When James Clear last spoke on the Craft & Commerce stage, Atomic Habits hadn't even been released. Now, it's sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
I was delighted to welcome James back to the same stage 8 years later to unpack what he’s learned from creating one of the bestselling books of the last decade. In this conversation, James shares his insights on how to create a timeless product, how he built an email list of over 4 million subscribers, and the revolutionary publishing model he’s building with Authors Equity.
James also answers burning questions from the audience on simplifying complex ideas, building lasting entrepreneurial friendships, protecting your identity as a creator in public, and James’s personal mission in life.
If you’ve ever wondered what goes into creating a bestselling book, I think you’ll get a lot out of this episode.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:07 Expectations for Atomic Habits' success
02:54 Selling 30M+ copies
04:48 Timeless marketing principles
07:18 Positioning for long-term book sales
09:39 Building the world's largest single-author newsletter
12:44 Current effective growth tactics
14:01 Cross-pollinating platforms for growth
16:51 The vision behind Authors Equity
20:51 The Atomic Habits tipping point
23:09 Why books are an underrated business model
24:48 Simplifying complex ideas
27:54 Cultivating lasting entrepreneur friendships
31:33 Protecting your identity as a public creator
35:30 Why choose traditional publishing over self-publishing?
39:17 Mining for stories and metaphors
43:24 What makes Authors Equity different?
48:50 Daily habits for rebuilding momentum
51:50 James’s life mission
54:24 Authors Equity: working with self-published authors
58:05 James's parting thoughts: 10-year and 1-hour timeframes
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave a review. I read every single one.
Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show
Follow Nathan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow
Website: https://nathanbarry.com
Kit: https://kit.com
Follow James:
Website: https://jamesclear.com
Newsletter: https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1
X: https://twitter.com/jamesclear
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesclear
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesclear
Featured in this episode:
Kit: https://www.kit.com
Atomic Habits: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
Authors Equity: https://www.authorsequity.com
Highlights:
02:10 - James's initial expectations for Atomic Habits
09:39 - How James built the world's largest single-author newsletter
23:09 - Why books are an underrated business model
48:50 - James’s daily habits for rebuilding momentum
51:50 - James’s life mission
