It’s funny: I had a post slated for this week about finite time — a seed that was planted in my brain by Steven Bartlett in his Happy Sexy Millionaire book. Happy Sexy Millionaire has been such a mindset shift read for me: I’ve read it twice so far, recommend it often and generally notice how it has shifted my definitions of success.
One of these definitions has to do with time management — maybe we’ll talk about that next week. This week, however, Steven made news by announcing his latest venture: a publishing imprint in partnership with Ebury in the UK.
“This new imprint, Flight Books, is dedicated to empowering extraordinary voices on a global scale. We want to leverage our experience in compelling storytelling to create a global platform for groundbreaking narratives and inspirational stories.” — S.B.
While Steven’s second (and latest) book, The Diary of a CEO is still on my TBR list, his same-named podcast is one I tune into regularly. The experts he interviews are so insightful, and are all aligned with success being grounded in happiness as a state of being, not a mood.
And now, he’s locking in these guests and similar ones to be the authors of Flight Books. Originally, I was genuinely excited about this news. I love Steven’s philosophies, and when I listen to his podcast, his guests are always right for me: inspiring and inching me closer to what I’m striving for and who I’m striving to be. I can only imagine what a bookshelf of his titles will look like in my office! 💭🤩
What’s giving me slight pause, however, is that he’s really excited to be “using an "AI-powered, data-first, growth-focused" strategy.
“Our authors and their impactful tales have the power to inspire, educate, and ultimately, shape a better tomorrow. With our AI-powered, data-first, growth-focused strategy together with cutting edge social media marketing, data-science and testing capability, we will enable great authors and their books to get the credit and reach they deserve."
There’s no question that one of the biggest pain points of authors today is community building (hi, call me!); so many have impactful stories to share, but a large percent may not get the opportunity to because the risks involved in betting on a no-name/new author in traditional publishing are so high.
I respect that we have the technology to widen the stage, but I also mourn the intimacy of what publishing used to be, and Steven’s AI and data strategies will certainly revolutionize publishing even further from it’s foundation. It’s hard for me to say if this is a good thing. With this method, there is the possibility of removing any human factors that have the possibility of tipping the scale at the chance of a hidden gem.
We’ve seen this done before when Sarah Jessica Parker started her imprint to champion a different version of the publishing industry.
I have tremendous respect for what she and Zando stand for: publishing thought-provoking, inclusive, and big-hearted stories (as written in the SJP Lit Instagram bio), and of course…the libraries! SJP is a huge advocate of the library, believing in the magic of being surrounded by books and the worlds they provide everyone access to. Sliiiightly different than using AI to launch books around the world.
A tangent — the New York Public Library also made positive news this week
I want to trust Steven to maintain the integrity of the industry while moving it forward in the ways he envisions, so let’s watch this play out a little before we judge too harshly. Flight Books debut titles are slated to be:
Hardest Geezer: Becoming the First Person to Run the Entire Length of Africa (10/24)
Russ Cook's memoir of his ultra-marathon, which raised over 1 million pounds for charity.
Main Street Millionaire: How to Make Extraordinary Wealth Buying Ordinary Businesses (12/24)
By Codie Sanchez, who has built a following on YouTube encouraging people to buy vending machines and invest in real estate.
Agree, disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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