Before The Bestseller

We're back for a second episode with Karen Anderson , a publishing strategist and direct response marketing expert who has worked across every major publishing model and co-author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller The Bezos Letters . Building on our previous conversation about what makes a book worth publishing, we now explore what makes a book actually work, from reader psy...

Today, we're joined by Karen Anderson , a strategic book advisor, Associate Publisher at Morgan James Publishing , and co-author of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon . With more than twenty-five years in publishing and contributions to numerous New York Times bestselling books, Karen brings an unusual combinatio...

Today we welcome back Steven Pressfield , bestselling author of The War of Art , Gates of Fire , The Legend of Bagger Vance , and his newest novel, The Arcadian . Across a career spanning fiction and nonfiction, Pressfield has sold millions of books and built a reputation as one of the most influential voices on creativity, discipline, and the challenges that stand between people and their life&ap...

Today we welcome a very special guest and one of my favorite authors for a long time, Steven Pressfield , author of more than twenty books spanning fiction and nonfiction, including The War of Art , which has sold more than a million copies worldwide and has become a foundational book for writers, entrepreneurs, artists, and creators. He is also the acclaimed author of Gates of Fire , The Legend o...

We're back with Eric Ries , entrepreneur, startup thinker, and author of the bestselling books T he Lean Startup and Incorruptible . With millions of books sold and ideas that have influenced founders, executives, and organizations around the world, Eric joins us again to share how he approached building not just successful books, but movements around ideas. In this episode, we explore how Er...

Today, we’re honored to have entrepreneur, creator of the Lean Startup movement, and author of the international bestseller The Lean Startup , Eric Ries , on Before the Bestseller . His work changed how founders think about building companies by replacing assumptions with experimentation, validated learning, and building what customers actually want. We talked about Eric’s unexpected path from tea...

We’re back with Nicole Gebhardt , publishing strategist and CEO of Niche Press , for a conversation about what publishing looks like in a world shaped by AI, shifting reader behavior, and shorter attention spans. Nicole has helped entrepreneurs, experts, and business owners turn books into long term brand and business assets, and in this episode, she breaks down why the books people buy and finish...

Today we welcome Nicole Gebhart , CEO of Niche Press , where she has worked with hundreds of business leaders, advisors, and experts to help them clarify what they want to be known for and turn that into a book that actually drives opportunity. With a background leading communications strategy at Caterpillar Inc. and years of consulting experience, she brings a structured, strategic lens to publis...

Marshall Karp , #1 New York Times bestselling author, TV and screenwriter, documentarian, and playwright, returns to Before the Bestseller alongside Danny Corcoran , a former NYPD detective whose 24 years on the job now inform the realism behind Karp’s fiction. Working with James Patterson , Karp cocreated and cowrote the NYPD Red series before continuing it on his own starting with NYPD Red 7: Th...

Today’s guest is someone whose career spans advertising, Hollywood, and bestselling fiction. Marshall Karp is a #1 New York Times bestselling author known for his work on the NYPD Red series with James Patterson , along with his own novels including Don't Tell Me How to Die and the Lomax and Biggs Mysteries . Before writing novels, he built a successful career in advertising and later transit...

This week, we’re back with Naomi Oreskes , a scientific historian and Harvard professor, and co-author of Merchants of Doubt and The Big Myth , to talk about what it really takes to turn rigorous academic research into a book that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers. With a background that spans geology, climate science, and decades of teaching, Naomi has built her work around making complex...

Today we have a very special guest, Naomi Oreskes , a historian of science and professor at Harvard University whose work has fundamentally changed how we understand the relationship between science, truth, and public trust. She is best known as the co-author of Merchants of Doubt , the widely influential book that exposed how a small group of scientists and institutions deliberately obscured scie...

Today we welcome back Sierra Melcher , a publishing strategist and CEO of Red Thread Books , where she works closely with nonfiction authors to turn their ideas into clear, strategic books that support real business goals. Through her work with a wide range of authors, from niche consultants to experienced professionals, she has developed a reputation for grounding book publishing in practical out...

Our special guest for today is Sierra Melcher , CEO of Red Thread Publishing, who has guided over 350 authors across 28 countries to write and publish meaningful nonfiction that actually serves a purpose beyond just being a book. With deep experience across hybrid publishing and hands-on work with authors at every stage, she has built a reputation for helping writers create books that are intentio...

Nir Eyal is back on Before the Bestseller , the bestselling author behind Hooked , Indistractable , and his newest book Beyond Belief . Known for his work on behavioral design and habit forming technology, Nir has spent years studying how habits, attention, and human psychology influence the way people interact with products and ideas. His books have sold more than a million copies worldwide, and...

Today’s guest is someone many of you already know. If you’ve read Hooked or Indistractable , you already know his work has shaped how millions of people think about habits, technology, and behavior. Nir Eyal is a globally recognized authority on behavior change and human potential. His books have sold over a million copies, been translated into more than thirty languages, and his work on behavior...

We’re back with Patrick Taylor, also known as the Texas Yeti, adventurer and author of a five book series that includes Lost on Purpose and its bestselling prequel in solo and adventure travel categories. To date, he has sold more than 30,000 books and earned over 4,000 ratings, building a loyal readership that continues to support every release. He may not call himself a bestseller, but his numbe...

Our guest for today is Patrick Taylor , known to many readers as the Texas Yeti. A former technology executive who built and sold a successful hardware company and later served as president of Intel’s board of advisors, Patrick reinvented himself in his late fifties as an adventurer and author. His memoir Lost on Purpose , part of the Real Life Adventures of the Texas Yeti series, draws from his p...

We welcome back Michael Bungay Stanier , author of the million copy bestseller The Coaching Habit . Beyond that landmark book, Michael is the founder of Box of Crayons, a training company that helps organizations build practical coaching skills rooted in curiosity, serving clients such as Microsoft, Salesforce, and TELUS. He has written eight books that have collectively sold more than two million...

Welcome back to Before the Bestseller . It’s 2026, and we’re starting the year with a rockstar author and one of the most influential voices in modern leadership and coaching, Michael Bungay Stanier . Michael is the author of T he Coaching Habit , a global bestseller with over a million copies sold, along with Do More Great Work and The Advice Trap . He’s a Rhodes Scholar, a Thinkers50 Coaching Aw...

Thank you for spending time with us this year. We hope these conversations gave you something useful to apply to your author journey. We’re grateful to the guests who shared their stories, and we’ll be back in February 2026 with what’s shaping up to be our strongest lineup yet, including new voices like Eric Ries and the return of guests such as Nir Eyal. If you enjoyed the show, a quick review he...

We’re back with Stephan Spencer , a longtime leader in SEO and digital marketing. Over the past two decades, he has worked with brands like Zappos, Quiksilver, Chanel, Volvo, Sony, and Best Buy, helping them strengthen their online visibility and growth strategy. He is the bestselling author of The Art of SEO , the host of the Marketing Speak podcast, and widely respected for his ability to spot w...

Today I get to sit down with someone who has shaped how some of the world’s biggest brands think about SEO. Stephan Spencer is a top SEO consultant, bestselling author, and the host of the long-running Marketing Speak podcast. For more than two decades he has helped companies like Zappos, Sony Store, Quiksilver, Chanel, Volvo, Best Buy and many others strengthen their online visibility and build S...

In today’s episode, we welcome back Thomas Erikson , the behaviorist and international bestselling author behind the global phenomenon Surrounded by Idiots . What began as a single book has grown into the bestselling Surrounded by series, with more than twelve million copies sold and translations in nearly 70 languages. Thomas speaks to audiences around the world, delivering more than a hundred ke...

Today, we’re joined by Thomas Erikson , the highest-selling living Swedish author and the international bestseller behind Surrounded by Idiots , the book that has helped millions understand human behavior in a clearer and more practical way. Its global success led to an entire Surrounded by series, including Surrounded by Psychopaths , Surrounded by Bad Bosses , Surrounded by Setbacks , Surrounded...