Before The Bestseller

Alex Strathdee
  • 4.9 (149)
  • Books
  • Updated Weekly

This show is for book lovers and creators who want to go behind the scenes with their favorite authors to hear about how they were able to not just write a book but create a movement. 

  1. 2d ago

    BTB195: How Mark Wolynn Sold 3 Million Copies of It Didn’t Start With You

    Last episode, we talked with Mark Wolynn about the ideas behind It Didn’t Start With You. This time, we’re talking about what happened after he wrote it and how the book eventually sold more than 3 million copies. Mark takes us back to the beginning, from spending nine years developing the material and nearly self-publishing the book to landing an agent and a traditional publishing deal. But when the book launched in 2016, it didn’t immediately take off. We talk about what helped it build momentum over the years, including podcast interviews, influencers sharing the book with their audiences, TikTok and word of mouth, and the personal things Mark did along the way, like answering readers one-on-one and walking into bookstores to sign copies. We also get into why he believes deeply knowing your subject and writing from lived experience played such an important role in the book’s longevity. If you’re building something you believe in but the results aren’t happening as quickly as you hoped, Mark’s journey offers an interesting look at what can happen when you stay close to your work, your readers, and the reason you wrote the book in the first place. Listen to the full conversation to hear how It Didn’t Start With You grew from a slow launch into a book that continues to find new readers years later. Learn more about Mark and his work at markwolynn.com. You can also check out his book and workbook here: https://a.co/d/0aoZXZU6 — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  2. Aug 24

    BTB194: Can Trauma Be Passed Down Through Generations? | Mark Wolynn, Author of It Didn’t Start With You (3M+ Copies Sold)

    Our very special guest today is a leading expert in the field of inherited family trauma, the director of The Family Constellation Institute, and the creator of The Core Language Approach. He has taught at institutions including the University of Pittsburgh, the Western Psychiatric Institute, The Omega Institute, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. I’m joined by Mark Wolynn, author of the international bestseller It Didn’t Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle, which has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 41 languages. The book has received recognition well beyond its sales. It Didn’t Start With You won the 2016 Nautilus Book Award in Psychology and was a finalist for the 2016 Books for a Better Life Award. More recently, it was named one of The New York Times’ 5 Books on Healing from Trauma in 2025 and one of Oprah Daily’s 10 Best Trauma Books of 2023. In our conversation, Mark takes us back to his early thirties, when he began losing his vision and eventually traveled the world looking for answers. That journey brought him back to his own family and became the foundation for much of his work. We talk about the science behind inherited and generational trauma, how experiences within a family can continue to affect later generations, and the role our earliest attachment experiences can play in the way we experience safety, fear, and relationships. Mark also walks us through his Core Language Approach and how certain fears, reactions, and patterns can give us clues about where to look within our family history. Before we talk with Mark about how It Didn’t Start With You reached millions of readers, we wanted to understand the story, research, and experiences behind the book itself. Listen to my conversation with Mark Wolynn to hear how his own search for answers eventually became a book that continues to reach readers around the world. Learn more about Mark and his work at markwolynn.com. You can also check out his book and workbook here: https://a.co/d/0aoZXZU6 — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  3. Aug 17

    BTB193: How To Build Your Book Marketing Strategy: Sell More, Waste Less | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026

    This final episode of our four-part series from Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author event in Dallas brings everything together. Instead of focusing on another guest interview, I walk through the framework we use at Shelf Life to turn book marketing ideas into an actual plan. The goal is simple: know what you’re going to do before launch, during launch week, and long after the initial excitement wears off. We break down how to take inventory of the marketing assets you already have, set a specific goal for how many readers you want to reach, choose the right marketing tools, and assign realistic targets to each one. From there, I show how to build a 24-week marketing roadmap by working backward from launch week and forward into the months that follow. We also get practical about building your first 100 email subscribers, creating content people actually want to read, using Amazon ads and influencers strategically, and why book marketing should start much earlier than launch day. If book marketing has ever felt like a pile of disconnected tactics, this episode is about turning those pieces into a plan you can actually follow. Listen to the final part of the series and start building a book marketing blueprint around your goals, your resources, and the readers you want to reach. — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  4. Aug 10

    BTB192: How To Market Your Book: Book Marketing Tools | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026

    Welcome to Part 3 of this special four-part series of Before the Bestseller, recorded live at Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live Event 2026. In this session, I’m sharing the real stories behind books that found their audience, from Atomic Habits and Profit First to Rich Dad Poor Dad, Go for No! and How to Win Friends and Influence People. The strategies are different, but they all show how creative book marketing can create opportunities you might never see coming. Instead of giving you another list of marketing tactics, I break down the stories behind them. We get into finding gatekeepers who already have access to your readers, tapping into existing communities, using social listening to build genuine relationships, creating corporate bulk-buy opportunities, finding a small but passionate niche, and getting your first copies into the right hands. I also share how my first book went from an Amazon bestseller that quickly lost momentum to reaching roughly 40,000 students through university partnerships, and what that experience taught me about getting scrappy when you don't have a big marketing budget. If you're trying to figure out how to get your book beyond the launch and into the hands of people who might actually read it, share it, and open doors for it, this episode will give you plenty of ideas to work with. Tune in and start thinking differently about the relationships, audiences, and opportunities already around you. — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  5. Aug 3

    BTB191: How To Market Your Book: Random Acts of Marketing (Don’t Work) | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026

    Welcome to Part 2 of this special four-part series recorded live at Ed Rush's Top Gun Author Live Event in Dallas. In this episode, I want to talk about something that doesn't get enough attention: how to stop wasting your time and money on book marketing. After working with hundreds of authors, I've seen the same mistakes happen over and over again. The good news is they're avoidable once you know what to look for. We dive into why so many books lose momentum after launch, how simple marketing systems can keep your book moving long after release day, and why batching your content can save you hours every week. I also share why building even a small team can make a huge difference, how to avoid costly marketing and PR mistakes, and why studying authors who are just a few steps ahead of you is often more valuable than chasing the biggest names. Finally, I explain the simple "Three Rule" I use to decide whether a marketing activity is actually worth my time. If you want to build a book marketing strategy that's sustainable instead of stressful, tune in and let's talk about how to make every hour and every dollar count. — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  6. Jul 27

    BTB190: How To Market Your Book: Fundamentals of Book Marketing | Ed Rush’s Top Gun Author Live 2026

    In this first episode of a special four-part series recorded live at Ed Rush's first-ever Top Gun Author Live event, I take a step back from the usual interviews to share the foundations of book marketing. Before we talk about ads, social media, or launch strategies, we need to understand what actually makes a book succeed and why so many authors end up busy without making real progress. Through real stories from bestselling authors, including Joseph Nguyen's journey from complete unknown to New York Times bestselling author, we uncover what really drives long-term book success. Instead of chasing the latest marketing tactic, this conversation focuses on the ideas that shape every successful campaign and why getting these foundations right can change everything that comes next. Tune in to discover why the strongest book marketing strategies begin long before launch day, and why getting the fundamentals right can make every marketing decision that follows more effective. If you're serious about getting your book into the hands of more readers, this is where your marketing journey begins. Learn more and grab a copy of Alex’s book here. It's packed with practical lessons, real case studies, and proven book marketing strategies you can start applying to your own book today. — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  7. Jul 20

    BTB189: How Scott Hogan Sold 300,000+ Copies of Built from Broken | Word of Mouth, Publishing & Book Marketing

    Today we're back with Scott Hogan, author of the bestselling book Built from Broken, which has sold more than 300,000 copies. Scott is the founder of SaltWrap, a company dedicated to helping people stay strong, mobile, and pain-free through practical approaches to nutrition, training, and recovery. As an A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer, Orthopedic Exercise Specialist, and nutritional supplement formulator, Scott has spent years helping others overcome injuries. What started as a personal mission to understand chronic pain eventually became a book that has helped readers around the world and led to a new edition published through Authors Equity, the publishing company co-founded by James Clear. In this conversation, we shift from health to book marketing and unpack how Built from Broken found its audience. Scott shares why writing from lived experience mattered more than having a large platform, how his earliest readers became his strongest advocates, and why word of mouth ultimately became the book's greatest marketing advantage. We also talk about Amazon discoverability, choosing the right categories, planning a second edition, working with Authors Equity, building trust in the age of AI, and the mindset that helped him push through imposter syndrome and finally write the book that has helped hundreds of thousands of readers better understand chronic pain, recovery, and long-term health.  Tune in to hear why the books that continue to find readers are often the ones written to solve a real problem, built on genuine trust, and supported by an author willing to keep showing up long after launch. Want to learn more from Scott? Visit his website to explore Built from Broken, access bonus resources, and discover more of his work at bfb-book.com Learn more about Scott and his work at www.saltwrap.com — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

  8. Jul 13

    BTB188: Built From Broken with Author Scott Hogan | Pain, Recovery & Fitness (300,000+ Copies Sold)

    This week we're joined by Scott Hogan, someone who has turned a lifetime of injuries into a mission to help others move better, recover smarter, and keep doing the activities they love for years to come. Scott is an American Council on Exercise certified personal trainer, certified orthopedic exercise specialist, nutritional supplement formulator, founder of SaltWrap, and the author of the bestselling pain management book Built from Broken, which has sold more than 300,000 copies since its original release in 2021. Drawing from years of personal experience and research, Scott has dedicated his work to helping people overcome pain, build resilience, and stay strong for the long haul. In this episode, Scott explains why many injuries are years in the making and why joint pain shouldn't simply be accepted as part of getting older. We discuss the biggest misconceptions about fitness and recovery, along with some of the everyday habits that may be doing more harm than good. Scott also shares why understanding the root cause of pain matters more than simply treating the symptoms, how to think differently about movement and training, and what it really takes to build a body that's resilient for the long term. Whether you're recovering from an old injury or simply want to stay active as you age, my conversation with Scott may change the way you approach your own health and recovery before you assume pain is simply something you have to live with. Tune in to learn why Scott believes resilience isn't something you're born with, but something you can build. Want to learn more from Scott? Visit his website to explore Built from Broken, access bonus resources, and discover more of his work at bfb-book.com Learn more about Scott and his work at www.saltwrap.com — Subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover the show, the author and their books.  — Get the popular weekly book marketing 3-2-1 and get access to our Free Amazon Ads course when you subscribe to our newsletter here:  https://getshelflife.com/category/newsletter/ Head to our new website for more content and updates.: www.getshelflife.com If you're interested in connecting further or have any questions, feel free to email me at Alex@getshelflife.com

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About

This show is for book lovers and creators who want to go behind the scenes with their favorite authors to hear about how they were able to not just write a book but create a movement. 

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Strathdee
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    247
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Before The Bestseller
  • Show Website
    Before The Bestseller

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