Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Jason, I am the founder of Digital Marketing NYC, and just released my first book. I would describe myself as half successful, half a failure, half smart, and half not so much, half rich and half broke. Well, doesn’t that leave me in the no man’s land of mediocrity, you might ask?
But I associate with all my many halves, and all the self-made and self-destructed in between, and can speak from many different places of experience. I am half Swiss and half Greek, so perhaps my DNA is accountable for being a hybrid of contradictions!
I’ve traveled the world quite extensively, I have built companies in Hong Kong, Germany, and New York, and have dabbled in a variety of fields, from trading, import/export, design, advertising, product development, production in the US and overseas, branding, community building, and not-for-profit work.
I am a big fan of Roger Federer and beat myself up for not pursuing tennis when I was young, given the fact that I am his age and we grew up in the same small town, and I am pretty merciless at anything I put my mind to. I chose fencing instead, accomplishing bronze in the World Cup of 2000—despite being admittedly half-assed, lazy, and wasteful. I confess that, not with arrogance, but with a profound awareness of what I might have accomplished had I approached it all with a little less youthful lackluster, which has now cultivated in me a zero tolerance of waste—of time, of talent, and above all, opportunity.
I love to cook, ambitiously and with complications. I’m never not reading, not questioning, and not researching. I focus on maximizing all the time I have right here and right now, and do so with a dry—but unlimited—sense of humor.
It is now my contradictory laziness and wastelessness that will benefit you reading my books. I need you to get the absolute maximum out of every energy cell expended, without sacrificing a drop of senseless effort. That is my ethos.
I even out on a very Swiss pragmatic middle ground, where tech boredom is ignited by a playful creativity, working outside the box whilst being resolutely goal- and result-oriented.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is called Instagram Stories. My inspiration for this book came from looking a social media very critically. Do not get sucked into a digital world that robs you of your time and takes advantage of you… as it does with the majority of humanity in this very moment. Turn the tables and take advantage of this bizarre and unique opportunity at your fingertips, and dare to buy back a time and a freedom that you didn’t even know the meaning of before.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Drinking massive amounts of coffee.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The first book that really influenced me was Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “A Long Walk To Freedom”, which really shaped my way of thinking and had a huge effect on me. I draw a lot of inspiration from reading books related to the one I am writing. Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” was an inspiration for Instagram Stories and how I approach the subject matter. The list goes on and on but I prefer to keep the credit short and concise.
What are you working on now?
I am working on the “How To Crush It” series and plan to write books on niche products within the social space. And I am very passionate about the food industry, so I also have a book in the pipeline that takes on how we “treat” food in this day and age.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well obviously websites like awesome gang are a great strategy to get the word out and tap into audiences that you don’t own. A great strategy to reach new readers and hopefully make them love what you do.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I am definitely not an expert in this field, as I am just a newly published author myself. The only thing I would advise on, is to just get it started and publish the book. There is only one way to really get great at writing, and that is publishing a lot of books over the course of many years. It’s the compounding power that usually makes the difference between mediocre and great.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Knowledge is power and to keep reading, reading, reading.
What are you reading now?
Currently reading “Unlimited Memory” by Kevin Horsley.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Since I am in the digital space, I experiment a lot with new and upcoming tools and software but I am hoping to publish my second book by November.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A long walk to freedom. City of thieves. A brief history of time.
Author Websites and Profiles
Jason Heiber Website