127: Protect Your Idea Factory, Build a Creative Flywheel, and Go Behind-the-Scenes of Book Publishing with Todd Henry

Today’s guest is an expert in cultivating creativity — and in remaining consistent over the long arc of content creation. Todd Henry is the author of six books, and today we’re talking about how to stay motivated in the publishing industry, where the market reflects winner-take-all dynamics, and the long tail is verrrry long. 

According to The New York Times, Penguin Random House (the largest U.S. publisher) said just 35 percent of books the company publishes are profitable. Among those that make money, just 4 percent account for 60 percent of those profits. Todd shares why many of those numbers are arbitrary, and emphasizes focusing on impact and practices to lead a more satisfying business and creative career. 

More About Todd: Todd is the author of six books, including The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder Than Words, Herding Tigers, and Motivation Code, and host of The Accidental Creative podcast and the Herding Tigers podcast. He empowers companies and teams to be creative, prolific, and brilliant in their work through his books, podcasts, and keynote speaking. He is the host of the 17-year-running Accidental Creative podcast, and today we’re going behind the scenes His new book, Daily Creative: A Practical Guide for Staying Prolific, Brilliant, and Healthy, encourages you to thrive as a creative through daily practice.

🌟3 Key Takeaways:

• Solve a problem that people know they have; frame your products and services in terms of how they accomplish a job that people need done.

• Your creativity is one of your most precious resources. Protect your Idea Factory and measure the quantity and quality of ideas you generate

• Set Wildly Important Goals; Todd’s are: quality, awareness, and revenue diversity. Every day you should be figuring out how your work will help you achieve them.

📝Permission: Practice pruning; there’s probably something you’re doing right now that has already served its purpose and run its course. You hereby have permission to drop it!

✅Do (or Delegate) This Next: Outline your business model as a flywheel. For help with this, read Jim Collins’ fantastic monograph, Turning the Flywheel.

📘Books Mentioned:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business

• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One

• The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice

• Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day

• Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice

• Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need

• The Motivation Code: Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work

• Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't

• The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

🔗Resources Mentioned: 

• Todd on the web, Instagram: @toddhenry, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook

• Todd’s Podcasts: The Accidental Creative podcast, Herding Tigers podcast

• Articles: NYT on the long tail of book publishing: Will the Biggest Publisher in the U.S. Get Even Bigger?

• Video: Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talks: Your Elusive Creative Genius, Success Failure and the Drive to Keep Creating  

• Cal Newport: Write an Attention Charter

• Disney Business Model

🎧Related Podcast Episodes: 

• 111: Building a Second Brain with Tiago Forte

• 123: “Pricing is Branding” — Anti-Time Management with Richie Norton

• Pivot 051: Die Empty with Todd Henry

• Pivot 088: Artist Seth Price on Finding Freedom in Bad Ideas, Balancing Commerce and Creation in Business

• Pivot 254: The Practice—On Generosity, Peculiarity, and Showing Up with Seth Godin

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