self publishing / thinkit creative

The business of writing in the realm of self publishing: a review of “Write. Publish. Repeat.”

By Patrick Gant

In the span of less than half a decade, self publishing has been radically transformed from its humble indie origins and is now a viable first choice for professional writers. That includes consultants and professional speakers who want to grow their audience and help people along the way.

A few of the reasons for this shift are obvious: the meteoric growth of tablets and the shift to online book selling has helped nudge the ebook side of publishing into the tantalizing realm becoming impulse buys. For Amazon, Kobo and the iBookstore, it means they are plenty happy to meet demand with titles that readers want to buy—be it from independent writers or others.

But there’s another reason for this shift, and it’s one that up until now hasn’t really drawn as much attention as it deserves.

A self published book used to carry a stigma. For many readers, it was synonymous with lousy writing, half-assed packaging, typically fitted with a gaping black hole where a publishing and marketing strategy ought to be. [Read more…]

Books that were originally self published: it pays to be different

By Patrick Gant

The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.

In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

All five of these highly successful books found their start as self-published titles. All did so in age well before it become easy to build a professional looking product and distribute it to reach a critical mass.

That’s an achievement in itself.

What they also have in common is this: each book was powered by an idea that was considered too different from what the market thought people wanted.

Being different is scary because it invites the greatest amount of risk that you’ll be rejected.

But most people don’t judge what they like based on a scale of sameness or how different something is.

They just like ideas that help them see things differently.

Important choices you need to make if you want to write a book

By Patrick Gant

Photo: thebbp on flickr

As a business professional, a published book can be one of the most powerful tools in your personal marketing arsenal. Not only does it deliver value to your readers by sharing what you know on a subject, you directly benefit, too.

It can elevate your profile as an authority on the topic you write about. It can reveal your passion. And if your book is really well-written, it also gives people a sense of what you’re like as a person, both on a personal and professional level.

But there are choices to make. Click to continue