As an artist, I’d rather be heard than paid.
My entire career as a writer, publisher, performer and
consultant has flourished on the power of giving myself away. And considering the current
expectation of the marketplace, why charge
customers for a digital cow they’re already milking for free?
Enjoy all 13 of my books as free downloads. For real.
(Also, please tell everyone you know to come to www.StealScottsBooks.com)
My first book wasn’t a book: It was a brand, a stand, a story and a statement. I wrote it during my senior year of college at Miami University. I had no plan, no goals and no motivation other than, “Writing is the only thing I can’t remember not doing, and if I don’t write this book, I will regret it.” So I did. And it changed my life forever.
Any sophomore effort is rife with pressure and expectation. And since I needed substance behind the shtick of the nametag, I chose approachability. Or maybe approachability chose me. It was hard to write and required a lot of research, since I didn’t have much experience to dwell on. But it’s still my best selling title of all time, and it helped me own that word in the marketplace. Plus it got me a quiz for Cosmo. Wow.
Due to the nametag, everyone called me “that guy.” The difference was, they did so in a positive way. And I figured that would make a cool book. Polarizing title notwithstanding, I wrote it quickly and enjoyably, and it has sold well. My favorite part is the testimonial from my older brother, who has only read five books in his life, including this one. Score.
The most beautiful book I’ve ever done. My design team knocked it out of the park with this one. The cover is striking, the inside pages are colorful and the title is perfect. What I love most about this book is how heavy it is, due to the full color bleed on the print version. It just feels valuable. Plus, the dedication is to my parents, on whom I blame everything good that happens in my life.
The first in my series, this book was a response to my clients, who wanted to read short, fun, helpful books on specific job functions. Having worked in retail, food service and hospitality, it was cool to write from a service perspective. Not a lot of personal stories, just ideas I’d been learning as I traveled around the world, working with cool organizations.
I don’t like sales and I’m not particularly skilled at sales. So I wrote this book for myself. It’s got solid content on enabling customers to buy, not just selling. And I’m really happy with a few of the chapter about questions and conversation. It helped me sell more and sell better, and the feedback from readers has been tremendous. Especially in the professional services arena.
Managers are notorious for being unapproachable. I’ve certainly had bad ones in my day, so I wrote this book to help those in that role. And I’ll never forget the airport executive who grabbed a copy and asked if there was a chapter on getting employees to go away so you could actually get work done. I later added a chapter on boundaries to address that issue. Whew!
It’s a concept album. Not a book, a symphony. And it’s structured with movements, codas, interludes and the like. So much fun to write. Two books in one. Engaging cover in “flip-flop” style. And it absolutely drove my design team crazy. Total pain in the ass to produce. But, it’s hard cover, and it feels super fancy and credible. Amazing how touch affects credibility.
I’m not an angry person by any stretch of the imagination, but this book is basically me venting. Therapeutic to write, intense to read and I had a blast putting it together. But initially, I hesitated to publish it. And that’s how I knew it was important. So I did. Never charged for it. Always meant it to be a free download. And readers loved it. Especially me.
I wrote this book on the floor of the food court in the mall by my old house. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, fun and intentionally corporate. Sold tons over the years. The content I adore. And it’s highly spiritual stuff, since I wrote around the time I began practicing yoga. Kind of a time capsule into my life in my late twenties. Gotta love those ducks.
I think the bull on the cover of this book is the cutest thing ever. We must have browsed hundreds of graphics until we found the right one. Anyway, it’s another concept book. Most people didn’t get it. But my friends Adam and Jeremy and I came up with the chapter titles at our Sunday Sushi Club. Funniest table of contents ever written. Worth reading it just for that.
I wrote this book because I was tired of hearing people complain about how they had ideas, but never did anything with them. Considering I made an entire career out of wearing a nametag, who better to write this book than me? It’s the first daily devotional, which became my trademark style once this book came out. First of its kind, very strong content.
It seems wrong to pick your favorite book, but this one is so freaking amazing. The cover is stunning, the content is gold and I think I had the most fun and felt the most like myself while writing it. Another devotional, making dozens of family references, this book will always go down as a turning point in both my personal and professional lives.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What have you given away for free this week?
LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Send a friend to www.StealScottsBooks.com and give me as a gift to them.
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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting
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