Author Hour

Gui Costin: Two Books, Two Dakotaisms, and the Greatest Authentic Hack of All Time

Gui Costin, founder and CEO of Dakota, joins Eric Jorgenson to talk about writing two books with Scribe—The Dakota Way and Be Kind—and why he now calls authoring “the single best thing I’ve ever done for the business and for people.” Gui walks through the procrastination and self-doubt that nearly stalled his first Scribe book, the “world-class ghostwriter” who got him through it, and the Dakotaisms (“turn your brain off,” “throw your hat over the wall”) that finally pushed the book over the line. He explains how Dakota uses signed copies at every live event, why a book makes you a subject matter expert and an authority rather than a salesperson, and how showing up on LinkedIn pays off in unexpected ways, including a 20-years-no-contact college teammate who somehow knew his Starbucks order. The episode closes with Gui’s blunt advice to any CEO on the fence: figure out what you’re passionate about, call Scribe, and turn your brain off.

Deneen Allen: How a Reluctant Author Turned 25 Years of Tourism Expertise Into a Book

On this episode of Author Hour, Eric Jorgenson sits down with Deneen Allen, founder of FireCircle and creator of the 5x5 Method, to talk about her new book The FireCircle 5x5 Method. Deneen spent 25 years building tourism and hospitality businesses across Canada before distilling that expertise into a digital program, and resisting her team's push to put it in book form for three years. In this conversation, she shares why she finally said yes, how the book now functions as both a marketing tool and a companion guidebook to her digital program, the "secret code" funnel she built to convert readers into FireCircle members, and why she now wishes she'd written it sooner. A candid, useful conversation for any operator weighing whether their expertise belongs in a book.

It Really Is All About Relationships: Eddy Arriola

On this episode of Author Hour, host Eric Jorgenson sits down with entrepreneur, banker, and first-time author Eddy Arriola to talk about his new book, It's All About Relationships. Eddy shares the story of his sold-out launch event at Books and Books, the Miami independent bookstore he has loved since he was old enough to drive, and the unexpected ways readers have responded, including a Cornell donor who ordered 50 personalized copies for the lacrosse team. He reflects on the discipline of writing alone, the choice to publish with Scribe, and the magic of putting his old high school history teacher up on stage with him at the launch. For any leader who has ever thought about writing a book, this conversation is a master class in why the hard road is the right one.

There'll Never Be a Right Time: Dr. Richard Harris on White Coat, Heavy Soul

Dr. Richard Harris joins Eric Jorgenson roughly six weeks after the release of White Coat, Heavy Soul, and three weeks after the audiobook went live, to walk through how the book got written, why he left the traditional hospital system for direct primary care, and the unexpected goodness already showing up. Dr. Harris wrote the manuscript in 12-hour days for three months after his son's traumatic birth, leaning on eight years of stage-tested speaking material to sequence the story. He explains why he chose Scribe's hybrid publishing model ("the number one decision I made was I wanted full autonomy"), the moment a retired-judge family friend in small-town Indiana started handing the book to strangers, and why his real two-year hope is one full-circle moment: a kid telling him they became a doctor because of the book. The episode closes on a now-recurring Author Hour insight: the book is a tailwind on everything else you ever do, plus a five-star Scribe review and an admission that book two is already in the works.

75 Books a Month: How Michael Erath Built a Three-Book Author Ecosystem at Next Level Growth

Michael Erath joins Eric Jorgenson to walk through eight years and three Scribe-published books as the centerpiece of a 9-person coaching firm. Michael's first book, Rise, was a personal memoir about a business partner who embezzled half a million dollars and the marriage strain that followed; readers still reach out years later to share their own versions of the story. By his third book, The Five Obsessions of Elite Organizations, Michael had pivoted from a ghostwriter to writing every word himself with a Scribe coach, rerecorded his Audible himself in Scribe's studio, and built an AI clone as a funnel companion. He breaks down concrete numbers for the first time on Author Hour: 75 to 100 books mailed per month, ~$16 landed cost per book, an audiobook he calls the legacy artifact his great-grandkids will hear, and the line he gives to anyone considering authorship — "if your goal in writing a book is to retire on book sales, it's probably not going to happen." The episode closes on Eric's max for the editing phase: craftsmanship has no deadline.