The 99 Authors Project – Season 5 – Episode 8 with Shiraz Baboo21 min read

Bryan Hyde
Welcome to the Janine Bolon show, where we share tips from around the globe. As we guide practical people with their finances using money tips, increase their incomes through side businesses, and maintain their sanity by staying in their creative zone.

Janine Bolon
Hello and welcome to the show. This is Janine Bolon and today’s program, we’re going to be bringing you some really high-quality content on not only saving your time saving your money, but also how to stay sane during these continually changing times these crazy phases of life that we happen to be in. Now The Janine Bolon Show is the syndicated program of four podcast shows that were combined in October of 2021. We had Three Minute Money Tips, The Thriving Solopreneur, The Writers Hour Creative Conversations and The Practical Mystic Show, they were all put together that had been running since 2017. We’ve produced over 300 episodes, we’ve interviewed over 219 guests, and today we are spotlighting one of our authors that is contributing to our 99 author project, Shiraz Baboo. He is an award-winning author, international speaker and an energy and money flow coach. Shiraz Baboo has helped hundreds of people to rewrite their reality. He coaches entrepreneurs and they hire him to show them how to refuel their energy and ambitions. They also create greater success and have a feeling of calm and confidence in their lives no matter where they’re going. As a result, they ignite a stream of high paying clients along with abundance of free time, money, and energy. The book that is so wonderful that was written by this great author is How to Rewrite Reality: Becoming the Author of the Stories of Your Own Life. So welcome to the show, Shiraz. Great to have you.

Shiraz Baboo
Thanks for having me, Janine, great to be here.

Janine Bolon
So this is one of my favorite topics, which is tell us the story behind the story. Right? You know, you’ve written this amazing book. And I’d love to know what on earth prompted you to write a book on rewriting reality. I mean, that’s fabulous.

Shiraz Baboo
It’s because I found out you can rewrite reality. And most people don’t realize that everyone has this ability. And I learned that my journey started when I was 22 years old. I was in university; I was studying molecular genetics to become a doctor. I was a bodybuilder. I know it’s close, close right now, but not quite the same. And everything was going my way the world was my oyster. But the world didn’t give me pearls. It gave me arthritis. And I mean, intense pain in every joint in my body kind of arthritis. I remember there would be some nights where I would sip my dinner through a straw because my jaw was so swollen, and painful. I just couldn’t chew. And that started a 20-year journey of trying to fix that problem. And some people may not relate to going through that much pain. But if you’ve had the situation where here’s my life’s plan, this is what’s going to work for me. And then suddenly bam, there’s no plan anymore. And you’re left scrambling and you’re wondering what the hell, why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this, like you get where I was, and all those feelings that came up, the anger, the frustration, sometimes places of despair. And there’d be moments where I’d snap at people just to let out my frustration, I immediately regretted afterwards. And this was my life. I tried medication. I tried supplements, diet, I started trying things like yoga and acupuncture, and everything worked for a little while. And then it would just stop working again, like the arthritis built up the immunity to whatever I was doing. And it was crazy. Because I’m like, what am I doing wrong? What am I missing? And finally, I found out about this program called combined therapy, where they’ve had success with multiple illnesses. And that really caught my attention. Because you usually go to someplace for arthritis, or you go for cancer, or you go for diabetes. And they’re like, no, we do everything. But, it was in India, so I’ve got on a plane flew over to India. And of course, because it’s in India, I expected some guy to go, oh, I’m gonna heal, you know, Shiraz and just do the Reiki kind of hands thing. But that’s not what happened. He just sat down and talked with me for two weeks, about my entire life story. It was like being with a psychiatrist only he wasn’t trying to solve anything. He was just gathering information. And at the end of the two weeks, he said Shiraz, here’s the problem. You believe you’re responsible for everyone in your life.

Shiraz Baboo
And I said, no, I don’t.

Shiraz Baboo
He said, yeah, I know you don’t think you do, but from everything you’ve told me, you’ve created a belief that you need to be responsible for everyone in your life. And you started that belief back when you were eight years old. And I thought about it and I said, yeah, okay, I know I’m a responsible guy, but I don’t think I’m responsible for everyone. And even if I was what’s that got to do with arthritis? He said, you don’t want to be responsible for everyone. That’d be too much. I said, yeah, obviously. So if you’re lying in bed in pain, you don’t have to be responsible for anyone. And you don’t have to feel guilty about it. If it’s just taking all your energy to get through the day and do your job, no one can come up and say, can you help me? And make you feel guilty if you don’t. It’s the solution to a problem you don’t realize you have.

Shiraz Baboo
And I just hit me, like, what? That’s messed up.

Shiraz Baboo
And he said, but most chronic illnesses are solutions to problems people don’t realize they have. And that’s why every time you tried to fix the problem, it wouldn’t take because you were actually taking the solution to another problem away, and your body had to compensate.

Shiraz Baboo
So I thought about that, and I said, so if what you’re saying is true, then all I have to do is say, I’m not going to be responsible for anyone but me, and I shouldn’t have arthritis. He said, if you mean it deep down, you actually believe you don’t need to be responsible for anyone but you, then you don’t need the arthritis. So I said, okay, I’m not going to be responsible for anyone but me. I woke up the next morning, no pain, no inflammation, more mobility, and I could even breathe better. And I’m freaking out. Because this doesn’t happen overnight, you don’t just lose an illness overnight. And the damage was still there. But the arthritis itself was just gone. And I was checking my body out and moving my joints and stuff. And what was interesting was there was a track where we were staying. And I was on that track every day from the time I got there. And I was doing my old man shuffle because that’s how I walked at that point, I was just like the seventy-year-old man doing my shuffle around the track, and I’d be getting passed by people that are like 60, and 70 years old. I’m like, guys, it’s so frustrating. But I’m on the track this day, and I’m passing everyone, they’re looking at me going, what the hell is going on. I’m like, I know, this is amazing. And that single belief created my entire reality of arthritis. When I started looking more into this, I found out this isn’t just about illness. This is about everything in your life. So if you’re worried about getting your heart broken, you tend to only find partners that aren’t going to open up to you. So that you can’t get too deep. So you don’t get your heartbroken. But consciously you’re thinking, why can’t I find the right person? Why can’t I connect? If you’re worried about people asking you for money, if you make lots of money, then you limit how much money you make. So that they can’t ask and you don’t have to have those unconscious, uncomfortable conversations or feel guilty if you don’t give them money. But consciously you’re saying why can’t I make the money I want, I keep trying to make more money and I can’t get past a certain level. Those problems are actually solutions,

Janine Bolon
Right. And people are solving those for themselves. And so you wrote this book, because of

Shiraz Baboo
Because once I figured out what was going on, I had to share exactly how it works with people so that they can realize, wait, what I can just change that? And it’s crazy, because sometimes you change the belief and you’ve got to do a bunch of work to implement it. And it’s a journey. But sometimes you change the belief and boom, reality just shifts around you.

Janine Bolon
And I think that’s one of the lovely things that I enjoy so much about the work that you’re doing and you’re sharing is, you experienced it for yourself personally. And now you’re like, hey, you can go ahead and take a flight to India and take the two weeks and blah, blah, blah and have to do go through all this or I can work with you. So let’s talk a little bit about now the book itself. Okay. So part of the 99 Author Project is all about how authors go about selling their book and where they’ve had success and where they’ve had abysmal failure because I think being able to share negative results, it’s just as powerful as being able to share positive results so that we don’t, as I like to say to authors, don’t make my mistakes, make different ones, right? Go make different ones, right? Learn from mine so that you don’t do the same thing. Okay, so did you happen to have any kind of a marketing background before you started selling your book?

Shiraz Baboo
No.

Janine Bolon
Yeah, most of us are like, no, I had a message not a marketing background. Right. Okay, so what most surprised you about the book marketing process when you were, you know, had your book published?

Shiraz Baboo
Two things number one, how expensive it is. And number two, how much work’s involved. There’s a lot of work involved in marketing a book and the various ways you can do it. So it’s not just about like, and here’s, here’s the biggest mistake, put your book out there. No one’s gonna find it. No one. Maybe your family.

Janine Bolon
It’s true. Amazon has more than one book on the shelf, right? So help us out here, then what would you change if you started marketing your book today, what would you change that, like, kind of walk us through some of the stuff you did that you’re like, oh, my gosh, you know, I wouldn’t do it that way now. But what would you change about your marketing process?

Shiraz Baboo
I would build a bigger following before the book came out, you’ve got to build up the hype, you’ve got to get people talking about it. I would get reviews, before the book came, a lot of people put the book out and then hope they’ll get reviews as a result of the book coming out. And like no, you’ve got to do it beforehand. And, and then, you know, the whole thing for the Amazon, and this has probably come up on your show the whole mechanics of it, the more people that buy the book, at the same time, the higher you rank on Amazon. So you’ve got to get that tribe all buying at the same day when you launch it so that it shoots up so other people see it, visibility increases, and they start buying it. And then it expands out from there. But it’s, it’s a matter of getting a lot of people interested in that book before the launch. And you know, there’s so many ways you can do this. You can go talk on summits, I’ve got a book coming out, you can go in for interviews, I’ve got a book coming up, and just keep coming out, it’s coming out, get everyone hyped up. And then when it comes out, boom, you just see what the response is. But yeah, the first time I just put it out there. And it’s like, why isn’t anyone buying it?

Janine Bolon
Well, I know, right? Because we’re authors, we’re not trained in the marketing machinations not all of us anyway, of the 99 authors that I’ve interviewed, only two had marketing backgrounds. And so thank you for sharing, you know, the uncomfortable stories of yeah, I was, I like to tell people, I was a total noob I had no idea what I was doing. I was an author, not a marketing professional. And that’s the whole point for this project. So thank you for sharing that. But well, what would you say worked best for you? How did you sell the most books?

Shiraz Baboo
The it is it is really going out and speaking about it in large crowds. Caused the sales to go up. You can speak in bookstores, but it has to be at a time where there’s a lot of traffic. Right? And plus, we’re losing bookstores. So that becomes a problem. But I remember figuring out the secret for bookstores is you go during things like Christmas rushes and Boxing Day and stuff. And you have to you have to finagle this with the with the people there because they try to they have set places they put you. But where you want to be is near the checkout line during a busy time, because then people have to stand in front of you. And you can just make conversation. And I ended up selling book after book after because they had a captive audience.

Janine Bolon
Brilliant. Thank you. Nobody’s mentioned that yet. Brilliant. Thank you so much for that little gold nugget that you dropped for us. So what process did you try, that was an epic failure when it came to selling your books?

Shiraz Baboo
It wasn’t just putting it out there and expecting people to buy it. Because especially when you put out your book, you’re like, oh, this is gold, people are gonna love it, they’re gonna want to buy it. And they’re not looking for it. They don’t know who you are. Right? So. So if you just expect people to buy just because it’s good. That’s not going to happen. There’s so many books out there that are gems that no one knows about. Because there was no marketing behind them. And they’re just sitting there either digitally collecting dust or physically doing it. So I’ve met people that have 10,000 books in their garages, because they did not a marketing thing.

Janine Bolon
Right? That was back in the day when you used to have to publish them. And you had to pay a printer. And all that when you’re back in their early days, early 2000s. That’s what you see a lot of that kind of thing happening.

Shiraz Baboo
I’ve met them recently. And it’s still from when that day but it’s books are still in the garage.

Janine Bolon
It’s been a decade they still have them. Right. So what story do you like to tell about yourself that gets the most laughs from your target audience?

Shiraz Baboo
Oftentimes, with the rewriting reality is about being late. Because when you find out that you can literally shift reality and rewrite things, you can create stories. And this is all about creating stories that you just get used to. And that’s just what happens by life, which is the story of my life. And mine is if I’m late, then everyone else ends up being late. Right? And this was a really fun thing to do, because I’d realized I was late. And I’m like, oh, don’t worry about it, they’ll be late to and then I’d get calls from my friends wherever I’m going to meet. Oh, the car won’t start, or the kids acted up or I forgot I had to do this and then they’ll say is it okay if I’m late, and I meet you there? But yeah, you go ahead and be late, I’ll meet you there, I’ll wait for you. And they didn’t realize this was going on. I didn’t realize it was possible. Until one day, I was I was doing a talk on stage. And I told the story about what happens with my friends, and the audience is just laughing. But some of them were in the audience. And so, afterwards, it would be funny because I’d be getting ready to go out and I get a phone call and they go, you’re late, aren’t you? Because this isn’t working for me.

Janine Bolon
I can tell that you’re late. Thanks. Shiraz, really appreciate it. See, the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland needed your advice because he wouldn’t have been stressing out so much anxiety bunny, if he had you his life. No, this is for our debut authors. You know, the whole purpose of the 99 Author Project is to help debuting authors learn from our mistakes. And so what are the top five tips that you would give authors about selling their books? You’ve already given a couple, go ahead and reiterate. But what are your top five that you would give people?

Shiraz Baboo
Build up the hype before you launch. Get reviews before you launch. Build your audience. The bigger the audience, you start with the bigger impact you’re gonna have before you get that book out there. Two more, two more. Oh, partner, partner with people. Collaborations really expand your market and just like your book, if, if I have a book coming out, and I work with a collaboration beforehand, to get notoriety from that collaboration before my book comes out, it’s going to have a definite impact on my book afterwards. And the last thing is like really, really look at the budget you have to do this. Because it is like you want to put a lot into that marketing budget, you have to realize how much you have to work with and use it effectively. This is not the time to be throwing darts at the wall to say well, maybe this will work. Well, maybe this will work. Have a marketing strategy.

Janine Bolon
Yeah, that’s what you and I were talking in the greenroom about how we didn’t know how expensive it was to market a book effectively. And so that is something, yeah definitely learn a lot before you get into that mindset. So what is the one thing you most misunderstood about becoming an author?

Shiraz Baboo
Oh, it’s that I’ll put the book out. I’ll give it to a bunch of publishers, one of them will just pick it up, and then I’ll be done. And I’m good to go.

Janine Bolon
Right? The instant fame. Because it seems so much right. The instant fame like you know, it’ll go viral this will happen. I believe in the Law of Attraction. I can create my own reality, all that kind of stuff. Unfortunately, there’s still a bit of a grind, isn’t there?

Shiraz Baboo
Absolutely. Yeah.

Janine Bolon
So what is the primary thing that was your biggest reward about being an author?

Shiraz Baboo
Oh, there were a few things. I guess, people actually asking for my autograph in the book. It’s like, what?

Janine Bolon
I totally agree with you on that one. Yeah, it’s mind blowing to me.

Shiraz Baboo
I remember one of my friends it was it was so funny. Because he’s one of my good friends for years. And he’s like, aren’t you gonna sign? And I’m like, but I’m not like some author. I’m your friend. And he goes, no, because these are, these are some of the original copies. And I’m like, so? He said, so the original copies are worth the most later on when the books out there. It’s had multiple prints. And so you know, in in 20, 30 years, this is going to be worth like, $200. And I’m like, so wait, you want me to sign it so you can sell it?

Janine Bolon
Thanks, friend.

Shiraz Baboo
It made me laugh so much. He goes, do you realize how much weed I can buy for $200 a week? You’re gonna buy weed you don’t even smoke weed. He goes by the time this is worth $200 I’ll have kids. I’m gonna need weed to calm down.

Janine Bolon
Oh my god, that is the best story. Thank you for sharing. I absolutely love that. Is there anything else you want to share with us or the audience today before we wrap up?

Shiraz Baboo
Just because we’ve been talking about what’s involved in getting the book out there. Don’t say oh, you know what? I’m not going to do it. Get your book out there. Your message needs to be shared with the world. And when you’re willing to do the work, to put in the investment and do what it takes to get out there. 1000’s, possibly millions, are going to benefit from what you have to offer.

Janine Bolon
Thank you for reminding us on that because it is ever so true. And there are so many people that do come up to you later. I mean, we haven’t talked about it, but that come up to you later and say, your book was life changing. And you only need one of those and you’re like, yep, worth all the it was worth all the heartache, because they’re so sincere. And they mean every word and you can tell their life has been transformed. I’m sure you have stories like that, too.

Shiraz Baboo
I actually had one, one of my friends. He gave the book to his son who has been in depression for, I think, like a year. And right after reading the book, he came out of depression.

Janine Bolon
Right? Made a choice. Yeah. And but it required the inspiration that came through your words in the book. Yeah, exactly. Well, how can somebody learn more about you? Where should someone go if they want to learn more about you Shiraz?

Shiraz Baboo
You can go to energeticmagic.com. And that’s my website, you can contact me there. Or you can go to Amazon and just grab How to Rewrite Reality.

Janine Bolon
Sounds like a plan. And that’s it. Shiraz Baboo has answered our questions, and it’s got more information in store for you with his latest work that can be found on his website. Go ahead and say it for us again.

Shiraz Baboo
Energeticmagic.com

Janine Bolon
Energeticmagic.com. And I want to say thank you so much for being our spotlighted author today.

Shiraz Baboo
Thank you for having me.

Janine Bolon
And if you are an author or you know of an author that you would like us to spotlight, please visit our website at AuthorPodcasting.com where you will find the 99 Author Project listed. We talk to all authors from all walks of life as we build out book number 12 which is the Advice from Authors to Authors, which is due out in 2023. And this is Janine Bolon signing off with you today. And all of us here at the 8 Gates that produces The Janine Bolon Show. We wish you a wonderful week and we encourage you to get your message, your story or your knowledge out into the world and make it a better place just like these authors that we’re interviewing this year. We’ll see you again next week. And until then, keep sharing what you know with others, keep shining that light that is you and don’t forget to go out today and just do something for yourself that is just plain fun. See you next week.

Bryan Hyde
Thank you for listening to the Janine Bolon show. Be sure to subscribe to our show notes by going to www.theJanineBolonshow.com, where you’ll find additional resources as well as the opportunity to sign up to receive our program in your email each week. Be sure to visit our sponsor at www.the8gates.com.