Trump: The Art of the Deal also contains an 11-step formula for business success, inspired by Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking". Trump was persuaded to produce the book by Condé Nast owner Si Newhouse after the May 1984 issue of Newhouse's magazine "GQ" – with Trump appearing on the cover – sold well. Schwartz was hired to work on the book, and began working with Trump in late 1985. He interviewed Trump and – with permission from him – listened in on his phone calls. According to Schwartz in July 2016, Trump wrote none of the book, choosing only to remove a few
The Power of Positive Thinking also condemned Peale's methods in his book, "Authentic Happiness". He writes that, “positive thinking often involves trying to believe upbeat statements such as 'Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better,' in the absence of evidence, or even in the face of contrary evidence.” Seligman continues his critique saying, “if you can manage the feat of actually believing these sorts of statements, more power to you. Many educated people, trained in skeptical thinking, cannot manage this kind of boosterism.” Similarly, Donald Meyer, in his book "The Positive Thinkers", critiques the effectiveness of Peale's techniques saying that Peale always