Start With the Question That Matters Most

Many people tell me they want to write a book. Fewer actually write one. Fewer still stop before they begin and ask the question that probably matters most: Why do I want to do this?

If the answer is money, I would reconsider. Some authors make real money from books. Some authors turn one book into a career. But most nonfiction authors, particularly professionals writing in a niche, are not going to make enough from book sales to justify the hundreds of hours it takes to write, edit, publish, and promote a book. If you calculate your return by the hour, the math may be depressing.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write one. It means you should understand the return you are actually seeking. Maybe you have something useful to say. Maybe you have spent 20 years learning lessons that could save someone else 10 years. Maybe you want to establish yourself in a field, teach younger professionals, build credibility, open doors to speaking opportunities, or put your ideas into a form that lasts longer than a social media post. Those are all good reasons to write a book.

The book itself may not be the business. It may be a calling card, a credential, a conversation starter, or a contribution.

Before You Write, Understand Your Platform

In nonfiction publishing, you will hear the word “platform” a lot. Your platform is essentially your existing ability to reach the people who might buy and read your book. It is not limited to social media followers. It can include a LinkedIn audience, newsletter subscribers, podcast listeners, speaking engagements, association leadership, clients, professional networks, media appearances, prior publications, courses, or a recognized position in a particular industry.

Publishers care about platform because they are making a commercial bet. A terrific manuscript helps, but a publisher also wants to know who is going to buy it and how those readers will hear about it. If you already speak to 5,000 people at conferences each year, have 30,000 engaged followers, publish regularly in respected outlets, or lead an organization whose members are the natural audience for your book, you have reduced some of the publisher’s risk.

There is no magic follower number. Ten thousand people who actually care about your subject may be more valuable than 100,000 people who followed you for something unrelated. Engagement, credibility, access, and fit matter. The better question is not “How many followers do I need?” It is “Can I identify a meaningful audience that knows me, trusts me, and has a reason to care about this book?”

If your platform is small, start building it before the book comes out. Write articles. Speak. Post useful material. Appear on podcasts. Start a newsletter. Participate in the organizations that serve your intended readers. Do it because you have something to contribute, not because you are collecting human beings for a future sales funnel. A real platform is built on trust.

Traditional Publishing: What You Are Really Choosing

Traditional publishing generally means a publishing house acquires your book, pays for the publishing process, and handles editing, design, production, distribution, and at least some marketing. Depending on the deal, you may receive an advance against royalties and then royalties if sales exceed the advance.

The obvious advantages are credibility, professional infrastructure, broader distribution, and a team that knows how to turn a manuscript into a finished book. A recognized publisher can make it easier to get into bookstores, secure media attention, and place the book in channels an individual author can’t reach.

The tradeoffs are control, speed, and economics. Traditional publishing moves slowly. You may have less control over the title, cover, length, release date, pricing, and sometimes the substance. The publisher owns the commercial process. Your royalty on each copy will generally be much smaller than what you could retain through self-publishing.

And getting a traditional deal is not simply a matter of finishing a manuscript and emailing it to a publisher. For many nonfiction projects, the real first product is the book proposal.

The Literary Agent and the Book Proposal

Many major publishers do not want unsolicited submissions. They want literary agents to bring projects to them. An agent understands which editors are acquiring which types of books, how to position a project, how to negotiate a publishing agreement, and how to protect the author’s interests.

For a nonfiction book, you often approach agents with a proposal rather than a completed manuscript. A strong proposal typically explains the idea, the audience, why the book matters now, why you are the person to write it, competing or comparable books, your platform, your marketing reach, a chapter outline, and sample chapters.

That proposal forces you to answer questions you should answer anyway. Who is this for? What problem does it solve? Why will someone buy it instead of the 50 books already addressing the same general subject? What is your distinct point of view? How will readers find you?

Finding an agent requires research. Look for agents who represent nonfiction in your category. Review books similar to yours and see who represented the authors. Read agency submission guidelines and follow them. A generic blast to hundreds of agents is easy to send and easy to ignore. A thoughtful query showing that you understand an agent’s list is more work, but publishing has never been a business in which avoiding the work is a competitive advantage.

Rejection is part of the process. A rejection does not necessarily mean the book is bad. It can mean the timing is wrong, the category is crowded, the platform isn’t large enough, the agent doesn’t know the right editor for it, or the project doesn’t fit that agent’s list.

Self-Publishing Is Publishing — But You Become the Publisher

Self-publishing has changed dramatically. You can now produce a professional book, sell print and electronic editions, and reach readers around the world without persuading a traditional publishing house to acquire the project.

The advantages are significant. You control the content, title, cover, price, timing, updates, and marketing. You can move much faster. Your per-copy economics can be better. If your book serves a narrow professional audience that you already know how to reach, self-publishing can make enormous sense.

But “self-publishing” should not mean “I did everything myself.” Traditional publishers employ editors, copy editors, proofreaders, designers, production specialists, and marketers for a reason. If you self-publish, you are taking responsibility for assembling those functions. Hire a good editor. Have someone proofread the final text. Invest in a professional cover. Make the interior look like a real book. A reader should not be able to identify your publishing model from the quality of the finished product.

The biggest danger in self-publishing is that no gatekeeper will tell you the book isn’t ready. Freedom is useful. So is friction. Create your own quality-control process.

Which Path Should You Choose?

Your goal should drive the decision. If your dream is national bookstore distribution, major media, and the validation and infrastructure of an established publishing house, pursuing an agent and traditional publisher may be worth the time and rejection that come with it.

If your goal is to get a highly specialized book into the hands of clients, colleagues, conference attendees, students, or members of your profession, self-publishing may be faster and more rational. If you already have direct access to the people most likely to read the book, you may not need a publisher to build a bridge you already possess.

Independent and hybrid publishers also occupy territory between the two models. The arrangements vary widely. Some provide valuable editorial and production services. Others are essentially expensive service packages wrapped in the language of traditional publishing. Read the agreement. Understand who pays whom, who owns the rights, what services are actually included, how distribution works, and what happens if you want your rights back.

Do not choose a publishing model because one sounds more prestigious at a cocktail party. Choose the one that best serves the book and the reason you wrote it.

Write the Book Only You Can Write

The market doesn’t need another generic book that anyone could have written. Your advantage is your experience, your point of view, your stories, your mistakes, your observations, and the conclusions you reached after doing the work.

That does not mean the book has to be about you. Usually it should not be. The reader should remain at the center. Your experiences matter only insofar as they help the reader understand something, avoid something, accomplish something, or see something differently.

Before writing 60,000 words, be able to explain the book in a few sentences. Identify the reader. Identify what that reader wants or needs. Identify what will be different after the reader finishes the book. Then build the chapters around that promise.

And finish it. The publishing world is filled with people who are “working on a book.” At some point, you have to stop talking about being an author and sit down long enough, often enough, to become one.

The Book Is the Beginning, Not the End

Whether you traditionally publish or self-publish, you will probably have to promote the book. Publishers can help, but authors should not assume that a publishing contract comes with an unlimited...

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