Take it from me. I’ve self-published 3 books since 2020, and have been promptly burnt by the process.
In the first ever book of quotes I published, I remember excitedly receiving the stack and stack of postcards that I had made, and then seeing them sit there for the next… 2 years.
It slowly gathered dust as it sat under my bed.
I was unable to clear the stack by selling them, and had to give them away.
I had made a clear mistake. I wanted to satisfy my own ego, over and above thinking whether people actually still wrote on postcards.
Just look at what’s below. It looks beautiful, but it had little practicality.
That’s why I recommend that you write a must-read.
Write a must-read
Imagine this. What if one day, you published a book, gave it to someone, and he saw it a year later as he was spring-cleaning during Chinese New Year, and promptly threw it away without thinking?
Or think about this question.
When was the last time you read a book that you recommended to everyone else?
That’s hard to say, right?
Yes, because books are easier to write, but much harder to read.
When you write a book, you’re essentially writing something that people need to give time to. Time they will never get back.
Why should they give that time to you?
When I published and printed my first real book, I still remember the time when someone showed me his personal copy, and showed me his highlighted piece, and told me,
John, this changed how I saw my own job.
Books have that potential to change someone’s life.
And that’s why even before you self-publish your own book, you should take time to ask,
is this book a must-read?
Why would people read it?
Part of the reason why Vault worked for my readers was because over and over again, I had to compare it with the reader in my head. I kept thinking what would resonate for him.
And it worked.
Let’s go through the 5 parts before you decide to self-publish.
Because the truth is,
once you get the structure right,
self-publishing is easy.
Really. All you need then is just
- Editor
- Designer
- Printer
Do it well, or not at all
You’re going to kill a bunch of trees printing the book you’ve written. Why not just do it well?
But you might say,
how do I do it well?
Know who your story is for
Having gone through this process 4 times, we’ve come to see the most important thing is being clear about what story you’d like to write. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the story is, as long as you’re aware of who it is for.
I say this because you, as the self-publisher, can publish anything. That’s right. No one is going to stop you even if it’s a bad story.
As long as you know who the story is going to be for, you can write anything you’d like.
You can do this by having an ideal reader in mind.
- Think about what the problem he is going through is.
- See how he is currently solving the problem.
- Find a better way to his current problem.
As AJ Harper, the famed ghostwriter once said,
a book is not about something.
It’s for someone.
Similarly, even if your book is just for your family, as long as you’re confident that they will take time to read, and that the story is a vital part of their history, then it wouldn’t matter.
Another story we’ve heard is that of Lawrence Chua, the Senior Pastor of Living Sanctuary Brethren Church. He’s written a book entitled Small Beginnings, which he used to remind the church on how it came from a dying church to become a resurgent church.
Whilst his congregation is relatively small at 1700 today, the book is still in active circulation, encouraging and pastoring the people who read it.
Again, it’s evidence that whilst the readership might be potentially small, the self-publishing route offers you the flexibility to ship the book quickly to your target audience.
Know the problem
Frame the problem before you try solving the reader’s problem.
There is a cost to self publishing
Whilst I would love to tell you to follow your dreams, you need to be aware of the cost of those dreams.
| Publication | How I did it | How much it cost |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 – A collection of 22 postcards of inspirational quotes | I got a calligrapher, and then printed it on my own | Total of $2450, with $1150 for the Singaporean calligrapher I worked with, and then $1300 to print 500 copies |
| 2021 – An ebook for social workers | I got a designer to do it | $5850 |
| 2023 – 500 copies of a book on adulting | Got a hybrid publisher called Candid Creations to do it | Total of $13500, with $11500 for printing, publishing and editing, and $2000 for a designer |
Structure, structure, structure
As much as you would like to kickstart the book writing process, I’ve personally rewritten a book 4 times. That was 45k words, 4 times.
You can imagine the pure agony.
Don’t do that to yourself. It’s vital that you sit down and plot an outline, with simple dot dashes indicating how you’d like to develop the story.
An example is given below.
Test with trusted readers
After you’ve written the first draft, send it to your wife or close friend. You need their painful feedback in order to improve the manuscript.
Work with the resistance
Writing a book is never going to be easy.
You’re going to give up. Everyday is war, as you do battle with the pen (and the pain).
Take time to gently understand what book it is you’re going to write.
Or not, don’t write it at all.
And yes, you can always come to us, but we will ask you the same questions.
- Who is this book for?
- How will the reader be transformed by this book?
You might find this unnecessary. After all, you’re paying the money. You should be able to write anything you want. But honestly, if you’re just writing for the sake of getting a label as an ‘author’, there are easier labels to get.
Write, because you want to touch someone else’s life, without you being there. Write because you want to transform.
Write, because it matters.