Over at TechCrunch, author James Altucher has written an excellent article about the process of self-publishing his book Choose Yourself.
Every entrepreneur should self-publish a book, because self-publishing is the new business card. If you want to stand out in a world of content, you need to underline your expertise.—James Altucher
A while back I said there are two kinds of publishing: Author Pays and Someone Else pays. Altucher has a different take on it. What he sees is Professional Publishing and Unprofessional Publishing, and he argues that some of the latter is being done by the big houses. I can’t refute that.
Altucher posits that Publishing 1.0 was what we usually think of as “traditional.” Version 2.0 was the boom in self-publishing that we’ve seen in recent years, mostly by do-it-yourselfers.
What Altucher describes is akin to what Guy Kawasaki calls “Artisanal Publishing.” It employs the best editors, designers, and marketers your budget will allow. For a lot of people, this is the way to go because you maintain control and, as Altucher points out, you maintain professionalism, which is the important thing.
There are many ways to cut expenses. But don’t cut professionalism.—James Altucher
The article gives a 12-point list of the steps Altucher took. It’s a long article, but I highly recommend it, with one correction. Under item 5, Editing, Altucher describes having two copyeditors work on his manuscript and then hiring a developmental editor. This is backward. The developmental edit should be done first because there’s no point paying a copyeditor to fix things that are going to change in the developmental edit.
Other than that, it’s a brilliant article—Evernote-worthy.
Disclosure of Material Connection: The links to the two books in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a pittance of a commission from Amazon. Regardless, I only recommend books I believe will be of value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related article: How to decide which publishing model is right for you