Matt Wilhelmi

Pre-Interview: When I'm not hanging with my 5 kiddos and amazing life partner, I strive to build businesses. I'm an entrepreneur, a business consultant, and lifelong learner. I love figuring out how things work, how people tick, and how to help everyone make money. My book Taboo Business Questions gets to the bottom of what's haunting every entrepreneur's growth. My consulting company, Strategic Voyages, is a boutique consulting firm in that we specialize in being the outsourced CFO for companies that aren't quite ready for a full time CFO.

Author Writer Interview Questions 1.What inspires you most to write?

I feel that I have so much to teach the world about some of the mistakes I've seen business owners make that I almost can't help myself. I must write. 2. What is your favorite genre?

I love writing instructional style blogs; "do these 3 things and you'll win" type of blogs. I love reading historical non-fiction books about economics, the movement of different social constructs, and anything related to familial wealth building. 3. Who is one author you admire if any and why?

I love Dave Ramsey. Not because he's a finance guy, but because he's built an empire around a socially quiet topic; debt management and saying no to debt. It's the opposite of consumerism. It's fascinating how he's built his following and empire. 4. How do you overcome blank writing spells?

I read for inspiration. I journal about random thoughts. I call some friends and talk about various topics. It all gets the juices flowing. 5. What legal publishing advice can you give?

I'm not an attorney so legal advice isn't really my thing. I will tell people that, from a business perspective, you must choose between money and time often. Meaning, you (all by yourself) can't possibly do everything necessary to make your book as good as it could be compared to if you get help. Find the help. 6. How many books have you written, are any a bestseller yet?

I've published 1 book, www.TabooBusinessQuestions.com. I have 2 more in the works with over a hundred blogs on my website; www.SVBusinessConsultants.com. 7. If you had the opportunity to rewrite one movie script which would it be, why?

I don't think I'd rewrite a movie script. 8. What are some difficulties you've experienced in your writing career; how do you handle book critiques/criticism?

I handle book critiques differently from people who haven't published a book that I do from people who have. Those who haven't published a book, I typically don't put too much weight on their input from a critiquing of my publishing style or production efforts. I do want their feedback on the content though. For those who have published a book, I tend to ask questions when given feedback. Questions like "What were your goals when publishing?" and "Did you get those goals?" It's not all about "how many copies did you sell?" and "Are you a millionaire from your book sales?" It's more about, "What did you get from the journey?" and "Was it worth it?" and "When's the next one coming?" 9. What are your best experiences in your writing career?

Best experiences were getting hyper critical feedback from teachers, editors, colleagues, bosses, my mom, and peers. I've invited so many people to read what I've written that embracing feedback has become a staple for my psyche. 10. Do you prefer to write in silence and or have some sort sound in the background?

When I'm brainstorming, I listen to all kinds of things. Sometimes its calm and sometimes it’s quite toxic, like Skrillex. When I'm trying to put cohesive thoughts together or when I'm proofreading, it's either white noise in the background or Beethoven. 11. What are some encouraging words you'd give to another author/writer?

LOTS of people will tell you that you're crazy for trying to write a book. You'll have the haters. Embrace it. If you don't have some people give you the side-eye, you aren't pushing enough. 12. How did you decide the pricing of your material; how did you go about promotion/advertising and distribution of your work?

Funny you ask. I actually have a whole chapter in my book about Pricing. LOL! Pricing should consider the costs that went into creating it while understanding the market and return expected. 13. Why should anyone read your book?

They should read it if they're considering starting a business, so they don't make common mistakes that MANY entrepreneurs make. It's also great for up-and-coming authors to see what someone's "first book" really looks like to give them a sense of how their book compares, how the content was rolled out, and how they may want to package their thoughts. 14. Did you have a book coach?

I don't. That's an interest thought though. I wonder what the difference is between a performance coach and a book coach. 15. What was your favorite subject in school?

Calculus. I loved how the modeling works and creating formulas to represent calculations. Nerd alert! 16. Are you self-published or have an established publishing contract elsewhere?

I started a publishing company after I went through the process of publishing my book. There are so many publishers out there and they aren't all created equal.