Episode 11 – Self Publishing: We All Have At Least One Book In Us
“Life is about creating and living experiences that are worth sharing.” – Steve Jobs
The value of self-publishing even for those who can’t write
I’ve heard it said that everyone has at least one book in them. Until recently publishing a book was a daunting task mostly reserved for those who were driven by some mysterious muse to persist with their craft against all odds. Once a writer endured the journey of writing a book, they had to undertake the task of submitting their books to publishers hoping for expressed interest. Unpublished writers, like actors, had to have so-called “real” jobs in order to survive day to day. But that’s all changed! Anyone can become an author today and I encourage you to do so.
What questions we plan to answer:
– Why you should consider becoming an author
– How you can write a book without much sweat
– Who can help you to publish your book
Situation:
I was a literature and language arts major in school. My professional roles in Public Affairs and Marketing often involved writing and editing. Nevertheless, I never felt compelled to write a book. Certainly ideas for books would pop in my head from time to time, but I would readily give them away because I knew I didn’t have the endurance or desire to sit down to the task. I knew how much effort writing a book demanded because my sister and brother spent years writing their books.
However, when I became the leader of a group of professionals who were navigating the white waters of industry contraction, I became struck by the stories of their journeys. I felt their stories were inspirational, motivational and that they had to be told. Because I am very aware of my strengths and weaknesses, I reached out to a former leader of the group, whom I felt had strengths to complement my weaknesses, to see if she had interest in it. She readily said yes.
As I spoke about the idea to others, I received incredible support. One person gave me the name of her self-publisher along with tips for working with them. Another friend referred me to various digital books her colleague had published. Soon the task seemed less daunting.
Solution:
I chose to work with iUniverse self-publishing. However, there are many others out there. I was very pleased with my experience. Self-publishers offer various packages at varying costs. We chose a basic one that included limited editing support for just under $1,000. We selected iUniverse because they assured that the digital book would be compatible with all key distribution channels such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They also provided a marketing point of view to help you to gauge the likely interest and to help you to make adjustments to the book to improve its appeal. The publisher also offered a few printed copies of the book, along with about two dozen digital comps with our package. The various persons with whom we worked were very professional and responsive. Even when we ran into a snag that lagged our progress for about six months, they rode the snag with us to resolution.
Our book wrote itself in the sense that it is a compilation of job-seeking journeys of varied professionals from lawyers to scientists to doctors and sales persons. The challenge for us became harmonizing the tone throughout so it would be an easy read. This took some re-writing. It definitely helps to have a partner because you can re-read something a hundred times and still miss an error.
After my experience, I could appreciate the many advantages of self-publishing. First of all, it is still new enough that a lot of people are impressed just to hear you’ve done it. Next, it is a great ice-breaker. When you are at a loss for an opener with someone, try starting with a factoid or insight from your book. It usually leads to a nice conversation. I never get tired hearing about what people have taken time to write about.
It is also a great self-marketing tool. You have a good reason to reach out to your network repeatedly with various snippets that offer value in a variety of ways for your audiences.
How to start?
– Check out your social media. If you are like me with little interest in staring at a blank page for inspiration. Explore your social media. You may have already written your book! A public relations person I know creates her digital books by compiling the content from her website bloggers. Once she gets enough content on a given topic, she makes a book and offers the books for download from her website.
– Investigate self-publishers to find the one with a package that is right for you. I liked iUniverse because I was not writing a serious tome and because it was my first experience with a book so I needed support from people used to working with beginners. From what I understand these new self-publishing companies will triage serious writers to the appropriate persons in their organizations.
– Consider the benefits that self-publishing can offer you. I once interviewed someone who had an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a law degree from another university. During the interview for a marketing position for which he had had little experience, he began talking about the book he self-published. He spoke about his motivation for doing so, and how he had used the book to build a side business. I was very impressed and he was hired. Since then, he grew his business and is now doing it full time. His book was a great way for him to acquire his first clients.
By the way, Linda’s digital book is called: “Wit and Wisdom: Journeys through Career Transition.” You can search for it in Amazon books. Put the full title in the browser.
Leave us a comment below and let us know the title of a book you want to self publish!
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