I’m Dr. Angela Lauria, and I am the Author Incubator. Here’s my story…
(Some of it at least)
I’m OK — You’re OK was the first personal development book I ever read. I was 11. And I wasn’t okay. I was the fat kid.
I found the book behind the glass of an old mahogany Governor Winthrop secretary desk at my friend Jenny’s house. Her mom had the best self-help books.
On a sleepover one night in sixth grade, I snuck out of my sleeping bag, and walked to that Governor Winthrop by the light of my Girl Scout alarm clock, creaked open the doors of that old desk and I pulled the book I’m OK — You’re OK off the shelf.
I snuck back to my sleeping bag and stayed up all night reading by the alarm clock glow. Looking for wholeness and healing.
I wanted so desperately to know How to Win Friends & Influence People and later, I wanted to know how to Return to Love.
I hated not fitting in. I hated my body. I hated feeling like an outsider all the time. But when I read, I had hope. Books were my constant companion. Even as I ballooned to over 300 pounds, I continued to read and change and grow and heal.
Why Self-Help Books Don’t Work
On my journey, I’ve read at least five thousand books, but only a few actually made a difference in my life. So I studied hundreds of books that have made a big impact, compared them to books that didn’t, and distilled the principles to create the Difference Process™ that is behind the success of the books I help authors create.
Despite more than a decade of experience in the book industry, it wasn’t until 2010 that I started to help healers, coaches, and other transformation experts craft books that would make a difference, and it wasn’t until 2013 that I started The Author Incubator. Like many of my clients, it took me a long time to find and answer my calling, but it was there all along, even way back in that sleeping bag on Grieb Road in Wallingford, Connecticut.
The Secret Behind My Authors’ Impact
Since 2014 I’ve helped more than 250 first-time authors publish high-quality, life-changing, bestselling books. My authors have touched hundreds of thousands of lives with their messages, and generated millions of dollars in revenue for their movements.
I can tell you my credentials. How I’ve been in the publishing industry for more than 20 years. How I have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Journalism from The George Washington University. How in 2005 I received a PhD in communications from the European Graduate School. (My dissertation was about creating social change.) I can tell you how in 2010 I was certified as a Publishing Coach from International Institute of Coaching Studies (IICS), and in 2013 I completed my Life Coach Training and was certified with Martha Beck. But honestly, I think that’s all bullshit.
Here’s the Real Source of My Magic — Ready?
I was a theatre geek in school – going way back to Kindergarten. I particularly love Misner’s work.
I worked in publishing as a ghostwriter, researcher, editor, copywriter, and publicist for almost 20 years before starting my business.
And I had a side hustle for a decade to pay my way through grad school doing Internet marketing, particularly something called “direct response.”
I spent most of my 20s and 30s working my publishing job during the day, doing direct response marketing at night, and doing theatre on the weekends. The bizarre combination of those skills and my ability to eat my weight in cheese and chocolate and feel inordinate amounts of shame in the morning was what really led to my particular brand of book wizardry.
In short, there is no one else who does what I do, and I am constantly working with some of the best coaches mentors, and high-level mastermind groups on the planet to make sure I stay at the top of my game.
I’ve also written four books about what I do
The Author Castle
Oh, and one more thing…. I bought you a house… a castle really. I’m the steward of The Author Castle in McLean, Virginia – a space for authors and authors-in-transformation to learn how to make the biggest difference they can make in the world. I live there with my husband Paul, my already high-performing entrepreneur son Jesse, and our Castle cats, and I can’t wait to welcome you. If you are a fellow magic-maker, I know you will feel right at home.
