Many authors struggle to choose between publishing models.
If they choose a traditional route, they are often blocked by the legacy publishing elite who decide what ideas are good enough to reach the page.
This slow, political process far from guarantees a bestselling book, as most traditional publishers know a lot about making books but very few know how to sell them directly to consumers. On top of that, with traditional publishing, authors sign over the ownership rights to their intellectual property, lose control of their book’s title and design, and are paid pennies in lifetime royalties.
The other option, self-publishing, is fraught with extra work and hidden costs. The result is often a finished book that lacks the production credibility experts need to elevate the perception of their personal brands.
Self-publishing options also don’t come with the professional distribution that’s required to become a true national bestselling author.
Ergo, many authors never publish their books because their publishing options are too uncertain.
The consequences of NOT publishing a book:
Can’t increase fees
Don’t get enough bookings
Miss out on gaining world-class credibility
Get passed over for life-changing speaking gigs
Aren’t chosen for high-profile media appearances
Never have a chance at becoming a bestselling author
As bestselling authors, we understand the frustration of deciding between traditional & self-publishing.
we created New York Times bestselling books for ourselves and dozens of others, and we know there are serious challenges with traditional publishing that don’t make it the right fit for every author.
That said, a self-published book often lacks the credibility, distribution, and reporting required to land a spot on the bestseller list(s) or even retail bookstore shelves. And with either publishing method, the author is 100% responsible for generating all their book sales.
That’s why we created a hybrid publishing imprint: Mission Driven Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster
The BIG decision: how to publish your book
There are three ways to publish your book: traditional publishing, self-publishing, or hybrid publishing.
There is no such thing as a bestselling author. There is only such a thing as A bestselling team.
Make us part of yours!
At Mission Driven Press, we partner with aspiring authors to publish and distribute their books through Simon & Schuster. That way you can maintain complete ownership of your IP and be eligible for bestseller lists.
01
Step One:
Fill out our interest form below. We want to hear about your idea and make sure it meets our acceptance criteria.
02
Step Two:
Write and submit your manuscript to our world-class editing and design team. We can help with the writing, if needed!
03
Step Three:
Select any additional resources you need from us to launch and market your (future bestselling) book!
We’ve helped 30+ authors hit the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and/or USA Today bestseller lists.
While we were not the publisher of the books below, here are some success stories from our clients who used our bestseller launch marketing strategies.
Ed Mylett
Followed our launch strategies, pre-sold over 117,000 copies before publication and went on to sell over a million copies in just over a year.
Eric Thomas
The Hip Hop Preacher hit the New York Times twice and sold over 100,000 copies during his launch.
Amy Porterfield
Amy hit the New York Times list with her book launch as a first-time author.
Lewis Howes
Lewis (our longest-standing client) hit the New York Times list with two different titles using several of our promotional strategies.
Tom & Lisa Bilyeu
Lisa hired us 13 days before her publication date, and we helped increase her sales by 33% and hit the USA Today National Bestseller List.
Luvvie Ajayi Jones
As a longtime Brand Builders Group member, Luvvie hit the New York Times bestseller list three consecutive times.
Nicole Walters
Nicole hit the New York Times list as a first-time author.
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
Dr. Gabrielle hit number 3 on the New York Times list as a first-time author.
More Authors We’ve Helped Hit Bestseller
Our Mission Driven Press cofounders, AJ (CEO) and Rory (CMO) Vaden worked together to help Rory become a New York Times bestselling author at age 29 and be inducted into the professional speaking Hall of Fame at age 37.
We know what it takes to sell a lot of books.
Mission Driven Press gives authors access to some of the best legitimate book sales strategies of anyone in the industry. No gimmicks, no tricks, no hacks.
And you don’t have to give up ownership of your work
Mission Driven Press is an imprint of an established publisher with multiple famous authors and bestselling books.
While we were not a part of these books’ sales strategies, nor were we the imprint of these books, our parent publishing company produced the following bestsellers.
Mission Driven Press is an imprint of a publisher that is distributed by Simon & Schuster.
At Mission Driven Press, we believe that your message has the power to change someone’s life.
So while pursuing bestseller lists is a fun goal to have, it’s not our main focus. That’s because one of our mantras has been that “bestseller lists don’t change lives, but books do!” Our #1 priority is, and will always be, helping our Brand Builders Group clients create and distribute their work to the greatest extent possible so they can make a positive difference in the lives of their readers. The hard reality of the book industry is that great books are often published but never seen by the people who need to read them.
Our job is to help you get your book into the hands of people who desperately need to hear your message.
If you’re struggling to publish your book or don’t know what the next best step is, fill out our interest form below and we’ll send you more information. Let us help you decide if hybrid publishing is right for you.
Meet Mission Driven Press Co-founders, Rory and AJ Vaden
Rory and AJ Vaden are 8-figure entrepreneurs, co-founders of Brand Builders Group and Mission Driven Press, and consultants for many of today’s top personal brands, bestselling authors, and the most in-demand speakers.
Rory and AJ worked together to turn Rory into a New York Times bestselling author and Hall of Fame speaker with a TEDx Talk that’s garnered 5 million views.
AJ, meanwhile, is a million-dollar consultant, international speaker, and the CEO of Brand Builders Group—which was recently ranked #2112 on the Inc 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in America.
Together they’ve launched four 7 and 8 figure businesses and released a NYT bestselling book and a National Best Seller. Their podcast has been ranked as a top 100 business podcast. They’ve also been named among the most influential leadership speakers in the world by Inc Magazine and have consulted with Fortune 100 companies around the globe.
Together, through Brand Builders Group, they’ve provided personal brand strategy to some of the most influential communicators in the world today, including: Lewis Howes, Ed Mylett, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, Amy Porterfield, Eric Thomas, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, and more with strategies that helped them launch their books and impact more lives.
They also co-host the award-winning Influential Personal Brand Podcast.
While they've helped people of all different skill levels become more recognizable, their real mission is to help their clients make the world a better place.
Now they’re working to resolve a struggle that many authors have in deciding between traditional and self-publishing. With the introduction of Mission Driven Press in partnership with Forefront books and distributed by Simon & Schuster, they have created a hybrid publishing model for aspiring bestselling authors who want to maintain ownership of their books.