An Interview with Author David G. Fivecoat

Tell us about yourself

 After 24 years as a US Army paratrooper, as well as 4 combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Colonel David Fivecoat, US Army, Retired, founded The Fivecoat Consulting Group. He now blogs, speaks, coaches gritty leaders, and helps develop gritty organizations. A native Ohioan, David Fivecoat resides in Columbus, Georgia.

Tell us about your book. What is it about?

Everyone wants more grit. Students. Athletes. Executives. Sports Teams. Entrepreneurs. Non-profits. Military units. Companies. Until now, there wasn’t a process to develop grit. In Grow Your Grit: Overcome Obstacles, Thrive, and Accomplish Your Goals, David Fivecoat combines science, hard-won experience, and a wide-range of real life stories to illuminate the mysteries of developing grit. Whether you are trying to grow your personal grit or attempting to develop your group into a gritty organization that achieves its long-term objectives, Grow Your Grit will help you do it more effectively. From the battlefield to the boardroom to the ballet studio, leaders are leveraging their grit to achieve the improbable. As Fivecoat shows, by harnessing your grit, we can transform ourselves, our lives, our families, our teams, our businesses, and our communities. Grow your grit, thrive, and accomplish the impossible.

What motivated you to write this book? (Inform? Educate? Share?)

I thought that other writers had done a good job of defining what grit is, measuring it, and describing it, but didn’t provide a process or a path for individuals or groups to develop their grit. This book tries to fill that niche.

Who is your target audience for this book? Why should they read your book, or how will it help them?

I wrote the book to help people who struggle to accomplish their goals both personally and professionally and need a process that can help them. Readers have ranged from teenagers to octogenarians and everyone in between.

Are your books tied to a business you own or work for? If so, tell us about that business and how the book and the business work together.

I own The Fivecoat Consulting Group which does executive coaching and leadership training with corporate groups. The book is a way for me to help more people than I can do one-on-one or with groups.

Are you ever concerned that the language of your book is either too technically difficult or too elementary and potentially insulting for your target audience? How do you decide?

No

How long did your book take to complete?

Almost a year.

Are you currently working on another book? Is it the same genre?

I’m currently promoting Grow Your Grit, working with individuals and companies to grow their grit, and trying to decide what I want to write on for book #2. Right now, I’m leaning towards a book to help individuals handle life and business transitions, both big and small, better.

What is your goal as an author?

To help people grow their grit and accomplish their goals.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

I liked the challenge of learning how to self-publish as well as the speed that it enabled me to take a book from idea to being in reader’s hands in almost a year.

Did you use IngramSpark, Amazon KDP, or another company to handle the printing and distribution of your book?

I used both IngramSpark and Amazon KDP.

Did you purchase your own ISBN or have one assigned to you by Amazon KDP or IngramSpark?

I purchased 10 ISBNs from a third party.

Now that your book is in print, do you have any regrets?

I wish I had finished the book and then spent three months promoting the presales. I would budget in an extra three months next time.

What parts did you do on your own, and what did you hire out to have done? (Editing, book design, cover design, eBook, marketing, etc.)

I did the writing and marketing myself. Jera Publishing did a great job with the cover design, interior design, and formatting. I hired an editor and an indexer to help me out as well.

What would you do differently if you were to self-publish again?

I would have done three months of promoting presales before releasing the book.

What is the most difficult part of writing this book?

Figuring out my own writing system and developing the perseverance to do something to make the book better every day – from writing to editing to researching to taking pictures.

If you could tell yourself anything as a younger writer what would it be?

Don’t wait until you are 50 to write your first book!

How old were you when you started writing?

I had written professional magazine articles for the past twenty years. This is my first book.

What marketing have you done for your book? What worked and what did not work?

I have done 9 podcasts on the book. I promoted the book on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. I paid for ads on Amazon. I encouraged friends and family to post reviews of the book to help with the Amazon sales.

Did you start marketing before your book was launched? If not, do you regret that decision?

As soon as the cover format was done, I started promoting it for presales. Amazon makes it tough because until you post the digits of the book, you can only do presales of eBooks. Next time I’d finish the book, hang the digits, and spend three months promoting presales in eBook, paperback and hard cover formats.

How are you handling marketing with COVID closing down many events authors often do, such as book signings and book clubs?

I have done several book talks with corporate groups both before and after the book was published. I am also in talks to do a couple of more this fall virtually and in person.