Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak with Tucker Max - author, public speaker, movie producer, and current Founder & Chairman of Book in a Box - a company now grossing millions of dollars per year.
If there’s one thing we can all learn from Tucker it’s that anyone can change their personal brand. After graduating from Duke Law School in 2001, Tucker became a national celebrity - famous for blogging about his debaucheries. Since then he’s gotten married and become a serial-entrepreneur; currently managing Book in a Box, and promoting a very different message to his fans and customers than before.
Book in a Box is a company that many CEOs, coaches, and celebrities have used to write and publish books — without ever touching pen to paper.
How does it work? Let’s first look at how it started.
A major issue that many people face when wanting to write a book is finding the time to do it. With Book in a Box, the company’s writers engage the author in multiple conversations during which the writers document the author’s ideas and transform them into a polished book. No need for the author to spend hours, days, and years writing and re-writing drafts; all the writing is done by the staff while the author continues about his daily life.
People including Cameron Harold, Joey Coleman, Jim Click, Michael Brown, Tiffany Hadish, and over 400 others have all used Book in a Box’s service to create and publish books.
The process takes about six months from start to completion, with some taking over a year.
Why is the company important? As Tucker explains, authoring a book can brand you as a subject expert. It “Shows you know what you’re talking about, [and] shows the world what you know.” This is vitally important for people whose careers depend largely on their ability to market themselves and gain the trust of their customers. Authoring a book can give you a leg-up on the competition when customers are selecting the brand they trust the most and has the most presence.
Tucker’s transition from frat boy to entrepreneur wasn’t just about a change in principals, but also adapting to the shift from a “World where everyone works for a company to a world where everyone works for themselves,” he told me, explaining that entrepreneurship is becoming more and more mainstream and feasible for many people.
Most of the people who use Book in a Box publish works of prescriptive non-ficiton, but topics cover the spectrum.
Tucker’s advice for first time authors?
“Don’t use Book in a Box. It’s at least $100 per hour. Instead, ask: why are you writing a book?”
Take a step back, he says, and ask why. What’s the purpose? Are you doing it to impress your friends or do you have a deeper, more compelling reason to embark on the project?
In addition to Book in a Box, Tucker is now an angel investor, author, and co-author (with Dr. Geoffrey Miller).