Book Is the Hook

The moment your story stops being performative and starts being useful

Most people wait for the “right time” to tell their story.
That’s usually the reason it never lands.

In this episode, Eric Koester sits down with Roy Choi, acclaimed chef, television personality and the author of L.A. Son, to talk about what actually makes a personal story work, and why forcing meaning onto your past almost always backfires.

Roy shares how his darkest periods didn’t become useful material until he stopped trying to make them inspiring and started telling the truth without performance. The result wasn’t just a better book, it was clarity about who the story was really for.

This conversation is for anyone who feels called to write but is stuck between oversharing and self-protection, or polishing a story that no longer feels honest.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why timing matters less than readiness
• How your history shapes your voice, whether you acknowledge it or not
• The difference between vulnerability that builds trust and vulnerability that repels it
• What Roy actually thinks about while shaping a memoir that feels lived-in, not curated

Writing your story isn’t about exposure.
It’s about choosing the version of the truth that creates movement, for you and for the reader.

Why you quit hard things, and how to build commitment that actually lasts

Most people don’t fail because they aren’t talented.
They fail because their ego can’t survive the early stages of being bad at something.

In this episode, Eric Koester talks with Matt Thomas, world champion in chessboxing and founder of Brawl for a Cause, about what actually creates commitment when the work gets uncomfortable.

Matt has taken hundreds of everyday people through a 90-day fight program built on the hero’s journey. He’s seen the same pattern over and over: when the goal is status, people quit. When the goal is purpose, people get gritty.

They also dig into a wild personal story, Matt goes from losing to an eight-year-old at speed chess to winning a world championship in India, by mastering the one skill most people ignore: the transition between intensity and focus.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to build commitment that survives embarrassment
• The difference between purpose and performative ambition
• How to use the hero’s journey as a real execution system
• A practical approach to worst-case thinking (stoicism)
• The transition skill: shifting from chaos to clarity on command

This one’s for anyone building something that scares them, a book, a business, or a new identity.

Why focus, not passion, is the real unfair advantage | Cal Newport

Most people don’t fail at big projects because they lack talent.
They fail because they never learn how to focus.

In this episode, Eric Koester sits down with Cal Newport, Georgetown professor and author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism, to unpack what it actually takes to finish meaningful, career-defining work in a distracted world.

Cal breaks down why passion is overrated, why constraints are a hidden advantage, and why two to three hours of real focus beats twelve hours of scattered effort. They also explore why most people misunderstand productivity, and how attention has quietly become the most valuable asset of modern knowledge work.

This conversation is especially relevant if you’re working on a book, a podcast, or any long-term project that keeps getting pushed aside by “busyness.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why attention is more valuable than time

• How to use constraints to force focus

• Why professional writers don’t write all day

• How to build a deep work rhythm that fits real life

• Why “follow your passion” is bad advice for serious projects

Big projects don’t get finished by motivation.
They get finished by systems that protect attention.

Build in Public: The Distribution Cheat Codes Modern Authors Ignore

Tyler Hayes built and sold startups, then went all-in on building a mission-driven company in public. In this conversation, we break down the real “cheat codes” behind productivity and creative output, not hustle fluff. We talk about why focus beats more hours, how constraints create speed, and why audience and distribution matter as much as the work itself.

If you’re writing a book, launching a podcast, or building a platform, this episode is a blueprint for moving faster without burning out.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why “motion beats direction” when you’re stuck

• How the 20% check-in prevents wasted months

• The “1 hour / 1 day / 1 week” method for speed

• Why building in public attracts capital, partners, and talent

• The real formula: content is useless without distribution

Rawness, Realness & Authenticity | Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) explains what actually makes writing land. Not fancy research, not Wikipedia knowledge, and not trying to “fix the world.” He argues the new authority is emotional, saying the thing everyone knows but nobody has dared to state.

 

We talk about how he became a writer without studying creative writing, why workshops matter, and how Fight Club was built like a song, rules as a storytelling device, sharp scene cuts, and zero filler. If you’re writing a book and you want it to hit harder, this episode gives you a real standard to aim for.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why “emotional Wikipedia” beats traditional research

• How Fight Club started as a short story written in one afternoon

• Why writing in scenes beats writing linearly

• The fastest way to improve your work, read it out loud to real humans

• A better goal than “fixing the world,” model a new possibility

Stop Applying, Start Getting Introductions

We’re taught the same job-search script: polish your resume, apply online, wait. It’s also the script that keeps smart people stuck.

In this episode, career specialist and recruiter Kate Johnson breaks down what actually moves careers now: portfolio proof, real relationships, and the ability to market yourself without sounding desperate.

You’ll learn:

• Why “applying online” rarely works, and what to do instead

• How to use a book (or any project) as a credibility engine

• The difference between transactional outreach and relationship-building

• How to explain job moves without looking flaky

• A simple way to turn conversations into introductions

If you’re trying to switch industries, level up, or stop feeling invisible in the job market, this is the playbook.

The Pen Name That Changed Everything

What does it feel like to be invisible as a writer, and what actually gets you noticed?

Riley Sager went from three books that barely sold to writing Final Girls, a breakout thriller that changed everything, including a pen name strategy that reset his career overnight. In this conversation, we dig into the creative side (character, outlining, twists) and the part most writers avoid (publishing as a business).

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Riley went from obscurity to bestseller, and what triggered the shift

• Why he outlines heavily (and when he doesn’t)

• How to design plot twists with emotional resonance, not cheap shock

• The real revision cycle behind a published thriller

• What he wishes he’d known about publishing, marketing, and asking questions

• How to keep writing through imposter syndrome and perfectionism

If you’re early in your author journey and trying to build momentum, this is the behind-the-scenes blueprint.

Stop Applying, Start Creating: The “Gift of Value” Strategy

Graduating into a recession will mess with your head. Charlie Hoehn lived it.

In 2008, he did everything “right,” then got ignored by 100+ job applications and ended up spiraling on his parents’ bathroom floor. That breakdown turned into a turning point. Charlie stopped asking for permission, started creating value, and used a simple strategy to open doors to people like Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, and Ramit Sethi.

We talk organization, discipline, rejection, and the mindset shift that separates conventional careers from unconventional ones.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why job applications fail, and what works instead

• The “gift of value” method for creating your own opportunities

• How Charlie used a 60-day deadline to force focus and execution

• How to build credibility with proof of work (even with zero experience)

• How to handle family pressure when your path looks “crazy”

• How high performers make work feel like play, without losing results

If you’re stuck, overlooked, or tired of playing the resume game, this episode gives you a real plan.

Make Your Book Unskippable: Vishen’s “Stickiness” Playbook

Vishen Lakhiani didn’t “find his purpose” in a clean, inspirational way. He got wrecked first.

After the dot-com crash, he was broke, depressed, and getting told to “fuck off” on cold calls all day. Then he took a meditation class that taught him to access an altered state, and it changed everything. It doubled his sales, rewired his decision-making, and became the seed of what turned into Mindvalley.

In this conversation, Vishen goes behind the scenes on two things most authors never learn:

1. how to write with intuition and flow, and

2. how to design a book people actually finish.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Vishen uses an “altered state trigger” to switch on creativity

• What “perceptual diversity” is, and why great creators rely on it

• A simple 10-chapter, 50-part outline method that makes writing feel doable

• How to build “stickiness” so readers keep going (open loops, tension, completion bias)

• Why great books must create love and hate, not apathy

• How Vishen approached research, interviews, and rewriting to earn credibility

If you want your book to get read, finished, and talked about, this is a masterclass.

Success: Cultivate Passion through Progress | Terri Trespicio

Success is not always easy to achieve, so how do you fulfill YOUR progress towards success? How will you use criticism to fuel your progress? How will you embrace the gateless method of success? We are lucky to have Terri Trespicio with us to guide us on cultivating our passion towards success.

Terri Trespicio is an award-winning writer, speaker, and brand ambassador and she was named by HubSpot as one of the “Top 18 female speakers who are killing it”. She cultivated her way through her passion and rising through her way to success.

In this episode you’ll learn.

• • Cultivating your passion through your progress
  • Using criticism to your advantage
  • Knowing the real path to success