Case Study:#1 Bestselling Author Kris WardPodcaster & Marketing Agency Owner
How Kris Ward, a podcaster and marketing agency owner, used Gundi Gabrielle's course to publish Win the Hour, Win the Day! and ride Amazon's algorithm to roaring sales.
By Gundi Gabrielle
6 min read
This Kris Ward case study is about one of my own students, and it's a great example of what happens when someone takes a course and then goes all the way with coaching on top of it.
Kris is a bestselling author, podcaster and marketing agency owner, and the author of Win the Hour, Win the Day! Time Management for Small Business. She'd already taken another publishing course before finding my book and still felt like she didn't have what she needed, until she went through my full program.
I had her share her story for my Author Success Stories series. The full video is right here, and below it I've pulled out what I think any nonfiction author can copy.
One note before we start: this testimonial comes from an earlier version of my course. Golden Bestseller Empire is its next chapter. The methods are exactly the same, and they're timeless: finding your angle, writing a real book, and setting it up to be found. What's new is that you now have AI-assisted tools and 31+ one-click generators that make every one of those steps even easier.
Who is Kris Ward, and why is her story worth studying?
Kris Ward is a bestselling author, podcaster and marketing agency owner, and the author of Win the Hour, Win the Day! Time Management for Small Business: A 4-Week Productivity Plan to Go From Overwhelmed to Highly Efficient and Reclaim Your Life.
You can see her full catalog on her Amazon author page and learn more about her at winthehourwintheday.com.
Here's the part I love most: Kris had already been through a different course before mine, and it still hadn't given her what she needed. In her own words, she'd "been out there beating the bushes" and just couldn't find it, until she came across my book on publishing.
π Want your own book to be the start of something? Golden Bestseller Empire walks you through it. β See how it works
Why did one course feel like three different programs to her?
Kris described the course as so comprehensive that she joked I could have broken it down and sold it as three completely separate programs: writing the book, getting it live on Amazon, and setting it up to actually be found. Each one, she said, is a genuinely different skill, and without the course mapping out what came next, step by step, she simply wouldn't have known.
Her own comparison was that most resources give you a small droplet of what you need. This felt like water finally coming at her all at once, in a good way.
Why did she go beyond the course and add coaching?
Kris didn't stop at the course itself. She also took my coaching program on top of it, and told me it "exceeded everything by a thousand percent." In her words, you can get a lot out of the book alone, and a tremendous amount out of the course alone, but combining the course with direct coaching is what took her results further still.
π Starting from zero, like Kris did? Golden Bestseller Empire guides you step by step. β See the 8 steps
Why did speed matter so much to her?
Kris had already wasted time on other courses before finding mine, so she was determined not to lose more of it. She told me how rich and efficient the content was, letting her move through the entire process in a short period of time even though she felt like she was starting behind.
What results has the book brought her?
In her own words, shared in a written testimonial as well as her video:
"I've had roaring success with my book. Doing well with sales, I'm on a lot of podcasts and the quality of the book, all the things that set it up to allow me to ride the algorithm, all came from Gundi. Just can't say enough!! If what I have to offer my clients is half as useful, I will be thrilled!! Don't walk, RUN to her program!"
She credits the book's setup, everything from the cover color to the keywords, with giving her the foundation to "ride the algorithm" of whatever media she puts out, not just the book itself. That's exactly the kind of compounding result I want every author to get: the book becomes the credibility engine behind everything else, podcast features, client trust, sales.
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What can you learn from Kris Ward's case study?
If you take only a few things from Kris, take these:
- A course isn't a course if the steps aren't mapped out. The real value Kris found was in knowing exactly what came next at every stage, writing, publishing, and positioning.
- Don't be afraid to go further than the base program if you need it. Coaching on top of the course is what took her results from good to a thousand percent better, in her words.
- Details like cover color and keywords aren't decoration, they're mechanics. Kris specifically credits them with helping her book get found by Amazon's algorithm.
- A bestseller can become your business's credibility engine. Her book now supports her client work and podcast appearances, not just book sales.
- If you've been burned by other courses, that's not a reason to wait longer, it's a reason to find the right one faster. Kris moved quickly once she found a program that actually mapped out the process.
Kris's results are her own, and results vary from author to author. See my Earnings Disclaimer.
How does this fit Amazon's new book algorithm?
Kris specifically pointed to her book's setup, its cover, its keywords, as what let her "ride the algorithm." That matters even more now, because Amazon is moving toward relationship-based discovery, where a book is understood by who it's for and what it solves, not only by keywords. I've explained how that works in How to Get Your Book Page Ready for AI Shopping.
This is exactly why I built Golden Bestseller Empire the way I did. Your Book Planner blueprint is turned into an algorithm-ready outline and a knowledge graph. That same blueprint then feeds your book description, A+ content, backend keywords, translations and Amazon ads keywords. I don't know of another app that does that.
And your book stays yours. The Writing Studio works like a word processor where you write or dictate, with an AI Writing Coach and an AI Editor on your side.
Watch the full Kris Ward interview
If you'd like to hear Kris tell her story in her own words, watch the full video above, or see her full catalog on her Amazon author page and at winthehourwintheday.com.
If you have a book inside you, whatever the topic, I'd love to help you get it out, the same way I helped Kris. Golden Bestseller Empire guides you from your first idea to a published book, step by step, with a full publishing course and AI-assisted tools, and your words stay yours. When you're ready, take a look here.
That's the Kris Ward case study: a course so comprehensive it felt like three, coaching that exceeded her expectations by a thousand percent, and a bestseller that now rides the algorithm for her.
π Ready to find your own underserved niche? Golden Bestseller Empire walks you from idea to published book, step by step. β Get started here
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Created By
Top 100 Business Author Β· Carnegie Hall Conductor Β· Founder of Golden Bestseller Empire
Hey, I'm Gundi, and for over a decade, I've helped thousands of everyday people turn what they know into a bestselling book.
Along the way, I sold over 350,000 books, and was listed in Amazon's Top 100 Business Author Charts, ahead of authors like Simon Sinek, BrenΓ© Brown, Tim Ferriss, Robert Kiyosaki, or Brian Tracy.
No traditional publisher. No massive budget. Just understanding Amazon's algorithm and researching what readers actually want.
In my earlier years, I was a classical conductor & organist, touring the world, incl. Carnegie Hall & a performance for the Pope on St. Peter's Square.
These days, I love traveling as a Digital Nomad and orchestrating busy AI Agents π. Out of that came Golden Bestseller Empire β a complete AI-Powered Book Publishing Studio now helping authors around the world.
Can't wait to see you inside & help you publish your dream:
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