Over the past decade, we’ve seen the recording, TV, newspaper, and radio industries undergo an epic transformation. Factors ranging from Hulu and the Huffington Post to the iPod and Spotify have forced century-old industries to completely rethink and reinvent themselves.

In 2011, I was selected to be part of a small group of people to help revolutionize the publishing industry… one of the oldest, and most unchanged fields of business in history. Leading the charge was one of the greatest marketers of our time, Seth Godin.

Our goal was not to undermine, or take down the publishing industry. Rather, we tried to demonstrate that the long-standing (and outdated) belief that the only way to make it as a writer is to have the right connections to get your book on the New York Times Bestseller list.  The reality of the bestseller list is that just because a book sells, doesn’t mean it possesses the best content, the best story, or the best ideas.

Maybe more people would read good books, and take positive action as a result of these books if great authors with great ideas were praised and promoted, rather than the shallow memoirs of Reality TV stars like Snooki.

I’m proud to say that during my tenure as a member of the Domino Project Street Team led by the wonderful and inspirational Amber Rae, we helped to promote twelve different thought-provoking, life-changing books by twelve different powerful, inspiring authors. We helped to publish and sell books in ways that had never been done before.

The biggest lesson I learned from this project is that holding fast to the ideas you’re most passionate about, and surrounding yourself with those who share your passion is the quickest path to success. Authors and creators like Derek Sivers, Steven Pressfield, and even Seth Godin himself could not have created the impact they’ve had without people who bought into their same ideas.

Keep creating, keep moving, keep shipping, and the change and success will inevitably come.