by E.Oberio / March 6, 2017
I’m so thrilled to be interviewing today Nicholas Dodge, author of the book “Becoming The Alpha”.
Hi Nicholas! Thanks for taking the time out of your hectic writing schedule to take this interview. You’ve just recently published a very useful and practical book entitled “Becoming The Alpha” and it’s been getting great reviews. But before we delve into your latest book, would you kindly tell us a bit about yourself? What were you like at school? At what age did you decide you wanted to become an author?
Hey Elen, it’s a pleasure being able to take part in this interview with you. In school, I was the type of kid you would not expect to amount to anything in life. I blew off class, got in trouble with the teachers and the law, and simply didn’t care for my education, or my personal future. It wasn’t until the age of 19 that I decided what I truly desired in life was much more difficult to attain, and it certainly required me buckling down and making some tough decisions. I decided that I wanted to live the extravagant lifestyle, and have the money and time freedom to be able to enjoy my life in the year’s most people don’t normally get to enjoy theirs. I wanted to become a successful entrepreneur, and the first step towards making that a reality was becoming an author.
What is your latest book about and who is it for?
My books are mainly self-help and business oriented. I have a passion for helping people eliminate lingering doubt about what they can or can’t accomplish by taking them to a whole other level – regardless of how successful they already are – in health, wealth, educational and business areas of life. I have helped tens of thousands of people transform their lives in these various areas through my books, courses, and coaching. Due to my unique belief that everybody can be successful and free from the struggles of the average lifestyle, my passion doesn’t run dry when the going gets tough. I persevere to help create the “ideal” life regardless of previous experiences, whatever that may mean to you.
Great! Could you please tell us what have you written so far?
After the writing, marketing and publishing of my very first two books, I began seeking more information on how I would be able to provide maximum value to those in my niche. I am in the process of designing in-depth courses specifically designed for helping people bust beyond their limitations and create the ideal life, like what I have done for myself.
The two books I have written so far, “Mindset Mastery” and “Becoming the Alpha” are geared towards one’s personal development of the mental frame, and how they can use that knowledge to expand and grow in other areas of life.
What draws you to writing self-help books?
Without a doubt, the main reason I chose to become a self-help author is due to none other than my personal experiences. Before I finally made that revolutionizing decision to take immediate control of my mental, physical, educational, and financial destiny, I battled with suicidal thoughts and tendencies. I found myself living in a real-world hell, slowly slipping further and further away from a life of prosperity I knew I deserved to be living. It was then that I knew two things. One, other people out there are struggling with similar situations to those that I had found myself in, and two, I knew that if I could overcome that if I could overcome the obstacles that stood in my way, then I could show others the way.
Excellent! So do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when?
When I’m normally in the middle of the writing phase I tend to sit down for a couple of hours every day to get whatever thoughts I have trapped in my mind down onto paper. Even if whatever comes out of the jumbled mess in my head isn’t kept, it still gets written down and taken into consideration for how it could be implemented into the reading.
When writing a book, where do your ideas come from?
My ideas mainly come from two sources, my personal experiences or others experiences. I found that life’s obstacles are inevitable and we are undoubtedly going to find ourselves battling our circumstances, fighting to create a life we deem worthy of living. We will strive for our goals, pursue our dreams, design our lives, and fall along the way. And it is in the moments of falling that I know for a fact there is something to be learned. And so, I learn, overcome, and teach. Because if there is something that I am struggling or have found myself struggling with, I know there is someone else out there that is in the middle of the same, and I can help.
What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?
The hardest thing about writing any book of the self-help genre is knowing that you’re not going to be able to please everybody or teach everybody with a style of writing or lesson used. I have discovered that everybody is different, they learn differently, they have different tastes and interests. Another major setback when it came to writing of the self-help genre was working up the courage to bust out of my personal bubble and use some personal experiences as examples to benefit from. Leaving your comfort zone is never going to be an easy task, but it is necessary if you wish to improve your life and the lives of those around you.
What do you like most about writing?
The thing I like most about writing is knowing that even if my book only sells one copy, that one copy sold is helping change the life of somebody that is in desperate need of a change. If someone can benefit from what I have to teach, that is all the motivation I need to keep pushing through the tough stages of the writing process.
How long on average does it take you to write a book and how do you overcome writer’s block?
Like previously stated, one of the biggest motivations I must keep me going through the writing process is having the simple knowledge that, even if I only sold one copy of the book, that is one more person in the world that I have helped in some way through my teachings. There’s no really telling how long it usually takes me to write a book, it all depends on whether the ideas are flowing and on factors such as page count.
Who are your favorite authors?
Some of my favorite authors include Tony Robbins, Tim Ferris, T. Harv Eker, Napoleon Hill, and Charles Duhigg. They are some of the most notable self-help authors of their generation and they inspire me to be one of mine.
How successful has your quest for reviews been so far and how do you get reviews?
Reviews are important on Amazon, but I don’t really make it a quest to go out and push people to leave them. I truly do enjoy listening to and reading what others have to say about my work, but I’d much rather have the reader leave a compelling review on their own incentive to provide a much more authentic response.
Have you received any bad reviews before and how did you handle it?
Oh yes, plenty of them too. I actually prefer to receive “bad” reviews just as much as I receive good reviews because they provide me with the constructive criticism that I need in order to make the next versions of my books even better than they already are.
Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures?
Growing my reader base has been the greatest marketing strategy that I have used up to this point in time. Having a simple list of emails that you can send out to, even if it is just a mere 100 emails, gain you a competitive advantage amongst other self-publishers. Most people take the “publish and pray” approach, when marketing is the most important part of the process, if you wish to get your title out to as many people as you had hoped.
Did you make any marketing mistakes or, is there anything you would like to avoid in the future?
I had made mistakes along my journey to becoming a successful author, one of them pertaining to marketing particularly. My first title “Mindset Mastery” was published without any clear path on how I was going to market it. I didn’t have an email list. I didn’t run any promotional ads. I didn’t even tell my family or friends about my recent success. I took the “publish and pray” approach and, as a result, my title ended up becoming a complete dud until I got a grip on the marketing aspects of the process.
What is your favorite movie and why?
The Godfather, because it primarily reminds me of my heritage as an Italian and the lives of my ancestors leading up to my point in time. I am a sucker for historical films.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Simply do NOT give up. You have a story to tell and a message to share. Sit down, and fight through the tough times by thinking about why you even started in the first place. Maybe it was a passion project, or for money, or to grow your network, or to help others with your experiences. Whatever the reason may be, sit down and finish what you started.
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
Honestly, I wouldn’t want to be the original author of any other books, other than those of my own. I am proud of my works and to envy not being the author of others is not something I typically find myself doing.
What is your greatest dream for your writing career?
To expand beyond simply writing books and publishing them electronically to be sold on Amazon. I want to be the author that sees his books in every bookstore across the globe, the author that goes to host transformational seminars in big time cities, the author that has lines of raging fans wanting to get my signature in their paperback or hardcover copy of my book. I go from helping thousands to tens of thousands. From tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. And finally, from hundreds of thousands to millions.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Hands down the best advice I have ever received was when I reached out to the author of the first book I had ever willingly read, MJ DeMarco, The Millionaire Fastlane. I reached out to him one morning after finishing reading his title, still lost on the journey known as life. I couldn’t find my purpose, and I was battling with beginning stages of depression. I told him of my circumstances, and he replied with “Glad to hear the book has made an impact. Carry that mindset with you and it will take you through the storms. Remember, this isn’t something you ‘try’ – it is something you live.”
How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Please check out the links below:
Website: www.nicholasjdodge.com
Blog: www.nicholasjdodge.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicholasjdodge
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicholasdodge_
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-dodge-1bb973129?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile_pic
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Nicholas-J.-Dodge/e/B01LZQFYRT/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1487867652&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCUGOSA/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LX4JPZS/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/60492357-nicholas-j-dodge
Thanks Nicholas and we wish you more success in your upcoming projects and courses.