Is Independent Book Publishing Profitable?
In this article, I’ll share the story of how I got started with independent book publishing, what I’ve experimented with, what I’ve learned, and then what I’ve learned about my work when I asked the publishing community for their feedback.
To date, I’ve published 21 books. In this article, I’ll ultimately share whether book publishing and is something I recommend.
My book publishing journey
I spent 12 months researching and writing my first book, Getting Shit Done: The No-Nonsense Framework for Closing the Strategy-Execution Gap. I researched the writing and publishing process and gave the advice offered by experts a go. I put tons of effort into this book and hired a professional editor, illustrator, and cover designer to give it the best shot at success.
Before the launch, I tried to get a Beta Reader and Launch group together, but eventually, everyone ghosted. I got a handful of organic reviews and then had to follow up with other folks I knew to repeatedly ask them to share their review (it was like pulling teeth). Generally, the estimates are that 1% of readers of any book ever leave a review, making my experience par for the course.
