Our Annual Meeting

We are a gathering of leading authors who are grounded in contribution, goodness and elevation of the literary community. The goal is to support each other in our respective authorship endeavors, through sharing, supporting and connecting. There is no cost to participate, but there is an expectation that you bring the best of yourself and your knowledge.

settings
Meet the Attendees

Our History
(If You're Curious...)

On March 9, 2020 Mike Michalowicz (Profit First), John Ruhlin (Giftology) and Don Miller (Storybrand) hosted a small gathering of authors at Don’s home with the intent of “serving the greater good” through our respective books. The first meeting included Mike, John, Don, Jon Gordon (The Energy Bus), James Clear (Atomic Habits), Ryan Holiday (The Daily Stoic) and Chris Guillebeau (The $100 Start Up).  A day of sharing and profound insights was capped by a dinner party at Dave Ramsey’s house, and a commitment to meet every year.  By the next morning COVID shutdowns had begun and we concluded if nothing else, we may have just had the first super-spreader event. With shutdowns no longer affecting gatherings like these, we had our next meeting in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025....and now this one in 2026.

Rory Vaden (Take The Stairs) joined our “administrative board” in 2023, Michael Bungay Stanier (The Coaching Habit) joined in 2024 after the the passing of our dear friend John Ruhlin. We have collectively decided to expand our group to include a greater variety of topics and authors.  Don continues to be an extraordinary contributor and will be hosting us again this year at his Goose Hill estate.

settings
Meet the Attendees

Rules of Engagement

  1. Our golden rule: Come to learn the most and contribute the best.
  2.  Our A4A meeting is for sharing, supporting and comradery.
  3. Our A4A meeting is not a pitch, sell, self-promotion, “you should work with me,” “you need to market my book” event. Do not “blast” participants or add them to your marketing or email lists (without permission).
  4. Personal friendships will surely flourish from these meetings. You are encouraged to build business relationships of any capacity in these one on one relationships.
  5. Originally we intended to maintain the “level of performance” of author participants by including specific qualifications:
    • Their lead book must have sold over 100,000 individual copies (individual sales, not bulk)
    • Their lead book must have over 1,000 reviews and/or be selling in the top 1,000 books overall on Amazon for a 6 month period or longer.
    • We have every new candidate interview with Mike Michalowicz and Rory Vaden to ensure a fit. Special circumstances may dictate an exception.
    • If there is a conflict with a new potential member and an existing member, existing members need to proactively bring that to Mike and Rory’s attention to prevent an accidental invite.
settings
Meet the Attendees

The 2026 Attendees

Amy Porterfield

Michael Hyatt

Sam Horn 

Chris Ducker

Dorie Clark

Don Yaeger

Danielle LaPorte

Hal Elrod

John Jantsch

Gretchen Rubin

Marcus Sheridan

Michael Bungay Stanier

Will Guidara

Tiffany Aliche

John Strelecky

Mike Michalowicz

Adam Wallace

Allan Dib

Joey Coleman

Mike Bechtle

Pat Flynn

Mike Thomas

Pete Williams

Jay Papasan

JJ Virgin

Olly Richards

Ron Douglas

Phil M Jones

Master of Influence and Persuasion - Author of Seven Best Selling Business Books, One Children’s Picture Book - Producer of “Most Listened To” Non-Fiction Audiobook of all time.

Phil M Jones thinks and acts differently. His precise insights around communication, added to a proven personal pedigree of peak performance and a richness of real-world experience mean that Phil is the kind of thought-leader whose council is sought by other thought-leaders. 

Rory Vaden

Rory Vaden is the New York Times bestselling author of Take the Stairs and Wealthy and Well-Known, and Cofounder of Brand Builders Group, an 8 Figure Entrepreneur, and a Hall of Fame speaker. His expertise is in studying the psychology of influence – which he defines as the ability to move ourselves, and others, to take action. His insights have  been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, Entrepreneur, Inc, and on Good Morning America and Fox News national television. His TEDx talk has been viewed over 5 million times and he has been hired to speak for organizations like Google, Keller Williams, the Million Dollar Round Table, Leadercast and the Global Leadership Summit. While his first 2 books are about influencing ourselves to take action, in recent years he’s done a lot of work around helping people build influential personal brands. In fact he’s been hired as a private advisor by many of the world’s biggest personal development influencers including: Lewis Howes, Ed Mylett, Amy Porterfield, Trent Shelton, Jasmine Star, Eric Thomas, Dr. Caroline Leaf, John Maxwell and several others

Jeff Walker

When Jeff started his first online business, he was a stay-at-home dad taking care of two small children. The "business" was launched from the baby's changing room - and it started with a free email newsletter sent to 19 people. That was in the Internet Dark Ages of 1996.

After that humble start, Jeff quickly developed an underground process for launching new products and businesses with unprecedented success.

Jefferson Fisher

Jefferson Fisher is a Texas Trial lawyer, keynote speaker, and best-selling author of The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More.

He is the host of the #1 podcast on communication--The Jefferson Fisher Podcast, and founder of The Jefferson Fisher School of Communication. Jefferson has amassed a community of millions around the world, teaching them how to build deeper connections, gain confidence, and take control of their voice.

Miles Taylor

Miles Taylor  is a national security expert, NYT best selling author, and renowned technologist. Miles served in a variety of government posts, including as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, where he oversaw operations of the government's third largest department.
Miles is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, A Warning (2019) and Blowback (2023); the host of the iHeartRadio podcast The Whistleblowers; and a special contributor for Americast by BBC News. He is a regular commentator on CNN, MSNBS, and BBC on issues related to global security and technology policy.

Joseph Nguyen

Joseph Nguyen is the author of the global bestseller Don't Believe Everything You Think. His work has been translated into more than 40 languages and has touched the hearts and minds of readers worldwide. Drawing inspiration from philosophy, spirituality, and psychology, Joseph distills timeless wisdom into simple, pragmatic, and accessible books. Through his writings, Joseph illuminates the path to self-realization, guiding readers toward a life filled with abundance and liberation from emotional and psychological suffering.

Sally Hogshead

Sally Hogshead is a New York Times bestselling author, National Speakers Association Hall of Fame speaker, chief executive officer of How to Fascinate (Fascinate, Inc) and a former advertising executive.

She has twice been named the #1 Global Brand Guru, and frequently appears on NBC’s morning show, TODAY. The press described her as a “superstar” and “force of nature” who “changed the face of North American advertising.”



David Horsager

David Horsager, is a business strategist, entrepreneur, professor, and author who researches and speaks on the bottom-line impact of trust. His clients range from Wells Fargo, ING, and The Better Business Bureau to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Mercy Medical Center, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. David and his wife, Lisa, have four children and live in Minnesota

Pierre Jeanty

Pierre Alex Jeanty, most widely known for his international best sellers HER & HER Vol.2, is a Haitian-American author, publisher, and entrepreneur. Pierre's writing journey began when he started writing lyrics after the death of his childhood friends.

Pierre currently resides with his family in southwest Florida where he operates as the founder of Jeanius Publishing, a publishing company dedicated to helping poets thrive. Pierre also occasionally travels as a speaker, and is the host of "The REALationship Therapy" podcast with his wife Natalie Jeanty.

Chris Guillebeau

Author, entrepreneur, blogger, and speaker. He initially received attention for his entrepreneurship and travel blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, which led to the publication of a book of the same name in 2010. Since then, he has published six additional books including The $100 Startup (2012), Side Hustle (2017), and most recently, The Money Tree (2020), his first novel. He also organizes the annual World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon and hosts the daily podcast, Side Hustle School.

Ryan Levesque

Ryan Levesque is the 6-time Inc. 5000 CEO of The ASK Method® Company, and the #1 national best-selling author of the books Choose and Ask, the latter named by Inc. as the #1 Marketing Book of the Year.

His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and NBC News. He is also co-founder of bucket.io®, the world’s leading software suite for Coaches, Consultants, Course Creators and “Hybrid Experts”, with over 80 million end users worldwide.

Tim Grahl

Tim Grahl is the author of "Running Down a Dream" and "Your First 1000 Copies". For over a decade he has worked with top authors and creatives including Daniel H. Pink, Barbara Corcoran, Hugh MacLeod, Hugh Howey, Chip and Dan Heath, and many more. He has run the campaigns to launch dozens of bestselling books and built and sold two companies.

Through that time he also had a marriage that teetered towards divorce, suffered from anxiety attacks and a personality disorder, and had the IRS subpoena him. Tim hopes his story will inspire and help people during the pursuit of their dreams.

Tiago Forte

Tiago is one of the world's foremost experts on productivity. He has taught more than 20,000 people worldwide through his programs and writes and speaks on how technology can help knowledge workers revolutionize their personal effectiveness.
His online course, Building a Second Brain, has produced more than 5,000 graduates from over 70 countries.
He lives in Long Beach, California with his family.

Marcus Sheridan

Marcus Sheridan's pioneering approach to communication and connection has sparked a paradigm shift, inspiring businesses to adopt a culture of greater transparency and authenticity with their customers world-wide.

His best-selling book, They Ask, You Answer, is not just a methodology; it's a movement that's reshaping how organizations engage with their audiences. It also serves as an indispensable toolkit for those aiming to reinvent their approach to communication, providing strategies that resonate across various sectors and transform organizational dialogues.

Todd Herman

He's spent 28+ years coaching and mentoring elite athletes, entrepreneurs, and business teams on the topics of inner game, strategy, and performance. He writes books, build programs, and create tools that help ambitious people win…in whatever field you’re playing on.

Ryan Deiss 

Ryan Deiss is the Founder and CEO of The Scalable Company, DigitalMarketer.com, and a Founding Partner at Scalable Equity, LLC, an active equity group that builds and acquires B2B media, service, and software brands. In his 20+ year career as a serial entrepreneur, investor, and advisor, Ryan has started 17 companies, exited 4, and his portfolio of companies generated in excess of $200M in revenue last year, alone.

Shane Parrish

   Shane Parrish is the New York Times bestselling author of Clear Thinking: Turning Extraordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results. His unconventional path - from working at a three-letter intelligence agency to entrepreneur has shaped his unique
approach to decision-making and strategic thinking.
As the host of The Knowledge Project Podcast, which has reached over 100 million downloads, Shane explores deep conversations with world-class performers about the
lessons they've learned. His Brain Food newsletter, has over 900,000 subscribers and is one of the most influential sources to upgrade your thinking.
The New York Times dubbed Shane "the unlikely guru that helps Wall Street think better." Today, he serves on the boards of Fortress Insurance Company and Firebelly Tea while leading Syrus Partners as managing partner. He's also the co-author of The Great Mental Models and founder of Farnam Street Media   

AJ Harper

AJ Harper is an editor and publishing strategist who helps authors write foundational books that enable them to build readership, grow their brand and make a significant impact on the world. As ghostwriter and developmental editor, she has worked with newbies to New York Times bestselling authors with millions of books sold.
Through her Top Three programs, AJ empowers authors with insider publishing knowledge and guides them through the book development, writing, and editing process. She is the author of Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives--Including Your Own and co-host of her weekly podcast with Mike Michalowicz, Don't Write That Book.
 

Meeting Agenda

August 6, 2026 - MEETING (8:30am - 5:00pm)
August 7, 2026 - MEETING (8:30am - 4:00pm) 

General Info

Some things to know:
Dress is casual. We will have a pool party Friday night so pack accordingly!

No need to bring any materials 

Prepare by bringing your most challenging questions

Mike will be your point of contact! 862-432-1300

Suggested Hotels

Transportation

Please use Uber or Lyft to get to/from Don Miller's location. Parking is very limited and will be used for emergency circumstances.

[bot_catcher]