The author of Bit Literacy (one of the Startup Bibles) on the secrets of book publishing that they wish they had known:
- The publishers are not doing it for the love of books; they want something that sells.
- If your book will sell, it doesn’t matter what you’re writing about.
- Your main job – practically your only job – is to explain very clearly why the book is going to sell.
- “Original” means “risky,” which means “it might not sell”.
- You write the book, you promote the book – in other words, you create the product and sell it. The best way is if you have a following online – via a blog or newsletter – that you can sell the book to.
- Don’t write a book for the money.
- Distribution is not the same as sales.
- The good news is that there are other options than finding a publisher.