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City native finding book-writing success

Frank Zaccari

Through many years of gathering information experience, Dunkirk native and 1971 Cardinal Mindszenty graduate Frank Zaccari was able to put his knowledge to good use and share it with others in the form of a book. Zaccari’s book, Business Secrets for Walking on Water, released on June 29, and by 3 p.m. that day, made the Amazon Best Sellers list.

With the help of his publisher WEBE Books and several friends he’s made along, Zaccari’s book not only topped the Amazon Best Sellers list for three days after its release, but it maintains its status in the top 15 best sellers even a handful of weeks after release.

“It’s been doing extremely well,” Zaccari said. “For a relatively unknown author, that kind of stunned me. I’m thrilled to death obviously.”

Zaccari’s book is available in both a physical form and on Amazon Kindle, which Zaccari said is driving most of the sales for the book, as it’s easier for people to manage. And even though Zaccari has spent several years gaining the experience needed to write the book, the actual turnaround time for releasing the book was relatively quick.

“The physical time to write the book was three months,” Zaccari said. “By the time editing was done, the total time spent on it was probably around nine to ten months, but writing it only took about 90 days.”

Though he’s gathered a lot of momentum for this book, this isn’t the first time Zaccari has written and published a book. Prior to this one, Zaccari said he put out five self-published books previously, and after working in other mediums, friends of his said he should start writing again. Though he initially didn’t want to explore that avenue again, the help of people around him proved pivotal, specifically that of fellow Amazon Best Seller Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos.

“She’s a hybrid publisher in addition to being a bestselling author,” Zaccari said. “Before, I didn’t understand how the game was played. But she told me how to play it. Because of her and a team of editors who knew how to do this kind of thing, I was able to learn a lot on how to structure a book.”

The learning Zaccari did is fitting, as that’s what his book is predominantly about. Zaccari said the biggest lessons he learned were being able to accept and find what you don’t know, then find the people who can help in the areas of weakness.

“The book is about knowing what you don’t know and surrounding yourself with people who fill in gaps you don’t know,” Zaccari said. “The thing people should be obsessed about is who can help them then bringing in the ones who have the skills you don’t.”

The other thing Zaccari learned to help the success of this book is to tell stories, as throughout his life, that’s what he now understands people retain. Through many anecdotes and experiences, Zaccari gathered that bit of information that’s helped his process.

“I was told by Zig Ziglar that I speak well but that people would forget what I say in five minutes,” Zaccari said.

“That’s where I learned I had to tell stories to get people to retain what I say. I’ve been looking for people’s life altering stories they’ve had on their journey.”

The other big step Zaccari had to take was in marketing. With the help of Melissa Van Oss, who released her own book, Zaccari was able to pick her brain to have a marketing plan and learn how to engage people.

“I would post things on LinkedIn or Facebook and if somebody would comment or write back, I would respond, show my appreciation, and give feedback,” Zaccari said. “That’s how you start building a community and showing them respect, while they respect you. I asked Melissa what she knew that I didn’t, and she helped me make a marketing plan.”

And while the first book has been great for Zaccari, he’s already set on the future. There are two more books to follow Business Secrets for Walking on Water, with the second of the series currently in early editing. That one is expected to be released sometime later this year, but Zaccari is once again deferring to people who know more than him to help him out.

“You rely on the experts,” Zaccari said. “You think how long should I run with the first one and when do I start promoting the second one? When should I start releasing snippets of the second book? One thing they had me do was put parts of book two at the end of book one.”

With two more books on the way, Zaccari is looking to make the most of his reinvigorated writing, while helping people learn to succeed on the back of his own years of experience.

For more information about Zaccari’s book, or his other endeavors, visit https://frankzaccari.com/.

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