Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, I’d like to welcome Donnie Masters, author of Start Winning With Money: Your Guide to Personal Finance, Small Business Growth, and Building Wealth, for an author Interview.

About the author:

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Hello, Donnie. Thank you for being here today.

Can you please tell my readers a little bit about yourself?

Sure. I was born and raised in a little city in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia called Martinsburg. The city of Martinsburg is about 2 hours north west of Washington D.C.

I entered into the real, working world when I was 15. I speak about this in the very first chapter of my book, Start Winning With Money. I started earning money while working after school. Once I bought my own car and had to be “responsible” with my money, I began working longer and harder to buy more stuff and do more things in life. The really sad part is, I made every bad decision that a young person with extra cash can make!

I went on to work as a manager for several retail and restaurant chains before I was 25. I then decided to get some college education and was a district manager for Sleepy’s from 2010 – 2015. I left at that time and used my talents to get into an accounting role for a small business as well as started writing part time. I have more than 15 years experience in upper level management for retail and restaurant operations.

Please tell us about your book?

Start Winning With Money was written as a book that I wish I was given when I entered the working world. It contains vitally important information on managing your debt, student loans, building true wealth, and lots more. I believe that people have been misled on several widely believed money myths and need to hear the real and factual evidence speak for itself.

Most importantly, Start Winning With Money was meant to be a starting point on your financial journey. I wanted to provide a “road map” that you could follow on your way to making better financial decisions. It gives the reader a general and broad path to follow based on your life decisions.

How long did it take you to write it?

About 12 months all together. There are some very specific pieces of information that required a good bit of research. I spent 2-3 months outlining and researching, then I started writing the content.

Why did you choose this topic?

I am an accountant by trade. I handle the finances for a small, privately owned business every day as my “normal” job. After I received a lot of really positive feedback from Mattress Buying 101, my first book, I decided to write on another subject I knew about, money.

It was also important to me that I made an impact on someone’s life. I wanted to write a guide that would help the average person get motivated enough to fix the financial mess that they were in. You are talking to the guy that made every mistake imaginable after all, so if I can do this, anyone can!

Which writers in your field inspire you?

I read them all for different reasons, but Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, Robert Kiyosaki and Brandon Turner from Bigger Pockets. All of them have given me valuable gems that I have used in my personal life. I believe they all have a message to share with people.

What inspired you to write?

Originally I wrote Mattress Buying 101 because I was frustrated with how the industry treated the average mattress customer. Most of the salespeople at all the mattress stores were on commission only, so they didn’t care about anything other than making a sale. We taught people to sell differently and we thrived financially, both as a business and personally, because of it.

Now I still write with the intent to educate and inform people, but my subject matter has changed as my life has changed. I provide clickable links in all my work to the articles and opinions I reference for that very reason. I do not want someone to take my opinion, but rather look at factual information and make an educated decision. I want you to know that you have more options in life and most people were probably never taught anything about money other than go to school, get a job, and be happy in your retirement 40 years later. That just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Are you working on any other project(s) right now? If yes, what are they?

Yes, I am working on Keep Winning With Money, which is the detailed sequel to this book. Once you have learned the basic foundation that I teach in Start Winning With Money, I believe people will need a much more detailed and step-by-step guide that will walk you through your life as things happen.

I compare the two books to road maps. Start Winning With Money gives you the general map with big highways and lots of landmarks. Keep Winning With Money will offer a much more focused and specific road to follow in order to get exactly where you want to go in life.

I am also working on my podcast coming out soon and considering exploring a book for children about money issues.

How do you prefer to write? On computer/laptop, typewriter, dictation or longhand with a pen?

I use a laptop and dictation most of the time. My thoughts can run really quickly sometimes and so my fingers can not keep up! I like to be able to type as if I was speaking to you face to face, or even better in a teaching environment. I hope my style reflects teaching and compassion.

What are your 5 favorite books and 5 favorite authors?

I don’t have just 5 favorite books, I have read way too many to name just 5.

My 5 favorite authors are David McCullough for history, Stephen King for fiction, and Robert Kiyosaki for money. I love to mix in Brad Meltzer as well as John Grisham from time to time. I read on many different subjects, though not as much as I used to obviously.

Non-Fiction deals with a lot of facts and real-life study. How do you deal with all the research work?

Alcoholic beverages. No, I am kidding. I spend 2-3 months on the average book outline and research to support my position. Most people do not realize that it takes a lot of time to find good, pertinent information that can be used to help support a major point or validate an opinion.

For me, I love it though. I listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of money articles and books that offer differing opinions. This allows me to offer up what I have used in real life, as well as what the “smart people” tell you to do with your money. I believe the research makes it possible to explain this to the reader in an informed and logical manner.

What advice would you give to new aspiring authors in your genre?

Write a lot and keep focused on good content.

I literally have pages and pages of material that were edited out of 2 small books that I have published so far. I do not like a lot of what comes out on paper at first, and so I go back and work on it trying to make sense of what I am reading. I have been known to re-write paragraphs and even multiple pages that didn’t come across on paper correctly.

Remember that actionable content is king. If you are going to ask people to spend their hard earned money, then the book needs to be worth the money spent on it. Don’t just sell fluff and bluster to create pages, offer real content that people can use in their lives. Non-fiction makes you work at proving your credibility to the reading audience. I love that about it.

Thank you, Donnie, for all your interesting answers! “Alcoholic beverages” had me cracking! And it is very true about what Donnie said about actionable content being the king.

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About The Book:

If you are looking to make millions of dollars while sitting in your pajamas, then this book is not for you!

Start Winning With Money is financial book that offers high impact, real world solutions for life’s many money questions.
Want to better your personal finances?
Want to open your own successful business?
Would you like some real clarity on the cost of higher education?
Want to address the issue of debt in your life?
All of that and more is available to you.

Start Winning With Money will teach you:
Why your current income has nothing to do with obtaining wealth
Challenge the popular belief that all debt is bad
Address the issues with public education and why you were taught to fail with money
Define a proper budget
Why good debt can help you grow wealthy
Explain the importance of money in achieving financial freedom
Redefine true wealth.

Book Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071NMPPYR
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35666557-start-winning-with-money

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If you are an author and wish to be interviewed or if you are a publicist and want to get your author interviewed on TRB, then please get in touch through direct e-mail: thereadingbud@gmail.com