Creator Science

#182: Noah Kagan — Behind the scenes of writing (and marketing) Million Dollar Weekend

Feb 20, 2024

Noah Kagan, CEO of AppSumo and successful YouTuber, discusses his recent book, Million Dollar Weekend. He shares insights on testing marketing strategies, dealing with agent feedback, and the art of a compelling proposal. Noah reflects on the balance between business and personal branding, emphasizing authenticity in content creation. He talks about the transformative nature of rejection in writing, the importance of beta readers, and the role of strategic marketing in book publishing. Get inspired by his candid approach to creativity and entrepreneurship!

01:03:37

Creator website

Episode guests

Noah Kagan

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Highlights

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Iterating based on feedback is crucial for book development.

Collaboration with experts enhances content quality and challenges assumptions.

Traditional publishing offers editing support and wider distribution benefits.

Deep dives

The Journey from Proposal to Book

Noah Kagan shares his experience of turning a book proposal into a published book. He initially faced rejection from an agent but used that setback to improve his proposal over the course of a year. The final book ended up deviating from the original proposal in terms of chapter structure and titles. Noah emphasizes the importance of testing and iterating, whether it's cover designs, subtitles, or chapter organization.

Quality Over Quantity in Content Creation

02:05

Investing in Book Publishing

01:21

Working Backwards from Goal to Achieve Book Sales

01:33

Regret about Lack of Page Layout Detail

00:59

Intro

3min

A Candid Journey Through Publishing and Brand Building

3min

Navigating Business and Personal Branding Strategically

3min

Navigating Authenticity in Content Creation

5min

Navigating Rejection and the Journey to Authorship

4min

Navigating the Publishing Journey

22min

The Art of Compelling Content

8min

Navigating Beta Reading and Book Marketing

17min

Noah Kagan is the CEO of AppSumo, an 8 figure company that is the #1 software deals site. He also runs a YouTube channel where he shares his tips for finding financial freedom with more than 930,000 subscribers.

Before AppSumo, he was the 30th employee at Facebook reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg and the 4th employee at mint.com.

Noah has built this reputation for being a relentless tinkerer. He's constantly running small experiments. A couple weeks ago, Noah's new book, Million Dollar Weekend, officially became available for sale. And since that time, he's been everywhere. The Tim Ferriss Show, School of Greatness, Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal. In this episode, you'll learn about his experience making the book itself.

Full transcript and show notes

Buy Million Dollar Weekend

Listen to my episode with David Moldawer

Listen to our publishing playlist

Noah's Website / YouTube / Twitter / Instagram / LinkedIn

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→ #163: David Moldawer

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