Why self publish?

If you are reading this, the chances are that you are either an authority in your space, well on your way to becoming one, or ambitious to get there quicker. 

No matter which of the three positions reflects where you are in your career journey, a book will certainly increase your credibility, your reputation and your personal brand.

There's also another reason for writing a book -  attracting more business. As well as enhancing your reputation, your book can become a form of extended relationship building opportunity enabling you to build an intimate relationship of trust which can lead to more opportunities to help the reader - and their friends if what you have written is so powerful, they are naturally included to recommend it to their friends.

So how hard is it?
Well, I decided to find out and blog about the pitfalls and wins as my book goes from idea to published on Amazon. Why Amazon? Because they sell 75% of the world's books and my ultimate aim is for my book to become a best seller which can could potentially help millions of people to enjoy better working lives. Amazon is the best way to get that level of exposure. Depending on your price point, it enables you to keep around 70% of your sale price  - much more than through conventional publishing, and it puts you in the driving seat.

Recording what I discover in this blog will enable me to create a process which can be replicated through a course. Why do that? So that I can help other business owners, and particularly women in the career development and self help space in the UK to do the same, given we share the same passion and drive to make a difference. All of us working in this space have big hearts that want to give and make a difference and I want to develop a community with that same heart beat so we can all help improve the world in our own ways.

So what's my starting point?
Well, if you are at all like me, your head will be buzzing with several ideas, all of which would make great books.

Some feel easier to write than others. But not all best sellers are created equal.

From a reputational perspective, there is simply no point in writing an "also ran" book. It is less likely to pull in new clients and is more likely to do harm than good by pulling in negative reviews - the very last thing you need reputationally!

Like all business ideas, the starting point is all about clarifying the idea using research and testing it. From there, it's a question of structuring your document and committing to daily action. The average ebook is around 45,000 to 75,000 words long. If we break that down, if you commit to writing 1500 words a day, every day, you will have your book written in between 30 and 50 days. Hopefully that makes it seem more do-able! You'll need some time for editing and comment from others which can run in parallel with your writing, and for your cover design to be done. Taking it all together, and allowing for a little slippage, your book could be up on Amazon and working as a brand asset for you wiht between one and two months.

So if you are ready, let's get started!