The Selfish Gift - Go public with your purpose

If you're thinking of writing a deeply personal memoir about some tough stuff, but you're not sure how much to share, and you're worried about how going public with your story might affect the people closest to you, this episode is for you. Today's guest has written two books focusing on her journey from alcohol dependence to sobriety, and her stories very much deal with how he...

If you have a growing girl or a young woman in your life, you know the intense pressure she faces to be pretty, to be popular, to be perfect. And sometimes she may feel like her contentment is less important than living up to the expectations and images that she sees on social media. My guest today is dedicated to putting the power back in girls' hands and helping them to develop the skills a...

If you ever wanted a truly transparent look into the publishing industry, today's guest delivers just that. Brooke Warner is a veteran publishing professional who is involved in books, writing, and publishing from just about every angle. A former executive editor at Seal Press, she's now the publisher of She Writes Press and Spark Press, as well as an in-demand book coach and publishing...

A lot of people who write a nonfiction book start out very focused on the information that they're sharing and what the reader will get out of it—and that's great. But what they might not know at the outset is that the act of writing itself can open up totally new worlds of opportunity for us as creative beings, and even bring us closer to ourselves and help us heal our own wounds.  Toda...

Have you heard the saying, "The book is the new business card?"—just something you can crank out and put on Amazon in a matter of days, in order to boost your visibility? Well, today's guest is here to explain why that is absolutely the wrong reason to publish a book—and the wrong way to do it. By cutting corners, investing as little as possible, and thinking only of yourself rather...

Maybe you've had a personal experience that affected you profoundly, and you want to write about it—both for your own benefit and to help readers with your insights—but you're worried about upsetting the other people in your story, especially family members. How do you tackle it? Do you need their permission? Should you change their names, or maybe change your own name and write under a...

Welcome to season 2! In this solo episode, host Maggie Langrick takes a deep dive into what The Selfish Gift actually means and explores what she calls "benevolent selfishness": The idea that the contribution we are best suited to give to the world is also the thing that can bring us the most joy and material rewards, as well. If you've consistently put yourself in the backseat of y...

This episode is for all the therapists, clinicians, and professors out there who hope to write a popular book for the general public about your field of expertise. How do you make the leap from clinic or classroom to the bestseller lists? And do you have to become a social media influencer in order to pull it off? How do you know if you have anything really new to say, and what if your peers criti...

If you're one of those people who's fortunate enough to have connected with your life purpose, chances are that it came to you through your own struggles. This is the case for many of us on the path of conscious living. We're faced with a set of challenges—perhaps related to physical health, relationships, or the search for meaning—and through contending with and mastering these cha...

Life is always coming at us fast, and that feels especially true when you decide to write a book. You take on this huge, ambitious commitment, and suddenly a home improvement project goes sideways, a family member has a health issue, work-demands become crushing, or some other huge interruption comes along and threatens to pull you off your path. Today's guest experienced all of that and more...

For those of us who are lucky enough to have experienced a big, transformational change in our personal or professional lives, it's natural to want to share those insights with others. Many of us may have even considered developing a career as a coach or a guide to help people experience that same kind of transformation in their lives, but few have the courage or tenacity to actually follow t...

If you're a creative person, you probably dream of building a thriving business and an abundant life around your art. But while creating is immensely rewarding, monetizing your art can have a shadow side—the potential for burnout, the fear of being vulnerable, and the inevitable rejection that comes with publicly sharing your work. Today's guest is here to talk about how to navigate all...

So you've decided to write a nonfiction book, but how do you get started when you don't even know what square one looks like? Today's guest offers a wealth of useful advice on how to lay a strong foundation for your book and avoid costly, time-wasting mistakes. Josh Bernoff is a freelance ghostwriter, editor, publishing consultant, and the author of four books, including Writing Wit...

Putting your work out into the world can be really uncomfortable—especially at first—and many of us use that as an excuse to never do it. We shy away from discomfort, which is totally understandable, but also exactly the wrong move if we want to get ahead in life and achieve our dreams. As Robert Frost once said, "The way out is through," and when you actually seek discomfort, you put yo...

You might think you have a book in you (and you probably do), but is it a truly great one? Would readers want to buy it? Would your message have the power to change people's perspectives and lives? David Moldawer is a New York publishing veteran with more than a decade of experience acquiring books for companies like Penguin, St. Martin’s Press, McGraw-Hill, and Amazon Publishing, and today,...

Why is going public with your life's work so terrifying? Is it the fear of rejection? Are you worried people will think you're selfish for focusing on your art, or that you're a sell-out for striving to gain visibility? You might be surprised to learn that the fear of putting yourself out there is ancestral; it was a part of our DNA even before social media. Historically, ostracism—...

How many times have you thought about writing a book or starting a company/venture that creates positive change in the world? And how many times has your response to that impulse been something like, "It's not the right time" or "I'm not enough of an expert" or "There's no way I could possibly succeed"? In this episode of The Selfish Gift, serial social...

Did you know that hiring a professional, experienced book editor can cost you upwards of $200 an hour? Well, consider this your $200 episode of The Selfish Gift! Maggie spends an hour talking with Hilary Swanson, a freelance ghostwriter and editor who runs a workshop called "How the F*ck Do I Get a Book Deal?" with bestselling author John Kim. Hilary spent the first ten years of her care...

What if you want to write a book, but you aren't a confident writer—or you just don't have the time to write it yourself? In this episode, Maggie talks with Dan Gerstein, CEO of Gotham Ghostwriters, about what it takes to create a successful book with the help of a ghostwriter. Dan has been writing professionally for himself and others for over 30 years, and during his early days as a po...

When she wrote her international bestseller, This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol , Annie Grace had no idea that her notion of who she was and what she was born to do would be transformed by it. But that’s exactly what happened.  When Annie self-educated her way out of a destructive heavy-drinking habit, she compiled all that she had learned about the effects of alcohol on the human body, mind, and em...

What does it take to put your life's work out there in a big way? The Selfish Gift podcast is a series of deep, personal conversations with bestselling authors and prolific creators about how they made the leap from practitioner to public figure. We also dig out the very best advice from the professionals who help them, from editors and agents to publicists, brand strategists, and mindset coa...