KAA recently attended Web Summit Lisbon, one of the world’s biggest tech events, with over 70,000 attendees. It was a great opportunity to meet and have conversations with inspirational thinkers, entrepreneurs, and industry influencers from around the globe, sharing our thoughts on why a book is one of the most powerful assets you can have.
CEO Kevin Anderson delivered a popular panel called How to Build Your Brand, which answered important questions like:
- What are the keys to building a strong and visible personal brand?
- How does a published book compare to the value of a social media following?
- Why are books ideal for creating media coverage and long-term credibility?
- Should authors acknowledge writers and editors who helped with their book?
- What are the limitations of AI when it comes to writing books?
- If someone wants to grow their personal brand today, what’s the first step?
You can watch the full interview above, or reference the written summary below, which was edited for clarity.
Web Summit Lisbon
Ana Martins, Interviewer
Hi, everyone. We are here to talk about communication and personal branding, two topics that I work with every day, but that most professionals never have a chance to learn about. And to be honest, I couldn’t think of a better way to start than with a little personal example.
English isn’t my first language. That’s why I have my notes here on my phone. I don’t have a teleprompter, so I work with what I’ve got. And if my accent gets creative or my verbs go wild, just remember, communication isn’t about perfection. It’s about connection.
What really matters is that the message lands. And that’s exactly the challenge for so many brilliant people, especially in fields like tech. Most of them are not communication experts. Add language issues to that, and it becomes even harder to reach new audiences and make their ideas travel around the world. Kevin, welcome to Portugal. Let’s start right there. How can people who are not communication experts still build a strong and visible personal brand?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Yeah, great question. For us at KAA, there’s nothing that builds credibility stronger than a book. It’s the gold standard for establishing yourself as an authority in your space. And while social media posts do get attention, a book lasts and can be used to drive your social media for years to come and establish that brand identity.
My company works with business executives and aspiring authors of all kinds — both writers and non-writers — to help them build books, get published, and hit bestseller lists. We do about 500 books a year. We’ve launched over 6,000 new authors, and we’ve hit the bestseller list over 600 times. Editors currently part of our in-house staff worked on You Are a Badass, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller. And right now, Read Your Mind from Oz Perlman is a #3 New York Times bestseller on the list. We worked with him from the very beginning to help get his book idea together, frame it, write it, find it a major publisher, and now he’s using it to get major media. He just headlined 60 Minutes, he’s been in the New York Times, he’s all over the place. We help authors build a brand identity through a book, and you’ll find dozens of success stories on our website.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
A book is not only a book. It’s the beginning of a longer conversation, right?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Right, that’s the good thing about a book. Once you publish, it becomes a media event. So usually you get a variety of media, whether it’s podcasts, cross-social posts, articles, TV, etc. And those assets can be then reused over and over again across a long period of time, especially if you hit the bestseller list.
Plus, if you hit the bestseller list once, you’re a best selling author for the rest of your life. Decades later, they will still introduce you as a bestselling author and that opens a lot of doors for you as a brand leader or as a thought leader.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
It’s like a shortcut to become more visible, right? But it’s really hard to write a book by yourself, especially when you have a separate full-time job. In my case, I have a company to run. It’s really hard to make it all happen. What kind of ideas do you have for busy professionals who want to make the book-writing process easier?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Yeah, it is really hard to write a book. One stat suggests that 80% of Americans who were polled wanted to write a book, but less than 1% ever brought that goal to fruition. Thankfully, there are a lot of resources to help aspiring authors and even complete non-writers craft a book, have it in their authentic voice, publish it, and build authority and thought leadership as a result.
So at KAA, we offer book coaching and even ghostwriting. We help the author figure out what they want to say, structure it into a book, and make sure it’s relatable, readable, relevant, and attractive to a publisher. Then we try to get it published and help launch the book to the world.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
Because it’s important to have results with this book. It’s not only to preserve thoughts about an idea. It’s important to reach an actual audience. But is it possible to release a truly authentic book when you have someone else helping you with the writing?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Great question. Most thought leaders have really amazing, important things to say. Yet they’re not professional writers. There’s a reason why you hire a professional to file your taxes or perform dental work. You want the best outcome possible. That’s why a ghostwriter is so valuable. But there’s an ethical way and an unethical way to do it.
You could say, “Hey, just write me any book and I’ll stamp my name on it.” Or, you can form a real, authentic relationship with a ghostwriter who is interviewing you, asking clarifying questions throughout the process, and really drawing out your authentic voice in order to get it onto the page in a way that’s accessible and powerful. In this case, the ghostwriter is actually elevating the authenticity of the book because it’s really hard for a non-writer to authentically express themselves in writing if they don’t have professional help.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
Amazing. It’s like teamwork. I have another question for this topic. When working with a ghostwriter, should authors tell readers they had help or does it only matter that the message itself feels authentic?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Well, things have changed a lot over the years. In the past, when authors got help, they often would not credit their ghostwriter. But now, you see front covers where the ghostwriter is actually getting credit. It’s very common.
You might have heard of this book called Spare that was a big hit, especially in the UK. And right on the title, you have J.R. Moehringer’s name. People realize it was a ghostwriter, but it’s almost a misnomer now because a lot of times the ghostwriter is actually known. It’s a more public collaboration. Plus, people understand that a busy executive or celebrity is probably not a professional writer. Some of them are, but most of them aren’t. And most of the New York Times bestsellers that you see, especially in the nonfiction categories, are developed with a ghostwriter to help ensure that it’s a professionally written book.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
It’s an opportunity for transparency. The author can decide. And talking about transparency opens the door to another big question — AI. Technology is changing how we create and communicate. Today, anyone can generate a perfect sentence in seconds. What do you see as the main difference between a ghostwriter and AI, when it comes to helping someone write a book?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
AI does a great job of writing generic, boring content. Sometimes it can spice it up a little, but it’s not a very good interviewer. It’s always led by the person putting in the prompts. A ghostwriter or a good book coach is a collaborator who’s really going to elevate your book because they can connect with you as a human.
A good interviewer brings out what the interviewee didn’t even know was there. They can see your eyes and recognize when you’re holding back or when there’s more to the story. There’s the human element — the empathy, the intuition that AI just doesn’t have at this stage. Maybe one day they’ll have perfect facial recognition capacities or they’ll plug right into our brains. But right now, there’s nothing that beats a human interviewer because they can read you and read the room.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
It’s not only about ideas. It’s about emotions, feelings. Staying on the topic of AI, do you think English will always dominate the book world or, with AI, are we moving into a more multilingual creative world without boundaries?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Yeah, that’s a great question. Translation is an area where AI is helping a lot. And I use it all the time because I’m often working with teams in Europe. The tricky part with using AI to translate a full book is it has a tendency to really round the edges. It doesn’t always capture that authentic, edgy side of the author. Sometimes it can do a lot of the basework when you’re translating a book from one language to another, but it’s still good to have someone who’s a native speaker and understands the author’s voice to maintain the tone and power of the writing.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
Around the world, we have a lot of ideas that deserve to be shared — ideas that could inspire, teach, or even change something — but they never become known. And language plays a big role in that. English allows a completely different scale for reach. For example, if we compare Portugal to the United States, it’s totally different — the scale of the impact of a personal brand with a book.
Even if someone writes really well in their own language, do you think non-English books can still be a bridge for international growth?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Yes, absolutely. We see this all the time. One of the powerful things about a book is you can write it in one language and get it translated into others. Books are often turned into global assets. Many of the books we work on are ultimately published in multiple languages. It doesn’t necessarily matter what language they started in.
And a good translator, of course, will understand how to translate particular idioms and metaphors into a way that’s going to be understandable to the reader.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
Because you have to discover the voice of the author and translate this with the meaning. But when we translate ideas for new audiences, how can someone stay true to their original voice and culture? How do you balance adapting your message for a global audience without losing your own personality?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
It’s hard, right? Yeah, it’s very hard. I think first and foremost, though, it’s really important that authors really dig into their own voice and their own concepts. That’s what they know. And then, in many ways, it’s up to the translator or the reader to understand where they’re coming from. But that is where the translation really can make a big impact.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
What do you think truly makes a personal brand strong and relevant in ways that stand the test of time?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
When we talk to authors, we often tell them that wherever they are in their journey, they have something to say that can really help those who are behind them. People often make the mistake of thinking they shouldn’t become an author or write their book until they’ve accomplished X, Y, and Z, and they’re at the end of their career. In reality, you actually have a lot of insight to offer right now to the people who are only a few rungs behind you on the ladder. In fact, a self-made billionaire might not be able to relate to those people as effectively as you can because you’re able to talk to them from a similar level.
So if you want to build a brand and really establish yourself as an authority in your space, you can do that relatively early. You can share what you’ve learned at that point and make sharing what you know a core part of your brand identity. You can write that book, have it published, and generate a lot of authority. Because even though you don’t have all the answers, you do have the answers for everything you’ve learned up to that point, regardless of where you’re at in your business and professional career.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
What’s the first step to establishing your brand? In your opinion, is it writing a book?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
I would say the first step to establishing your brand is to get it out there. Speak, post, blog on your website, do events like this. Just practice sharing ideas in your own voice and getting them down in writing. Because you will usually have to deliver a message several times to really hone and refine it. And at any point, if you want to put those ideas into a book to really raise the bar, elevate your authority, and establish yourself in your space, then of course you can do that. A book really does take things to a whole new level.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
You need time to test the ideas and discover your personality, your voice, right?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
Yes, exactly.
Ana Martins, Interviewer
As we wrap up, what is the most important point you want people to take away from this talk?
Kevin Anderson, CEO of KAA
In terms of writing a book, I would say just don’t be afraid to get started. Every bestseller started where you are — with nothing written on the page, often not even a fully formed idea. And just the act of starting to communicate, or talking to a professional who can help you start to think about your book idea, is an important first step to becoming a potentially best-selling author.
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