What's It Like, Being An Independent Published Author? - October 27, 2026

Like Any Entrepreneur, There’s A Product To Get People Interested In.  

Published authors don’t like to think of their books as products, but instead think of them as works of art, or creative work. That's fair, but writing/recording/painting alone won’t get your books, music or art in front of an audience, and if no one sees your work, what was the point of producing it?  

Regardless of the income-generating side of writing a book, creative people produce their work to share it with as many people as possible.  Being a creative - a writer, a musician, an artist, or a social media content creator, requires you to be a sales/business person as well, spreading the word about your brilliant piece of content. Those with a contrary view will argue that book sales or album sales/song streams should not serve as validation of your work.  I'm not saying it does, but any creative person who tells you that the sales volume of their output doesn’t matter to them, is not being truthful.  

My first book, “Who’s In The Band?” was independently published on September 1, 2026. It was an exciting moment, being able to say I was a published author.  I used the Kindle Direct Publishing (“KDP”) platform and was impressed with how simple it made it to independently publish a book. And, with the KDP program your book is available for sale on Amazon, in up to three different formats.  For any of you thinking of writing and publishing a book, I encourage you to do it, as it is quite an accomplishment.  But I will advise you that writing and publishing your book is only half the journey…which brings me to where I am today.  

Six weeks after my book was published and listed on Amazon, I'm realizing it takes just as much work to promote your book and generate sales, as it does to write and publish it.  As the term “independent author” suggests, there is no publishing house supporting you with marketing and promotion of your book.  There is no outside effort to work the sales channels (i.e., bookstores) that established authors benefit from.  All of that marketing, promotion and sales effort falls to the independent author themselves.  None of this was a surprise to me. 

(Click here to purchase “Who’s In The Band?”)

Having been an entrepreneur and business leader for many years, I look at my situation as an independent author as no different than an entrepreneur with a product idea, trying to get people interested in my offering. In this case my “product” is a book about famous rock bands touring without the members of the band that formed the identity of that band.  Like any entrepreneur, I believe my offering is good and will provide enjoyment to those engaged with the product, my book.  

Without overwhelming my readers on Substack, I selectively post about my book, in posts  like this one.  It’s a gentle reminder that in addition to my regular weekly articles, I have a book I'm trying to generate interest in.   Similarly, I post on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram about my book.  

Rightly or wrongly, I do not post on LinkedIn about my book.  I’ve got over 1,600 connections on LinkedIn from my thirty-plus years of working, and I may be missing out on a large audience, but posting about my book on LinkedIn seems to me like too much self-promotion, and that's not why people go to LinkedIn.  I realize this contradicts my own advice to “always be selling”; honestly I don’t know if I'm making a mistake here.  Tell me what you think in the Comments section.  

Having said that, whenever I'm given an opening in a conversation, or in a social media thread, I’m going to promote my book.  Thirty-plus experiences as an entrepreneur taught me that you always have to be selling.  The skill required here is not to overwhelm your audience with your sales pitch, but tell a story that is of interest to your audience that gently weaves your product (in this case my book) into that story.  

The Final Word

As mentioned above, I’m an entrepreneur and business leader. Writing articles on Substack and publishing my first book were a change of direction in my career, with the intention of proving that I could write and that I’d enjoy doing it.  So, even though the initial sales of my first book are modest, I’m glad I undertook the effort and brought my book idea to life.  As you’ve heard me say many times, getting to the starting line is the hardest part of any endeavour. I'm proud to have stepped up to the starting line,written and published a book, knowing that the finish line will only appear once I've sold a ton of books…so my journey with this first book continues.  

As I said above, if you have aspirations of writing a book, just do it.  Regardless of how many books you sell, the trip is well worth it.  

Thanks for reading!

Are you an independent author? Share your thoughts on this writing in the Comments below.

Are you on LinkedIn? If so, share your views on what’s appropriate for a LinkedIn post in the Comments section below.

(Click here to purchase “Who’s In The Band?”)