James Altucher once lost $15 million in a single summer; another time, he lost $9 million in a single day. As an entrepreneur and angel investor, Altucher has seen incredible highs and lows since the early 1990s—but he has always been consistent in writing about his experiences. Thanks to his unique perspective and outrageous stories, Altucher has become a quirky guru for millions, offering up his hard-learned lessons about business and self-care for readers. So far, he has published 21 books, including the 2013 bestseller Choose Yourself.He also spends his time developing new acts as a stand-up comedian and running a successful blog and podcast where he discusses everything from technology to politics while always staying in close touch with his fans. He recently spoke with us about his views on life, writing, and self-publishing his work.
With such a varied career, how do you primarily see yourself?
I guess I consider myself a performer. A performer of my own stories. And then the rest (business, writing, podcasting) flows from that.
You’ve published your personal phone number to receive questions directly from readers—why do you prefer to engage with your fans this way?
Every day I try to get out of my comfort zone a little bit. When I published my number, I was afraid. My wife said, "If you publish that, I might have to kill you." So I published it. We did get divorced. But I've had many great phone conversations and texts with my readers, some of whom have become my best friends, and one of them became my new wife.
What effect has self-publishing had on your writing?
Freed me up to focus directly on my readers instead of worry about what an editorial assistant will think, an editor, a marketing department, an agent, a buyer for bookstores, etc. I like to be in direct contact with the people who enjoy my writing.
What do you think generally about the self-publishing landscape today?
On Amazon (and even bookstores), you cannot tell the difference between self-published books and traditionally published books. And, on average, according to authorcentral.com, the average self-published book sells more copies than the average traditionally published book and has higher star reviews on Amazon…..That doesn't mean there aren’t many poorly written self-published books. But, percentagewise, there are less poorly written self-published books than poorly written traditionally published books.
What is the main thing you hope readers take away from your books?
That it's OK. It’s OK to fail and try to learn from it and become stronger. It's OK to be afraid and know that fear is the only way to expand your comfort zone. It's important to take charge of your own health, your own relationships, your own creativity, your own spirituality and create the unique footprint you can then leave on this world.
Your releases are mostly categorized as self-help. What ultimately led you to this genre?
I don't think of myself as self-help. I NEED help. I've needed help. I only write the stories of what I did to get help. I try to write as well as possible. I've been writing every day for 25 years. I really want to improve and be better every day. Sometimes people call it self-help because I describe what I did and maybe they can relate. Other times people want to stick me in a wheat thresher.
What can we look forward to next? (A new book, company, presidential run?)
If I was president I would forgive all student loans. I'd also force congresspeople to only vote from their districts (this way lobbyists could never get to them). Then I'd get rid of the presidency. I'm also planning many more books. And I like to get on stage and tell stories to 27 people in an audience on a Tuesday night. That was my dream when I was a kid, and I'm living it now. Maybe a novel is next.
Rhett Morgan is a writer and translator based in Paris.
