At the beginning of December I wrote-up my first month of book sales. It was one of my most popular posts.
For November (pub day was November 1st) my book sales were:
eBook: 64
Paperback: 82
Hardcover: 18
In December they were:
eBook: 9
Paperback: 45
Hardcover: 3
Total Book Sales: 221
Interesting to note that both eBook and hardcover sales dropped by about four-fifths but paperback sales dropped by less than half.
My goal is to get to 300 books sold within 12 months time (which seems likely).
If I reach 500 book sales I’ll break even :-)
Here’s what December sales look like on my end:
I’ve done no publicity this month so these are almost all organic, word-of-mouth, sales.
Hopefully, sales continue in the same vein as people recommend it to others.
So, last call, you can buy Zen here.
Side Note: It’s always exciting when someone buys the hardcover.
Positive Coaching
Speaking of coaching, I finished my four part podcast mini-series on Positive Coaching.
The first episode, with mindfulness coach Greg Graber, focuses on the mental aspects of performance and how tools like mindfulness can help.
Plus an appreciation of Ted Lasso.
One of my favorite quotes from this series is when Greg says, “Coaches bring me in to work with players. Inevitably, I end up working with them.”
The second episode, with Dr. Greg Sullivan, Director of the Mizzou Positive Coaching and Athletic Leadership Program, goes into the three things people need to have their psychological needs met in a team or group setting:
Autonomy
Improvement
Belonging
Greg says, “Coaches mistake motivation for control.”
The third episode, with Chris Sullivan (@CoachSullyDU), Head Coach of Men’s Basketball at Denison University (@DenisonHoops), goes into how feedback should center relationships first.
“Sometimes we get too distracted by hoops,” says Chris.
The fourth episode, with Nick Hauselman (@bballbreakdown), who has one of the most popular basketball YouTube channels out there, goes into the theory of “Trauma Coaching.”
Nick asks, “What’s your goal as a coach during the game?”
I have another episode in the same vein as these dropping Thursday. It’s an interview with Brian Sullivan, whose research is focused on peak performance.
Improv
This past week on the pod I had a great conversation with Logan Floyd, a classmate from improv class.
Most recently, Logan played the lead, Velma Kelly, in the national tour of Chicago: The Musical.
Logan and I had a good time discussing creativity and, at the end of the episode, we improv two scenes together.
“I’d like opposable thumbs,” still makes me laugh.
If you enjoyed my interview with Logan you’ll probably like my improv-focused interview with Alyssa McGillvery.
That’s all for today. Look for my interview about peak performance with Brian Sullivan this Thursday. In the meantime, mask up (N95), get boosted, and stay safe.
Cheers,
Ben