. So the book industry is always growing, yeah, that's for sure. There might be shifts between ebooks um and like paperbacks. So there was when ebooks came out, there was like a slow shift towards e-books. Um, I think the last couple of years there's a shift again back to paperback, but the audiobook industry is growing massively. Um in in Europe, for example, like in Germany, Germany is actually the second largest book market after the United States, which is interesting, yeah, because Germany is such a small country, and there's more like English books selling, then there's new markets, especially like um e-book markets opening up in like Africa and South and Central America. So they're like platforms. If you write in Spanish, particularly like there's like one self-publishing platform in Italy who distribute your e-books in Spanish and all like in Argentina and all like the um South and Central American countries where Amazon isn't present. For example, like I think Argentina, um you can't have buy, like have Amazon in Argentina. Like I think like um Amazon doesn't exist in Argentina. I I don't know why, but if you're like writing books in Spanish, so you need to like use other other platforms for this. Anyway, like the market, like those markets are growing. African markets, there are a lot of like African countries that speak English. Um, and starting, you know, people starting having more like phones and can like read books on their phones and stuff. So this is like a growing, continue growing market for sure. So so in general, the book market is always growing, and it's sometimes like a few shifts from ebooks to paperback, forth and back. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Webk, is there something that you believe strongly, firmly in 10 years ago that you no longer believe now?

SPEAKER_00

Hmm. Like regarding books?

SPEAKER_02

Anything.

SPEAKER_00

Anything. Um wow, it's a good question. Um I I think 10 years ago I never saw myself running an own company, especially like in the US. Also, like my English is good. Like I remember 10 years ago, I I just spoke like my school English. It was so bad. It was just like small talk. I had a boyfriend from Oregon. Oh, it's like 10 years ago, and with him, I really like improved my English. Um, but I remember I didn't even know what a scissor is, you know, like a scissor.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, scissors, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I never never saw myself, you know, having my own company, going on a podcast tour, talking, talking with people. So I believe everything is possible if you, you know, just keep going, put your mind to it. Um, even if shit hits the fan, like in my story with Amazon, just deleted my books, and I had to like figure out everything again or like. Figure out everything. Um it's always good to just keep going and never give up. Also, never ever listen to other people. Because when, for example, when I started writing and self-publishing, everybody said it's just a hobby. You're never gonna make it. And I never really made it with like my writing because Amazon came in between, but I made it as a business owner, which I love so much today. I'm so grateful, you know, um, how everything went. So yeah, I would say always trust your own intuition, keep going, and never listen to other people who, you know, living a different lifestyle than the life you want to live.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, the haters are, you know, you always want to keep them kind of uh arm's length, keep them away. For sure. I heard this great analogy recently where the um the crow is the only bird that'll attack an eagle. So an eagle will be flying and a crow will attack it, jump on its back and start pecking at it. Now the eagle will not try to rock it off, the you know, move and try to shake it off. The eagle will just keep increasing altitude because it knows when it gets to a certain altitude, the crow can't handle it and it'll just fall off. So when the world is at you and it's pecking at you, just continue to rise.

SPEAKER_00

I love this. Yeah, it's so true. Just keep going and then they're all falling off.

SPEAKER_02

That's right. Is there a question you wish more people asked you?

SPEAKER_00

Um like regards book publishing, anything, I would say how can be my book really successful, and then we would I would suggest do market analysis. Um, privately, maybe like people asking more how are you doing, but really like want to listen to it, not just the you know, how are you doing and then moving on, but like oh what do you need? Like, how are you doing what do you need? How can I help? How can I help? Yeah, what do you need right now? Because I think if we with all people asking this question, we like we as a human would be so much further and in a so much better place if we would everybody would ask, what do you need? How can I help?

SPEAKER_02

If somebody's already published a book, is it too late to try to make it to try to make it great or try to market it because you missed the five-day window, etc.? Could your firm help in that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like um, so again, it's always come back to the market analysis. What we would do is like checking the market first and see how a book can be repositioned. And then we're just checking the data, you know, if there were there any sales ever or never, or is this growing, falling, or was there cells in the beginning, and then it's it's um, you know, dead-ended, so to speak. And we would decide from there. So if there's just nothing, uh, we would say, okay, let's just like unpublish this and then republish it. Um, and then make like a makeover. See if we need to like reposition the book with like new keywords, um, new cover, new layout, and everything, and we publish it. And if there is already like traction, like the niche is okay, then we would just like do a makeover with like new keywords, new cover, um, and so on. But there needs to have like proven data in the background, you know, like proven cells and proven views, whatnot, um, for like just do like a makeover without republishing it. But in in most cases, like uh just unpublish and republish it makes the most sense because then we we play with fresh data. I see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So okay, I started my business in the 90s and I was working way too hard and not paying attention to my own health. And you know, I was in my 20s, you know. I feel, you know, nothing could hurt me, you know. And uh, you know, uh poor diet, etc. Next thing I know, I'm in front of the doctor. She tells me I'm at 340 pounds. So I had gained all this terrible weight. I didn't know I was that big, but I knew I had gained weight. And she tells me if you don't lose this weight, you're not gonna see your daughter graduate. So my daughter was just born. Yeah, so it scared the life out of me. So spent the next six, seven months, lost about 120 pounds and kept it off. You know, you can't look at these things as finishing lines, these are lifelong changes. So when I tell people this story, they always say, What's your secret? What do you do? And I say, There's no secret, discipline, you know, focus, motivation, routine. How does discipline play a role in your life?

SPEAKER_00

So important, like so important because just like having your own business, nobody tells you what to do, when to do. You don't have a schedule. So you need to, like I, and it's so funny when people know me from like when I was a student, I was like drifting, like waking up noon, you know, like every day and stuff. And now I'm like so disciplined. Like I wake up every morning, same time, do meditation, um, having my queen tea, you know, checking emails, and so like I have like really my daily life now is so structured and it's so important. And discipline helped me to keep going when I never or when I didn't saw an outcome, but I knew I just have like I need to do like daily marketing, I need to do like daily, like you know, LinkedIn outreach, I need to like daily improve like my speech, for example. Like I do like speech training five minutes every morning, you know, for my English pronunciation. Um, I do like every evening yoga, I go to ballet, I go swimming to keep me healthy. And I need to have those systems in place, and it's so important to um yeah, to just keep going and structure my own day because nobody tells me what to do, which I love. But it's also in the beginning I was like, oh, I do a little bit of this here, and sometimes there, and then a client comes in, and then I completely stopped doing any marketing and stuff. And then when I was done with the client, like, oh no, no, I need to have a new client, need to like do the marketing all over again, and like yeah, until I understood, no, it's like an ongoing thing, and um, I need to structure my day and I need to like implement systems to keep going and not like just be like this, you know. Like, I want to like be consistent every day, um doing what I have to do to you know um be who I am and keep my business alive.

SPEAKER_02

The term discipline in you know, it's it means so much. I appreciate you you say systems, and I believe that too, by the way. I equate that to systems. Some people have varied, I've asked that of every one of my guests, and my book is you know, discipline I feel is a spectrum of many things. But the word discipline itself, when translated in many of the different languages in Europe, can mean very different things. In German, the equivalent does it mean similar? Is there a different word for it?

SPEAKER_00

So when I think of the German discipline, it's more what pops in my head is like this 1900 old parenting style with discipline, like don't talk when you eat, and um like be very wicked. So this is like the German discipline I have in my head, and like discipline is also like a little bit has like a dark uh pronunciation with like the Nazi time, like just being like other people are disciplined and like the or like the teacher comes and like hits you because like discipline you so this is like the old like German um significant I have in my head, but like for me, discipline means just follow my own schedule and like the own like system I build up and just stick with it. And I know like in I heard a podcast the other day, and there was like the discipline meant more doing stuff you don't like, that's right, but keep doing it, right? Because you need you know you need the outcome, and yeah, I can I can see this. This is also true.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, very true.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, uh what motivates you motivates you um to live a life on my own terms, um to be the boss of my time, to nobody tells me what to do, um and create the life I really want. You know, I I love living like some months in Europe, you know. At the moment I'm in Mexico, um and just like do my own decisions and nobody tells me what to do. Um of course I need to like also, you know, I can't like just do do what I want. Um, I also, you know, I can't just talk with my clients, like it's uh you know what I mean. Like um it's also there's some manners and stuff and some like um things you have to do, but in like the last eight years since I'm building up my business, there were like moments when I thought I can't do this anymore, like I don't know how to like keep going. And when I think of like okay, just picture myself when I'm like 45, I'm like 39 right now, and I have this life where you know, my sister, for example, my sister gets a baby and I can just be with her for three months. I don't have to like ask the boss if I can like work remotely or so, or if I want to like spend the winter in Italy, I just can do it. Um, and have this freedom. Um, this really motivates me, you know. Like in the in my I really picture my 40s to be so free and um the life I really want to live, you know. I maybe I want to learn skiing again, you know, and then I can just like move somewhere for a couple of months and go skiing every day and working from there. You know what I mean? And like those moments when I like ask myself, why I'm doing this, you know, living here, low budget, putting every money, every every dollar I have back into my business, have to speak in English the whole day, you know, like in a second language, it's another layer of complication. And I always said, but I don't want to go back like working for someone and someone dictate my life, even if I work remotely and have the freedom, but I'm always working on other people's schedule and not on mine. Plus, I freaking love what I'm doing, like working with books is amazing, you know. Like I love the book layout. I'm really like a book layout nerd. Like every time I open a book and I like scan the layout, like, okay, it's good, it's bad. The cover design, working with authors, like because it's such a process. I'm friends with everyone I work with. Like at the end, in the beginning, it's you know, this like typical client um service provider relationship, and at the end, we're like friends because it's so transformative, this process, like going deep into a subject, like be vulnerable, you know, what people writing about, it's it's very personal. And going through this process with someone, like giving feedback, um, seeing this book comes alive, you know, in like in the editing process, then in the layout process, then we're gonna do the cover design and then the upload and preparing for the big book launch. This is such an intense and an amazing process. So I I just love this, and I wanna like keep doing this um forever. And I can't see myself doing anything else. Yeah, this is really what keeps me going.

SPEAKER_02

And when you spoke with there, I you didn't say it till the end, but I kept thinking freedom. You want freedom. So, how do you measure success based on what motivates you?

SPEAKER_00

That success for me is like the things I want to do, the decisions I want to do, or nothing holds me back. Like I can't just decide what's next and just do it. I don't have to ask permission. Um I'm just my own person. Obviously, you know, you we always in relationship with other people and like include other people. That's you know, uh, but at the end of the day, like creating the life you really want to live, this is successfully.

SPEAKER_02

Wanna show your love for discipline, inspiration, and the Joey Pins podcast? Now's your chance. Introducing the brand new Joey Pins merch store, where style meets discipline. Choose from premium apparel, cozy hoodies, stylish hats, durable bags, and your new favorite coffee mug, all featuring the iconic Joey Pins. Perfect for podcast fans, discipline enthusiasts, or as a unique gift for friends and family. Every purchase supports the Joey Pins Discipline Conversations Podcast, helping us continue to inspire greatness and promote positive challenges. Visit JoeyPins.com slash store today and wear your discipline proudly. Joey Pins merch. Wear it, share it, and live it. That's wonderful. That's absolutely wonderful. Great, such a great pleasure speaking to you today. I love your story. I love how you keep going. I love freedom as well. Um, anybody wants to get in touch with you? What's the easiest way to get in touch with you, WebK?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I'm very active on LinkedIn. So just you know, check me on LinkedIn. It's Vib Gitash, which is W-I-E-B-K-E and Touch T A S C H. Also, my website is www.digital minosauts.com. And if one of your listeners is serious about publishing a book, feel free, come to me. We do a market analysis at no cost and see if your book has potential, how you can position yourself, what is your competition, if it's low enough. So as a first-time author, you can really occupy the good niche and then go from there. And yeah, hope to um see you and uh publish some good books together.

SPEAKER_02

Digital authors.com. You're on LinkedIn, you're also on Instagram and on Facebook. Uh, whenever we're in the next geography together, perhaps we'll get a cup of tea. Great pleasure talking with you today. This would be wonderful. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Be well. Thank you for listening and/or viewing Joey Pins Discipline Conversations. Please share this episode with one or two of your friends who you think may benefit from the episode. Our website, www.joeepins.com. There you find lots of resources, and you could join our mailing list. Please follow us on all our social media Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Podcast information, the video version of our podcast is on YouTube. Please subscribe. Audio is on all major podcasting platforms. Please follow them. And if you like it, please consider giving five star rating. Would really appreciate that. Thank you again for listening or watching Joey Pinn's Discipline Conversations.