Thread by @marksbirch

When people ask me how long it took to publish my book Community-in-a-Box, I say two months.

They are surprised it was such a short amount of time.

Here are some thoughts on self-publishing a business book. /1

First question is why write a book?

It is an incredibly all-consuming endeavor. Books rarely cover the costs that go into them. Also there is the opportunity cost of doing other things.

Make sure you are clear on goals & outcome. /2

For Community-in-a-Box, I wanted to help others building & managing communities based on my lessons learned launching & scaling @Enterprise_Sale .

I saw many struggling to do things I had figured out through trial & error, so I thought it was worth sharing those experiences. /3

Who are you writing for? This is key because it guides what your book will be about.

There are two audiences: yourself & your readers. Write something you would actually enjoy reading. Then write for others like yourself interested in the topic of your book /4

For my book, I wrote for first time community builders. I wanted the type of book that I wish existed six years ago when I needed the help.

I added content for current community managers based on feedback, but the core audience is the newbies. /5

What is the format, short ebook, full book, other? Depends on your goal, content & time.

If you just want to get it out quickly & content is not too in depth, a short ebook might best. Full books take a ton of commitment and require more expansive treatment of content. /6

At first, I was going for a short ebook. I had 18 pages at the start which then grew to 50 pages. Some early feedback then pushed me to write more.

I had over 200 pages by the end and it was clear a full book was the right format. /7

What will you write? Seems backwards to ask this after the other questions, but why & who helps focus and refine your idea & content.

Easiest and best place to start is to share what you know and love. Personal experience often makes for the most compelling content. /8

Community-in-a-Box is me pouring my stories, mistakes & successes of community building into a book that would be a useful resource while also an interesting read.

This is no small feat to do, but I kept the tone encouraging & conversational. /9

Are you OK spending money? When you self-publish, you take on all the costs of paying editors, illustrators, formatters, cover designers, marketing, and your own time.

Have a budget in mind before you begin. /10

Based on reviewing other book projects on Upwork and Fiverr, I figured $1000 would easily cover all my production costs.

I hired a copy editor for $500 over Upwork, got a cover for $50 on Fiverr. I also bought a pack of ISBN's for $200 (every book needs this ID). /11

Can you manage your book project? Writing a book is only part of the process. You have to interview editors, review designs, craft a marketing plan, figure out book selling logistics, etc.

Plan for this work. /12

I spent 30% of the time on the book process outside of writing. Because this was my first time, it took much longer to navigate.

For example, I did not know the differences in types of editing or how to format a book for Kindle. /13

Will you self-publish? Traditional publishers might add cache, but it is a slow process even if they do decide to publish your book.

You also still need to do much of your own work to market the book, most publishers simply do not have the bandwidth to help. /14

I talked to a few publishers, learned three things:

-June 2021 was the earliest to release my book
-It's just as much work as self-publishing
-I lose control of the process

I decided to self-publish. I released my book in October. I have full control, data & royalties. /15

Where to sell the book? Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing is the easiest place. KDP is setup for Kindle and paperback.

This is when getting ISBN's is important, especially if you distribute your book to sell on other sites like Barnes & Noble, Apple, etc. /16

It only took a couple of hours to set up my Kindle & paperback on KDP. I also wanted distribution on other stores, so used Draft2Digital.

Amazon has some programs to help increase visibility, but you need to sell exclusive on their site, which I did not do. /17

How to market it? Having a following helps. Do not limit to just professional contacts. Writing a book is an accomplishment, do not be shy to tell the world.

Lots of free ways to promote like newsletters, email, website, blog, social media, podcasts & work announcements. /18

I built a website using Wix, posted on social, created company on LinkedIn to invite contacts, wrote a series of blog posts & newsletters, sent email to my 20K contacts & let work colleagues know.

I set this up before launch so I could get pre-orders, build up the interest. /19

Is writing a book worth it? Depends on your goals, but do not expect to self-publish a best seller or moneymaker. Few books succeed on that level.

If you're looking for visibility, increase your credibility, or genuinely help others, then you will have better outcomes. /20

In one month, I made up my costs on this book. Not huge numbers, but it also increased my visibility with the people I most cared about, community builders.

I got invites to podcasts & to give talks, and added new followers in the community world. /21

Every path is different to publishing a book. I do not think it is ever a quick win. The reward of a book is the long-tail. Over time, the benefits come.

I also learned a ton about self-publishing. Having to be hands on gives me confidence to go this route for future books. /22

Should you self-publish if you have the option to go through a publisher? If they are giving you a big advance & publicity, sure.

But that is not the case for the vast majority of authors. So self-publishing makes more sense & offers more control. /23

If you have any questions about writing a book, I am happy to help. I am definitely no expert, but I figured out a few things that could help you along.

Here is my book if you are curious to see what I did:
community-in-a-box.com

And good luck on your book journey! /24