Numerology for Authors: How to Use Numbers to Shape Your Book Success - BM517

What if the success of your book isn’t only about strategy… but also about alignment? 

In this intriguing conversation, internationally recognized business numerologist Frea O’Brien shares how the language of numbers can offer surprising clarity for authors, speakers, and creative entrepreneurs. From identifying your natural strengths to choosing the right timing for projects, numerology can reveal patterns that help you move forward with confidence. 

Frea works with vision-driven leaders around the world, helping them align their business and creative decisions with deeper purpose and optimal timing. In this episode, she explains how authors can use numerology as a guide for everything from choosing a book topic to planning a launch or next pivot. 

If you’ve ever felt pulled in multiple directions or wondered whether you’re forcing momentum instead of following it, this conversation will open a new lens on your author journey. 

What You’ll Discover: 

• How your birth date reveals strengths that shape your best book ideas
• The 9-year creative cycle and how it influences your author path
• Why aligned messaging creates stronger impact than formula-driven writing
• How timing affects launches, pivots, and creative decisions
• Simple ways to calculate your life path number and uncover direction
• How numbers can help you clarify your niche and long-term impact

Your author journey doesn’t have to feel random or reactive. When you understand your natural rhythm and strengths, decisions become clearer, and momentum feels more natural.
 
Tune in now to explore how numerology can bring fresh insight, deeper alignment, and renewed purpose to your writing and business.

Here's how to connect with Frea:

Website

LinkedIn

Instagram

*************************************************************************
When Visibility Feels Hard, Podcast Guesting Changes the Game

If you know your book deserves more reach but visibility feels like a struggle, podcast guesting can open the right doors.

Podcast Connections gets you in front of the audiences who need your message and your expertise.

Contact them at PodcastConnections.co

*************************************************************************

Transcript

Susan Friedmann [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Book Marketing Mentors, the weekly podcast where you learn proven strategies, tools, ideas, and tips from the masters. Every week I introduce you to a marketing master who will share their expertise to help you market and sell more books. Today, my special guest is Freya O'Brien. Freya is an internationally recognized business numerologist and strategic advisor who helps vision-driven entrepreneurs, C-suite corporate executives, and creatives unlock the most aligned and profitable path forward. Freya's mission is simple, to help people build businesses that work because they're aligned to the truth of who they really are. All the way from the UK, Freya, it's an absolute pleasure to welcome you to the show. And thank you for being this week's guest expert and mentor.

Frea O'Brien [00:00:58]:
Oh, thank you, Susan. It's nice to talk to a fellow Brit across the pond.

Susan Friedmann [00:01:02]:
There you go. I love it. Listeners, I hope you don't need an interpreter, but as you'll hear, we both got very different accents, but still both British. Okay, let's get to understanding numerology. What exactly is this? I want to make sure that our listeners know and understand what we are going to delve into, because this is a fascinating subject, and you and I have spent many hours together working on my plans and discussing numerology. But let's share that with our listeners. What exactly is it?

Frea O'Brien [00:01:41]:
Well, at heart, it is a love of numbers using a universal language to understand our strengths and talents. There are many modalities out there to help us know ourselves better, but numerology unlocks insight from the power of your date of birth to reveal your natural strengths and talents and what you were born to do, be, and have in this lifetime.

Susan Friedmann [00:02:09]:
And it goes back, doesn't it, to like biblical times? I mean, there's a whole thing about numbers. I believe, isn't it called gematria? That's— people sort of started talking about numbers many, many thousands of years ago. So it's not anything new, it's just that you specialize in this, which is fascinating. Give us a quick understanding of how did you even get into this?

Frea O'Brien [00:02:36]:
I've always loved numbers, just in the ability to sort of reorder and understand life. Starting as a child, I loved maths. I just like to be able to solve a problem, um, and that simplicity of doing one's calculations. There's a simple truth in the answer. And then later, after university, I started working in the city where the financial district is in London. I worked for a number of international banks, and I love the use of numbers for understanding the bottom line., and the potential within businesses. So I spent some time working in mergers and acquisitions, but I felt there had to be more to life. I felt that my soul wasn't quite being nourished in that environment.

Frea O'Brien [00:03:24]:
One day I discovered in the local bookshop, uh, Liverpool Street Station, which is bang in the center of the city, a book called Tazillions by the author Titania. And in that I discovered numerology and my life path number, and I had amazing epiphany moment in that bookshop. Because it revealed, yes, I like business, I like structure, I like order, but I have a calling to be a spiritual teacher and to help use the power of numbers to unlock people's potential. And from that moment, I could see, okay, numbers, calculation, application, but above all, inspiration.

Susan Friedmann [00:04:02]:
Wow. Yes. And I know you've helped hundreds of people with this now. How can numerology help an author understand the role, let's say, of their book and what that's meant to do and how that plays out in, let's say, either their business or their career?

Frea O'Brien [00:04:22]:
Well, especially for the non-fiction author, over the years— 20 years— I've worked with, gosh, over 500 clients. And in numerology, there's a sense of the entrepreneur working through 3 9-year growth cycles of their business development, from establishing livelihood to expanding their business model to laying the foundations of a legacy beyond their lifetime. And at each stage, the power of the word is so important. So in the first phase, for example, the use of blog articles or substack, just to start to express what they know And then the next level is to publish something that anchors their expertise and that contributes something to their field, their specialism. And then finally, the third stage, to create a wisdom text that stands the test of time, that has universal reach. So at each stage, there is opportunity to be the author because it anchors expertise, it anchors authority, and above all, it contributes to humanity.

Susan Friedmann [00:05:29]:
And which is what so many authors want to do, Fria, as you know, since you've worked with authors as well as obviously many entrepreneurs. Yeah. What happens, let's say, when an author tries to follow, let's say, a— either a publishing or a marketing formula that really doesn't quite match who they are?

Frea O'Brien [00:05:52]:
Yes, I'm immediately thinking of an author I've worked with that— see, I have a lot of clients that work for corporations, freelance corporations, and they share their expertise, be it marketing, be it finance. And so naturally they're called to write an expertise book. And I have had clients that will go on certain courses, and the end game is in 6 months' time all 10 will produce their volume of expertise. For some clients that works, but for others there's a little bit of a an identity crisis and not feeling happy with what they've produced because it doesn't really fully reflect the message they feel called to share, which could be more of an inspirational or a poetic prose or something more like a, a wisdom text. So I think there's a danger of a perception of they have to go down this certain expertise route along with the group And for some, it depends on what stage they're at, whether it's apt to do the educational text or be thinking more of a legacy piece.

Susan Friedmann [00:07:03]:
It's so funny that you say that because as you're saying that, I'm thinking of authors who I've spoken to who literally say, oh, I've written this book, it's my expertise, I want to share that, but you know, there's something else that I really want to write. That is more me, it's like, well, which comes first? You know, it's almost like the chicken or the egg, you know.

Frea O'Brien [00:07:26]:
Yes. I have this client and he's, um, I'll mention his name, Professor Brian Dolan in the UK. He is recognized in the top 70 in most influential people shaping the National Health Service in the UK. And he's now in his 60s. Now for the past 3 decades, he's been writing curriculum books on nursing management and nursing leadership. And of course these have been used in universities across the UK and the other side of the world, literally. He does teach in Australia as well. But more recently he's felt called to write a piece on end of life, and he's currently researching some of the ancient Greek philosophers.

Frea O'Brien [00:08:09]:
And it's a very different text. And I say it's one of the challenges he's facing at the moment. Is he's so used to writing the factual curriculum texts that this— it's almost like going back to the beginning again of, oh, the confidence of, can I write this? Am I capable of writing this? And what's actually helping him to write his book on the last thousand days is he's now been called to speak all around the world on this, and being called to speak is providing the space and the structure to be able then to formulate the book that he feels called to write. This is his most important piece.

Susan Friedmann [00:08:49]:
Isn't that incredible? And I know that many executives that— who've come my way want to write that legacy piece. They've done all the business things, they're actually moving on to another stage in their life. Maybe they're retiring at least from the one job and sort of rewiring themselves for the next, and the legacy piece is very much a part of that. I love that.

Frea O'Brien [00:09:17]:
And there's giving them permission to have the space to write that. A legacy piece can be, gosh, at least sort of 27 years in the making. One has to earn the stripes to be able to write something like that. Yeah, it's patience as well.

Susan Friedmann [00:09:33]:
Yeah, without any shadow of a doubt. So Then when an author aligns their message, their book, their business, what do you feel changes first? Is it the visibility? Is it the confidence? Is it opportunity?

Frea O'Brien [00:09:49]:
How does that pan out? It's very obvious. In a numerological cycle, which is 9 years, the most optimum time to write the book that's right for that level is a year number 7, so it's the 7th year in that cycle because they've been delivering their service, they've been making a difference, they understand the collective needs of that niche that they're serving, and they have something extra to contribute to that field. So it sort of makes sense, you know, 6 years to then produce the next level of work that anchors them as the expert at that stage.. Now I'm immediately thinking of one of my clients called Heather Waring, and Heather takes people on the Camino de Santiago, that sort of ancient pilgrimage route, because for her that had transformed her life at a time when she lost her sense of identity. And for a few years I had been encouraging Heather to write her book, and she got to the year 7, which I was like, this is the absolute deadline, you must get this book. Out in year 7 to then land the harvest and the rewards that are coming in your year 8 and 9. And so she had that useful deadline, that window of opportunity to lean into. Immediately after she published her book, which was called How Walking Saved My Life, it, it was like she'd been upgraded.

Frea O'Brien [00:11:17]:
It was like she'd been— she became a whole new person. Something integrated and clicked in. Her gravitas and her standing Something changed by very virtue of leaning into doing that piece of work up against a deadline, last-minute crisis on the tech, a last-minute, I want to quit, I can't do this, but pushing through, forza resilience, and I think gave her a sense of, you know, she's proved she could do it. Now, as a result of that, I think that gravitas and that confidence changed how people received her. Then Heather started getting invitations to speak on radio, to speak on podcast, to speak on morning television in the UK. Yes, there's a transformation happens.

Susan Friedmann [00:12:01]:
That's amazing, and you must have seen so many transformations in the time that you've been doing this work. Fascinating. Then how can authors use numerology then to make those clearer decisions about their timing, let's say, of launches or the pivots that they want to make, or maybe even other projects that they get involved with. How can they use that?

Frea O'Brien [00:12:27]:
Being an author, it's a whole business, isn't it? That there's a, a whole business machine behind them that helps to propel their message out further to the world. In numerology, you understand that there is a natural organic flow. There are key things to do each year, which then creates sustainable growth. So for example, how an author could use the numerology would be a year 1, which is the start of a new cycle. Dare to dream, dare to seed the idea, the book that you want to write for that growth cycle. A year number 2 is nurture and incubate that work. And a two's company— don't try and do this alone. Of course, the author is in their zone, but to get support from editors, from publishers, from trusted advisors, from testing the audience.

Frea O'Brien [00:13:19]:
Then a year number 3 is dare to publish something. So yes, some authors could publish their full book, but also they could use the year number 3 to start testing the message with an audience, be it on Substack or through keynote speaking, to listen out for the aha moment. So that's about the engagement and the testing. Year 4 is structure. 4 is great for delivery. But also as a business, it's good to build systems and processes to then take your audience on a journey. Maybe you want to test out the message through maybe a shorter ebook or develop online courses, cuz there's a whole ecosystem around the book. And then 5, testing the book to see if it opens up doors for keynote speaking.

Frea O'Brien [00:14:10]:
Expanding your audience. 6, continuing to serve that audience. But 7 is the pinnacle. 7 is the lean-in warrior year of produce your best work that has culminated from those 6 years. And why I really like clients to lean into the year 7 and be the expert and go for it is year 8 is the harvest year. 8 is the time for awards and recognition. And yielding the fruits of your labor. A busy year, 'cause I imagine with an author there's, there's continuous promotion as well.

Frea O'Brien [00:14:44]:
So, and then a 9, feet up, distill wisdom, appreciate how far you've come, and then on to the next level, the next book. It's the whole cycle.

Susan Friedmann [00:14:53]:
And then you start all over again.

Frea O'Brien [00:14:55]:
Yes.

Susan Friedmann [00:14:55]:
You start all over again. It's that cycle. If somebody hasn't even been involved with numerology at all, done anything, um, How would they even get started? What would you advise? Because how would they know what their number is?

Frea O'Brien [00:15:12]:
For instance, I would advise starting with the very number that gave me my epiphany moment, the number that changed my life in, um, Liverpool Street Station. And that's the life path number. I have written a whole article— or many articles actually on my website— about the life path number and what doors it can open and the right business for you. The life path number derived from your date of birth, and it will reveal your natural skills and talents. And the truth is that when you master your skills and talents in a particular field and you are of great service, then that's when you'll unlock the destiny— what you're destined to have. But of course, mastering your natural skills and talents reveals the niche where you can be outstanding and be known for your brilliance and the impact you make. And that's where naturally you're called to contribute to your field as an author because you've taken it to such a depth that maybe you've discovered something new that can be contributed. It's a life path number.

Susan Friedmann [00:16:18]:
Yeah, I think many times people really know deep down But other things get in the way, and goes back to what we were talking about earlier. They feel they have to write the book about the process, or— rather than what really is deep down. Because like you said, you knew there was something there. You had this epiphany that— Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. —maybe people haven't quite gotten there yet, but they know there's something there.

Frea O'Brien [00:16:49]:
Yes, absolutely. In my early 20s, I remember I had always had a real like for innovation and business and how people made money. And then following university, along with many of my peers, I wanted to be on a graduate program where I knew I'd get a good salary. So it was natural to work in banking or management consultancy back in the late '90s, early 2000s. And I was driven by, yes, I can have a great income and then that's it, I'm made for life. But something didn't feel right, and I felt myself burning out after about 4 or 5 years. But it was through discovering numerology that I realized, oh, I'm here to be a spiritual teacher, I'm here to connect with people's potential. And it felt so right that I then completely changed the course of my professional career.

Frea O'Brien [00:17:38]:
But what I've learned is that I wasn't too far off track because I was working with numbers to understand the bottom line. But for me now, it's about tuning into what's someone's potential, what's their niche, where are they called to serve, how can they make a difference, an impact, and get that sense of soul satisfaction. And then of course anchor themselves as an expert and as a recognizable authority through the power of the word.

Susan Friedmann [00:18:05]:
If I was a listener, I would be chomping at the bit. So I'm assuming that our listeners are really chomping at the bit wanting to know Freya, tell us more. How can we find out more about you and this incredible service that you offer?

Frea O'Brien [00:18:22]:
Take it from there. Thank you, Susan. I have a website which is mynumerologist.co.uk. I called it my numerologist because over the years I have clients that say to me, I was with my accountant and I was telling them that my numerologist has recommended that I do this, this year. So I thought, okay, So that's my website, mynumerologist.co.uk. And on there I do have some key articles where your readers can find out about their life path, so natural skills and talents, and also what personal year they're in. So what's the one thing that they can do this year to align for optimum success? So that's enough to get the epiphany moment or the validation that they're on the right track. And then I've developed a short ebook which they can subscribe to which is about— it's the basics, it's the foundational steps to discovering your life path and the right business to create and how to use your business as the vehicle of your message.

Frea O'Brien [00:19:25]:
And then a practical bottom line. So this is my business numbers side coming in of how they can establish that first foundational 25,000 as an income. And the reason why I've started with 25,000 is I discovered through some research in America recently, um, by an organization called Biz to Credit, that 67% of women-owned businesses are generating less than $25,000. And so what I've shared after 20 years of working in business is how to get a really stable keystone $25,000, which is generating income aligned to what you love to do. And then a next step will be how to establish the 50,000 income, and then what I call the sovereign income. The sovereign income is where you are creating intellectual property from doing what you love and creating income streams which don't depend on your physical presence. So the starting block, once you've got that in place, then it can only go one way, and that's Strength. And up, hopefully.

Frea O'Brien [00:20:37]:
Yes, strength and up. Absolutely.

Susan Friedmann [00:20:39]:
Absolutely.

Frea O'Brien [00:20:39]:
Pillar of strength. Sorry.

Susan Friedmann [00:20:41]:
Yes. I love that. So listeners, yes, I'll put all that information in the show notes cuz never know if there's somebody's got something to write with or not while they're listening. Listeners, I've worked with Freya now, I think almost a couple of years. Yes. And I just love what she does and the revelations are just mind-blowing. If that's something that you'd be interested in too. Obviously, you'll have her contact information and be able to consider working with her as well.

Susan Friedmann [00:21:14]:
As you know, Priya, I always ask my guests to leave our listeners with a golden nugget. What's yours?

Frea O'Brien [00:21:22]:
I would say universally, with great service comes great reward. And underpinning that, when you Discover what you're born to do and you love doing that and you take your skills and gifts to the sector that you've been called to serve. It can only lead to a fulfilling and prosperous destiny and threaded through that great service reputation comes the great reward on many levels. Yeah.

Susan Friedmann [00:21:53]:
And that's what we're always looking for, isn't it? And be aligned. I think one of the things that's come through what you were talking about is the alignment and the importance of that alignment, because when you're aligned, things sort of magically start to happen, versus when you're not, that you're like— feel as if you're pushing water uphill. Yeah, absolutely.

Frea O'Brien [00:22:19]:
And that's the authenticity, and the ultimate currency is trust. And when you love what you do, Yes, it is absolutely aligned, like you, Susan. And I have to thank you for the work that you've done on your podcast. I recently listened to your 500th episode, and, you know, you started that podcast in 2015 when hardly anyone was doing podcasts, or if they were, they were only lasting maybe 6 or 8 episodes. Here you are, 10 years later with that. It'd be truly pioneering, which goes back to— obviously we've worked together, so I know in your code you have two number one ones in your 6-digit prosperity code, and one is the pioneer, the innovator, and of course the one with the gift, the power of the word to inspire and uplift. And that's it— authentic you, building trust and listeners that come back time and time again so that, yeah, it's been worth doing. Yeah, what you've done to get to this stage.

Susan Friedmann [00:23:22]:
Thank you, that's so nice to hear. Yes, and I've been through times when I know I'm out of alignment, and as a result, it was hard work. Whereas when I'm, I'm in alignment, things flow much easier. So yes, and I thank you too. I, I just adore working with you, as you know. Any event, thank you, thank you, thank you. This has been amazing. Listeners, this is something a little different from the usual, but hey, Why not be exposed to something different and exciting and wonderful people like Freya who do things— add great, I don't know, wisdom and skills and helpfulness to authors, entrepreneurs.

Susan Friedmann [00:24:10]:
So yes, it's wonderful. Thank you. And listeners, hey, this is an opportunity. If your book isn't selling the way you wanted or expected to, let's you and I jump on a quick call together to brainstorm ways to ramp up those sales because you've invested a whole lot of time, money, and energy, and it's time you got the return you were hoping for. So go to bookmarketingbrainstorm.com to schedule your free call. And in the meantime, I hope this powerful interview sparks some ideas you can use to sell more books. Until next week, here's wishing you much book and author marketing success.

Here's how to connect with Frea:

Website

LinkedIn

Instagram