Writing for One Person - Write your book for one or two specific people. - Many authors write for a general audience or their entire fanbase, which can make the writing less interesting. - Speaking directly to one reader creates a more engaging experience. - The paradox is that books written for a specific person often reach a wider audience. - That person can even be the author themselves. Transcript: Charlie Hoehn Best books are written for one or two real people on the other end. And a lot of authors write as though they’re speaking to a huge general audience or to their perceived fan base, the entire fan base. It’s the fastest way, in my opinion, to kill a book because it’s not interesting. They start speaking in terms of, we need to do this. We should be like this. And it’s like, you’re, who are you talking to? There’s one person on the other end of that book, speak to them, or speak

Embody Your Book - To write a great prescriptive nonfiction book, first embody the principles you’re writing about. - Don’t write as if you’re still becoming the person described in the book; write from a place of already being that person. - As Naval Ravikant said, “In order to write a great book, you must first become the book.” Transcript: Charlie Hoehn Yes and no. So it’s, you have to become the embodiment of the book first. So you can’t really write it as though you’re that person that you haven’t become yet, or the person that you’re becoming. You kind of have to write it from a place of, I’ve already become this. I’ve already grown into this. And I’m the embodiment of this. Naval Ravikant had a great quote where he said, in order to write a great book, you must first become the book. I work on prescriptive

Write for One Person - The best books are written for one or two real people. - Many authors make the mistake of writing for a large, general audience or their entire fanbase. - This approach often makes the writing less interesting. - Instead, focus on writing as if you are speaking directly to one person, even if that person is yourself. - Paradoxically, books written for one person tend to reach a wider audience. Transcript: Charlie Hoehn Best books are written for one or two real people on the other end. And a lot of authors write as though they’re speaking to a huge general audience or to their perceived fan base, the entire fan base. It’s the fastest way, in my opinion, to kill a book because it’s not interesting. They start speaking in terms of, we need to do this. We should be like this. And it’s like, you’re, who are you talking to? There’s one person on the other end of that book, speak to them, or speak about yourself. I learned

Writing for One Reader - Write your book for one or two specific people. - Avoid addressing a large, general audience or your entire fanbase directly (e.g., using “we”). - The most compelling books often target a single reader and, paradoxically, reach a wider audience. - This reader can even be yourself; ask if you’d want to read this book repeatedly. Transcript: Charlie Hoehn Best books are written for one or two real people on the other end. And a lot of authors write as though they’re speaking to a huge general audience or to their perceived fan base, the entire fan base. It’s the fastest way, in my opinion, to kill a book because it’s not interesting. They start speaking in terms of, we need to do this. We should be like this. And it’s like, you’re, who are you talking to? There’s one person on the other end of that book, speak to them, or speak about yourself. I learned this. And if you want to apply it, you can do this. So the most powerful, interesting books tend to be written for one real

Writing for a Specific Audience - The best books are written for one or two specific people. - Many authors make the mistake of writing for a general audience or their entire fanbase, which can make the writing less engaging. - Address the reader directly or speak about personal experiences. - Avoid speaking in general terms, like using “we,” as if addressing a crowd. - Focus on creating a connection with a single reader. Transcript: Charlie Hoehn Best books are written for one or two real people on the other end. And a lot of authors write as though they’re speaking to a huge general audience or to their perceived fan base, the entire fan base. It’s the fastest way, in my opinion, to kill a book because it’s not interesting. They start speaking in terms of, we need to do this. We should be like this. And it’s like, you’re, who are you talking to? There’s one person on the other end of that book, speak to them, or speak about yourself.

Target Audience - Write for one or two real people, not a general audience. - Become the embodiment of your book’s message before writing. Transcript: Shane Parrish A three times, if I understand this correctly, New York Times bestselling editor. What have you learned about writing that you wish more people knew? Charlie Hoehn The best books are written for one or two real people on the other end. And a lot of authors write as though they’re speaking to a huge general audience or to their perceived fan base, the entire fan base. It’s the fastest way, in my opinion, to kill a book because it’s not interesting. They start speaking in terms of, we need to do this. We should be like this. And it’s like, you’re, who are you talking to? There’s one person on the other end of that book, speak to them, or speak about yourself. I learned this. And if you want to apply it, you can do this. So the most powerful, interesting books tend to be written for one real person in mind. And the paradox is they tend to reach a lot more people that way. And that person can be the author. Are you making something that you want to consume repeatedly? Shane Parrish And

Author as Mentor - Authors should write for an audience less expert than themselves. - They should aim to pull readers up to their level of expertise. Transcript: Shane Parrish Do you think most authors, especially in nonfiction, are sort of like working through the subject that they’re talking about. And that’s the writing. Mark Manson, like he cares, right? So the subtle art of not giving a fuck is sort of like him trying not to care as much. James Clear was really working on his habits when he was writing about habits and sort of like, so you’re writing the book you almost want to consume? Charlie Hoehn Yes and no. So it’s, you have to become the embodiment of the book first. So you can’t really write it as though you’re that person that you haven’t become yet, or the person that you’re becoming. You kind of have to write it from a place of, I’ve already become this. I’ve already grown into this. And I’m the embodiment of this. Naval Ravikant had a great quote where he said, in order to write a great book, you must first become the book. I work on prescriptive nonfiction exclusively. I don’t help with memoirs. I don’t help with fiction, just like business books, self-help, personal development, that type of stuff. If you think of the author, their expertise is a ladder, right? And so they’ve climbed so many rungs to where they are. If they’re trying to write for people on their rung or above, it will not be a good book. They need to write for the people below them and address those people. Because they can pull those people effectively up to their rung. They can’t push somebody who’s on their rung up further. You know what I mean? Because they’re not there themselves.

Real-World Testing - Get real-time feedback by teaching your book’s content before writing. - Observe how people interact with your ideas to identify areas of confusion. Transcript: Shane Parrish Blueprint to get me there. How do you write for a particular person? Like, what does that look like? Charlie Hoehn Well, there’s a variety of ways. One, you can be talking to them in real life, right? So a lot of authors who’ve written good books are like, yeah, I’ve been coaching clients or consulting with these companies for years. I have this stuff down cold. I know the questions they ask. I know their their common emotional challenges, the technical obstacles they face. Those, that is a great way to write a book is like, you know, that person very intimately or that avatar. And other ways are you can do it kind of online now. You still need that real feedback though from actually helping a person transform. Just to clarify on that, like you could in theory be writing for an online audience, right? And helping them with a particular topic and seeing, oh, they left a comment here about this. They had a question about this. Okay. But when you go to write the book, you’re not actually witnessing what they’re going through. It’s similar for like software development. You think you have a good app that you’ve developed and you’re like, this is awesome. Cool. Go put it in front of somebody and watch them use it and watch how quickly they get stuck or they’re confused or they’re bored. It’s the same with books. And so I think it’s important to get that real, you know, personal feedback that you can see, here’s where this person is struggling. Here’s where they’re succeeding.

Real Feedback for Writing - To write a good book, get real feedback from people you are helping. - You can write for an online audience and see their comments and questions, but you still need to witness their struggles and successes. - It’s like software development: You think your app is great until you watch someone use it and get stuck or confused. - Similarly, get personal feedback to see where people struggle and succeed with your book’s content. Transcript: Charlie Hoehn You still need that real feedback though from actually helping a person transform. Just to clarify on that, like you could in theory be writing for an online audience, right? And helping them with a particular topic and seeing, oh, they left a comment here about this. They had a question about this. Okay. But when you go to write the book, you’re not actually witnessing what they’re going through. It’s similar for like software development. You think you have a good app that you’ve developed and you’re like, this is awesome. Cool. Go put it in front of somebody and watch them use it and watch how quickly they get stuck or they’re confused or they’re bored. It’s the same with books. And so I think it’s important to get that real, you know, personal feedback that you can see, here’s where this person is struggling. Here’s where they’re succeeding. Shane Parrish How does an author do that with they’re writing the whole book right so like you can’t write the book publish it then get feedback and sort of like okay now what do I do with this um

Miracle Morning Revisions - Hal Elrod revised The Miracle Morning based on negative reviews, leading to its success. - This iterative process, like software development, improved the book. Transcript: Shane Parrish How does an author do that with they’re writing the whole book right so like you can’t write the book publish it then get feedback and sort of like okay now what do I do with this um well you Charlie Hoehn Can’t but I’ll circle back to that uh the my the method I encourage is teach it in real time first. And ideally, you’re somebody who’s already transformed numerous people, at least three with the transformation that you’re trying to codify into a book. Speaking, you ought to have coached, consulted, helped at least three people achieve the transformation you’re trying to make into a book. You can, in theory, publish a book and then see where people are getting stuck, see their reviews, and then adjust the book afterward. I don’t recommend it. It’s not a strategy that most authors will stick to, but like Hal Elrod, who’s based here in Austin, he did that with The Miracle Morning. And so in the first year, he promoted that book, sold like 13,000 copies or something like that, which is quite good for its first year. With every negative review he got, he went back into the manuscript and made revisions so that that feedback couldn’t be given again. So that review couldn’t be given again. And he just kept doing that until the negative review stopped. And to date, it’s sold millions of copies. I think he said in year six, it sold its millionth copy. But he stuck with that book. And he was like, I really believe in this. I’m going to keep modifying this as though it is software. I’m going to release V1, V2, V3, V4, etc. Most authors don’t do that. One of the reasons that I am reluctant to advocate for the traditional publishing processes. Like your book is set in stone there. You might, if you’re lucky, get a 10-year update, you know, the 10-year anniversary, but you’re not going to touch that book again.

Publishing Paths - Traditional publishing offers higher distribution but lower royalties. - Self-publishing gives higher royalties but demands marketing investment. Transcript: Shane Parrish What’s your take on the pros and cons of sort of self-publishing versus publishing? What are the considerations that you look at? When does it make sense? When doesn’t it make sense? How do you think about that? Charlie Hoehn I agree with my buddy Nat Eliason’s take on traditional publishing. And it’s a very simple lens to look through, overly simplistic, I guess. But if you can get a publisher to give you a $100,000 advance or more, you should probably do it. I mean, if you have millions of followers, 100,000 is not enough, but like you get the general concept. You want them to have enough skin in the game to take you seriously. You want to get as substantive of an advance as you can to actually put some money into doing the book as well as you can and launching it as well as you can. For 95 plus percent of authors I talk to, I tell them it doesn’t really make sense for you to do that. There’s a number of reasons. Most authors care about financial ROI. We can start there. Granted, the worst way to make money with a book is by selling lots of copies. But with a traditional publisher, they’re going to be taking, you know, I think it’s upwards of 90% of your royalties. It may not be quite that high, but I remember talking to James Clear and we were talking about how much he would have made had he gone the self-publishing route with Atomic Habits. And I did the math and it was like, oh, it’s about three X more per copy. But would he have sold as many copies? Exactly. Would he have sold as many? It’s a great question. We’ll never know. The distribution is much higher with a traditional publisher, right? You’re getting into retail stores. That’s not an easy game as a self-published author. But my argument is over 90%. I believe it’s at minimum of 80% of book purchases are through Amazon online. So if you’re applying the 80-20 to book sales, self-publishing typically makes sense. You should invest in making the best possible product.