Hey Reader! This is the #1 most popular email of this year! You made it. Read the email all the way through, then scroll to the bottom for my strategy behind it and takeaways on why it was so popular. Then hit "reply" and let me know how you liked it! :)
Sometimes You Just Need to Start
A few days after I signed my Big 5 book deal, I sat staring at my MacBook, wondering, "do I just start a new Google doc?"
As a naive first-time-author, I imagined a book stork dropping down from the sky to hand me an official, beautifully decorated document where I'd write my first book.
In reality, I clicked a few buttons on my MacBook and unceremoniously created a blank Google doc titled MY BOOK.
No one clapped. Angels didn't start singing. I just drooled some of my water onto my hoodie.
Staring at the blank page before me, I froze.
Unsure what to write, I did what any reasonable person would do:
🧹 I cleaned my closets. Reorganized junk drawers. Transferred all my dried goods into glass containers and neatly alphabetized and labeled my pantry.
I did everything but write my book... because I was waiting to figure out how to write it perfectly.
I spent time researching "how to write a book" and "how to structure a chapter," all things I probably should have done before getting the deal.
Every tip I found conflicted with the last.
I decided I had nothing to lose:
I wrote 56 pages of Chapters 1-3.
I waited for Nana, my editor, to send her feedback. My stomach was in knots waiting for her edits to come back. I braced for a whole lot of red ink, but what I really got was:
An education.
She taught me how to write a chapter and how the book should flow... and it was basically the opposite of what I'd written.
It was hard to hear.
I felt like an idiot who got a book deal, but didn't know how to write one.
With all of this (humbling) feedback in hand, each chapter got smoother and easier to write. And each one came with a little less feedback :)
Turns out, I didn't need to wait to learn how to write a book perfectly...
I needed to throw my first pancake chapter on the griddle, let it suck a little, and be open to learning so I could make the next ones better.
I know you might feel like you need to learn x, y, and z before you start the business/podcast/course/product launch...
But perfection doesn't come before you start. It comes because you started.
🥞 Stop planning. Start doing. Listen to episode 255 to hear why waiting for perfection keeps you stuck—and how your “first pancake” move might be the best start your business needs.
🎧 LISTEN HERE→
Once you do, hit "reply" and let me know what you think of the episode!
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📬 Sam's Strategy + Takeaway:
My strategy for this email was to take a common problem my ideal customer faces (just getting started, overthinking, wanting things to be perfect, etc.) and connect it to a work-related personal story (writing my first book) where I did the same thing.
People love stories they can see themselves in, even if their circumstances are totally different.
I think this one worked so well because I really tapped into something my readers can see themselves in. This 100% comes down to knowing your customer, their pain, and desires.
Hit "reply" and let me know if you liked this email series!! I'd love to do it again sometime :) Maybe in December with the last half of 2026 emails?!
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