Behind the Book Cover cover art

Behind the Book Cover

Behind the Book Cover

By: Anna David
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You've heard the book publishing podcasts that give you tips for selling a lot of books and the ones that only interview world-famous authors. Now it's time for a book publishing show that reveals what actually goes on behind the cover. Hosted by New York Times bestselling author Anna David, Behind the Book Cover features interviews with traditionally published authors, independently published entrepreneurs who have used their books too seven figures to their bottom line to build their businesses and more. Anna David has had books published by HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster and is the founder of Legacy Launch Pad, David is the founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing, a leading hybrid book publisher for entrepreneurs. In other words, she knows both sides—and isn't afraid to share it. Come find out what traditional publishers don't want you to know.Legacy Launch Pad Career Success Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • He Thinks Most Authors Don’t Need a Better Book. They Need a Better Funnel
    Jun 16 2026

    If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life.


    Gary White is a Scottish marketer who spent years building funnels for Russell Brunson at ClickFunnels before he got obsessed with one specific kind of client: people who cared so much about a subject they wrote a book on it. He turned that obsession into bookfunnels.io, a company that's helped hundreds of authors stop selling books on Amazon and start using their books to acquire actual paying clients.

    I have to admit something. I got on a call with Gary, hung up, decided to poke around his site to see what he was about — and within an hour I had entered my credit card and signed up for things I did not need or really understand. That is how good his system is. So I figured the only responsible thing to do was have him on the show to explain exactly how he did that to me, so all of you can do it to your readers.

    The framework is called the TINY Book Client System. The T is the perfect bait, meaning your book has to attract the exact person you actually want to work with, not just any reader who might buy a book on your topic. The I is the independent selling system, which is how you stop renting your readers from Amazon and start owning the relationship. The N is the never-ending traffic source, and Gary has a story about spending five days making a YouTube video that got 82 views, then taking a single iPhone photo of a box of his books and selling hundreds the same week with a 30-second Meta ad. The Y is the implementation offer, which is the thing your book is secretly selling the whole time.

    We also get into "cash cycling"—the mechanic where every dollar you spend on ads comes back on Day Zero so you literally cannot lose money, why he thinks LinkedIn ads are a waste for most authors even when you're targeting CEOs, his case for "tiny books" of around 120 pages (just thick enough to have a real spine and an ISBN) and the warehouse-in-California-while-he-lives-in-Scotland setup that lets him sell physical books he has literally never touched.

    In this episode:

    • The TINY framework Gary built after running funnels for Russell Brunson at ClickFunnels for years
    • The 5-day YouTube video that got 82 views and the 30-second iPhone photo that sold hundreds of books the same week
    • "Cash cycling"—why every dollar you spend on Meta ads comes back on Day Zero so you cannot lose money
    • Why Gary thinks LinkedIn ads are a waste even when you're targeting CEOs (and where to find those CEOs instead)
    • The "tiny book"—roughly 120 pages, real spine, real ISBN, none of the months-of-staring-at-a-blank-page
    • The audience-capture trap Gary warns every author about before they write a single chapter

    Want to know more about my company? Legacy Launch Pad Publishing is a boutique hybrid publisher for entrepreneurs and established founders. We help clients create books that build authority, attract opportunities and grow businesses. More info 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com


    Want to ask me how to build authority with your book to generate seven-figure returns, speaking opportunities and high-value clients? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/book

    Interested in working with a selective hybrid publisher that focuses on strategy, authority and long-term business growth—not just publishing a book? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/apply

    And if you just want to know more about me,
    👉 www.annadavid.com

    Remember, if there's anyone in your life who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them!


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    43 mins
  • Why I'm Re-Releasing My Book Three Years Later (and What I Got Wrong)
    Jun 9 2026

    If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life.


    In 2023 I opened my book On Good Authority by saying AI wasn't going to replace writers.

    Three years later, I still believe that. But so much that I thought about publishing in 2023 has shifted that I'm re-releasing the book—two new chapters, an updated audiobook and a free upgrade for anyone who bought the original. Because the gap between what was true then and what's true now is the whole story.

    There are three main things that made me feel like a new edition was necessary.

    First, AI went from a hallucinating curiosity to a tool I use all day every day—not to write books, but for design, for thinking partner work, for the personal-relationship triage I sometimes do when I'm about to send an email I shouldn't. I would argue that AI has made it so that mediocre writing has become more irrelevant, not less, since anyone can prompt their way to passable now.

    Also a 2026 study finally proved what I've been saying for years: entrepreneurs with books charge 37% more than competitors without one.

    But the point I want to land hardest in this version is one I couldn't fully prove in 2023 and now can: book sales matter less than they ever have. A New York Times bestselling author profiled in New York Magazine this March makes $49,000 a year, and that figure includes retreats and recording the audiobook.

    A writer I follow sold 150,000 copies of her book and made $87,000 over six years after subtracting for editor, publicist and agent fees. My own New York Times bestseller didn't cover the cab fare to the launch party.

    So it’s even more true now that the book isn’t the product but what makes everything else possible.

    This new version also gets into AI discoverability, why your website needs to speak to robots as much as humans, why Wikipedia and Reddit and GoodReads matter more than they did three years ago, the LLM test I run on my own company every month and the niche-audience playbook my clients are using to land $20,000 speaking gigs. Which makes the new edition of On Good Authority the field guide for the season I've been running on the future of publishing.

    P.S. — If you bought the 2023 edition, email assistant@annadavid.com to get the 2026 version on Anna.

    Other links I promised:

    The Ask Me Anything page where you can indeed ask me anything about On Good Authority: www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/book

    The general book information page with links to where you can purchase: www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/good-authority-book


    Want to know more about my company? Legacy Launch Pad Publishing is a boutique hybrid publisher for entrepreneurs and established founders. We help clients create books that build authority, attract opportunities and grow businesses. More info 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com


    Curious how entrepreneurs use books to generate seven-figure returns, speaking opportunities and high-value clients? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/7-figures

    Interested in working with a selective hybrid publisher that focuses on strategy, authority and long-term business growth—not just publishing a book? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/apply

    Want to get my book that breaks down 30 years of experience and hundreds of interviews with publishing experts and authors—newly updated for 2026? (You can even ask the book questions. [Really!]) 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/good-authority-book


    And if you just want to know more about me,
    👉 www.annadavid.com

    Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.


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    12 mins
  • Most Authors Want Sales. The Smart Ones Want This.
    Jun 2 2026

    If you're thinking about writing an authority building book, and I really hope you are, and you don't want to be counting pennies or checking your book sales all the time, you actually want a book that's going to change your life, I can tell you how. Just go to sevenfigurebooks.com. I'm not trying to capture your email or anything. You can just download this PDF that's going to tell you exactly how to turn an authority building book into revenue, speaking, authority, and no exaggeration, a whole new life.


    Steve Sarner spent eight years at Amazon and was VP of sales at Goodreads, which means he understands something most authors don’t:

    Book sales are not the point.

    What Steve focuses on now is something I think more people should be talking about: not selling books, but seeding them—that is, getting them into the hands of the exact people who can turn them into something bigger.

    This, you could say, is my obsession.

    We get into:

    • How many books you actually need “out in the wild” before anything starts working
    • Why giving your book away can be more valuable than selling it
    • How books turn into $10,000+ clients (and the rough math behind that)
    • The surprising places he’s putting books—from niche events to inside massive companies
    • Why reviews matter…even though getting them is borderline impossible

    There’s also a story about someone finding their company through AI, requesting the book, reading it and becoming a client—which is basically the entire thesis in action.

    Find out more about the company where Steve works, ShelfLife, here.


    Sign up for ShelfLife’s 3-2-1 newsletter here.


    Want to know more about my company? Legacy Launch Pad Publishing is a boutique hybrid publisher for entrepreneurs and established founders. We help clients create books that build authority, attract opportunities and grow businesses. More info 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com


    Curious how entrepreneurs use books to generate seven-figure returns, speaking opportunities and high-value clients? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/7-figures

    Interested in working with a selective hybrid publisher that focuses on strategy, authority and long-term business growth—not just publishing a book? 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/apply

    Want to get my book that breaks down 30 years of experience and hundreds of interviews with publishing experts and authors—newly updated for 2026? (You can even ask the book questions. [Really!]) 👉 https://www.legacylaunchpadpub.com/good-authority-book


    And if you just want to know more about me,
    👉 www.annadavid.com

    Remember, if there's anyone in your life whose wisdom you deeply admire, or who you know could be considered an authority in their field if they were better known, share this show with them.


    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
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