He Built a $10M Writing Empire. Here's Why He Says Traditional Publishing Is a 10x Worse Deal

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.  Nicolas Cole built his first ghostwriting business by answering questions on Quora in 2014, and somehow that has compounded into a $10M+ portfolio of writing companies that he runs with his partner Dickie Bush—anchored by Premium Ghostwriting Academy, the 16-week program that's trained roughly 2,000 ghostwriters to charge premium rates. Cole is a three-time guest on this show, which is a record nobody else holds, and there's a reason for it. We met at a party years ago and immediately started geeking out about books and publishing like two people who'd finally found each other at a conference for a very specific kind of weirdo. He's one of the few people I've watched scale, burn out, blow it up and rebuild without losing the part of him that actually loves writing. The part I really wanted to get into was the 10x argument, which is the cleanest case against traditional publishing I've ever heard anyone make. A traditional publisher pays you roughly 10% in royalties, meaning you keep 10% of the book and they keep 90%. Self-publish and you keep 100%. This means that to make the same money as a self-published author, your traditionally published book has to sell 10 times more copies.  We also get into his Medium loophole that paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties before they emailed him to make him stop, the Christmas Eve in 2019 he tried to duct-tape together a paid newsletter six months before Substack existed and how he emailed the Substack founder to invest the moment he saw their first round. Also discussed: his Write With AI newsletter that now does $400K a year in subscriptions and feeds a $1-2M business on top of that and his case for why the only book worth writing is one you’re willing to write about on social media day after day after day after day. **In this episode:** - Why a traditionally published book has to sell 10 times more copies than a self-published one just to break even - The Medium loophole that paid Cole hundreds of thousands of dollars before they emailed him to stop - Why Cole emailed the Substack founder the day they raised their first round and what happened when they said no - The $400K-a-year Substack newsletter Cole built by following the money - Why charging less than $3,000 a project means you have a faulty relationship with money, not a pricing problem **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!