Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m originally from Chicago, but now live in Bangkok, Thailand. I’ve been writing professionally for over 8 years, starting out writing for US TV. Since then, I’ve expanded my skill set to write copy, blogs, and books.
I’ve written two books. The first one is about how to travel abroad when you have no money. I wrote the book based on my experience of saving up for a round the world trip while making only $14 an hour. I had to cut my costs and move into a dining room (yes, the place where families gather to eat) to save up the cash. Was a trying experience, but I learned a lot. And I put that knowledge into a book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is titled “An Ordinary Dude’s Guide to Meditation”. After my first book, I knew I wanted to write another and kept asking myself, “What subject do I know a lot about?” One of the first things that came to mind was meditation – as I’ve been meditating for over 13 years. But, I didn’t want to write just another meditation book. I wanted to do something different and, oddly enough, the style of meditation I was doing was something I invented myself. Basically, the style is a blend of a lot of different practices I’ve experimented with over the years.
Perhaps more importantly, I wanted to write a book for a different type of audience. The type that aren’t religious or hippies. I am neither of those and, from what I can tell, there aren’t any meditation books on the market that speak to that audience. So, I wanted to write a meditation book for the ordinary dude. The normal person who has a day job, likes knocking back a few beers with friends and is not a particularly religious or spiritual person. This book is meant to help those people, those ordinary dudes, learn about meditation and teach them how to do it so they can improve their lives.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think so. But I will say I don’t believe in writer’s block (if you want to call that unusual). When I need to write, I just write. Sometimes what comes out is garbage, but I will always edit later.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve been a non-fiction junkie for ages, though, I’m not really loyal to any particular author. I’ll read just about anything I hear is good or interests me.
Some books that have had a major influence on me as a person are Brian Tracy’s “Eat that Frog”, Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, and Thomas J. Stanley’s “The Millionaire Next Door”.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on releasing hard copies of “An Ordinary Dude’s Guide to Meditation” while also building the blog for it at my website www.ordinarydudemeditation.com
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
To be completely honest, I am learning so it’s hard for me to say. I had a very successful launch of “An Ordinary Dude’s Guide to Meditation” which resulted my with my book ranking #1 in Amazon’s free categories for Meditation and New Age Meditation, and nearly 1,500 downloads in the first 5 days. I used a bunch of marketing tactics to get there, from posting advertisements on book sites like Awesomegang, to posting in Facebook Kindle groups, and hiring people on Fiver to promote the book. With that said, I haven’t yet had the time to analyze what was most effective, so it’s hard for me to say right now.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be alright with your first book not being perfect. Get it done, get it out there, and then move on to the next. You will improve as you go along. And even if your first book flops (as mine did), you’ll learn from it and you will be an author – which I can say is a pretty satisfying feeling.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Learn what successful people are doing, and then copy it.
I learned this very important lesson from Brian Tracy’s “Eat that Frog” and it changed the way I look at the world and go about my career.
What are you reading now?
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Crush it with Kindle by John Tighe
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m working on the follow up to “An Ordinary Dude’s Guide to Meditation” – “An Ordinary Dude’s Guide to Habit”.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of meditation, you need to do it at least 5 days a week. And really, forming the habit is probably the most difficult thing about meditation; I struggled with it for a long time (though I now meditate every day).
So basically I want to share my insights about how to form habits, meditation and otherwise. I’ve started the book and hope to have it out by the end of this year.
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?
1. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
2. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh (one of the first books that introduced me to meditation over a decade ago)
3. Perhaps “How to survive on a deserted island”. Oddly enough there are a few books out there with that title.
Author Websites and Profiles
John Weiler Website
John Weiler Amazon Profile
John Weiler’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile