​As the game gets harder, the expectations become higher.
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I didn’t want to imagine myself walking into the workforce with the expectation of eventually earning my master’s degree or even a doctorate. I’m not saying I’m closing the doors to those potential opportunities in the future entirely, but completing my undergraduate education left me with a feeling many young people encounter when they are truly emancipated from the rules and guidelines of parents and teachers—the desire to jump into work and grow as a person (and grow your wallet in the process).

Still, like all things in life, there are some pseudo-workplace cultural expectations that put a fork in the road for you, forcing you to take the time to work on something that isn’t necessarily said out loud but is ever-present in the attitudes of your employers and colleagues: writing a book.

​Writing a book is similar to writing a thesis paper, except the whole world will look at it, and any mistakes you make will harm you more than a bad grade. In fact, they’ll affect your reputation. That said, this also opens up other opportunities for you that you might not have received otherwise.

I once read an article in college that told everyone to train for a marathon and complete it. That itself made me curious, but what shocked me was that the author continued and told the reader to put it on their resume under “personal accomplishments.” Is completing a marathon worth putting on your resume?
It’s a major personal achievement, but the marathon itself wasn’t the important detail. What the author wanted to emphasize is that employers want to see drive, commitment, and follow-through with potential and current employees. Taking time to do something that significant shows you are someone who can embrace challenges. The marathon example could easily be replaced with continuous volunteer service, completing your next degree, or writing a book.
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Specifically, I find that writing non-fiction is perhaps a superior option to most alternatives because it shows (assuming your book has to do with the field you are working in) that you are taking time to dive deeper into the topics and challenges many of your colleagues aren’t.

Imagine you and a peer who is essentially a professional copy of yourself are applying for the same job. You might even have both run marathons together for all we know, except what makes you stand out is the book you wrote discussing the very topics relevant to understanding how to tackle your potential new role should you get the job.
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While many thousands of Americans might run marathons in a given year, fewer people will take the time to work on a project that will forever have their name attached to it. Writing a book about a topic within your area of expertise or the field you wish to develop a career in demands and commands authority in that area. A book doesn’t just say you can write well; a book also means you have a mastery of the topics that help pay your bills. A book says that while your colleagues left work at the office, you were taking the time to advance your knowledge, expand your network, and embark on a challenge many begin yet rarely finish.

Writing and publishing a book lets your colleagues know you are worthy of respect, and respect is the basis of all relationships, both personal and professional.

You might call this the “celebrity factor,” but professionals will always remind you that you are your own brand. If you speak at a conference about ending world hunger, you will most likely be there because of the reputation of your employer or the organization you represent.
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For example, Oprah doesn’t need a long introduction. People know her without having a personal relationship with her. They know her because of her public appearances and reputation in the realms of journalism, entertainment, and humanitarianism. Sad to say, you aren’t Oprah, and you’re most likely never going to be Oprah, but you can be the first and very best “you” that you can be.

​The ability to earn “brand” recognition based on your own name alone is something a book can almost guarantee, especially by networking and marketing yourself wisely.
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Radio appearances, journal op-eds, and speaking at conferences is something authors can do more regularly than their peers without a book. You may not be Oprah, but when people within your field hear your name, they’ll think of you before they think of your employer, where you went to school, or any other tertiary details.

​Don Draper from the hit TV series Mad Men said it best: “If you don’t like what is being said, change the conversation.” This is, at its core, a leadership principle that can be applied to other facets of life. For our purposes, a book is almost certainly the best way to change that conversation.
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Do you think blue is a better color than purple? A book means you really believe it. Are people in the non-profit sector not paying attention to a very important blind spot that could harm an organization? A book means you care enough to try to save it.

Books change the world in ways very few things can, so with great intention comes great printability (or maybe Spider-Man put it differently)—or for every Milton Friedman, there is a Karl Marx.

​The first thing that comes to my mind each time I publish a book is, “What now?”
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The elusive “what now” is sometimes the answer itself because after the marketing campaign ends and the buzz dies down, your book is now in the wilderness, and maybe it will bring you back an opportunity in a week, or maybe a month, or perhaps even a few years.

​Two years after my first book was published, I still get invited to speak at events and write on topics that otherwise wouldn’t have been realistic opportunities if I hadn’t first published. This is in many ways a door you open and can never close again. However, with great risk comes great reward, and authors command a level of respect and authority that is unique to them and can help open roads that would otherwise never be available.
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Be bold, write about your passions, and be open to all opportunities that come with being a published writer in your own right.

Published under Creative Commons. Attributed to Foundation for Economic Freedom. ​(Written by Remso W. Martinez)

Publishing in a world today, where the market is saturated by wannabes and talent, is growing increasingly difficult. Navigating your way around the industry has never been more difficult, contrary to all the self-help blogs out there.
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Instead, the contemporary publishing industry is a diverse environment of complex trade sector trends and arising challenges, something that most self-published authors struggle to grasp. Despite this, the author as publisher must consider marketing trends and professional networks if any moderate amount of success is to be achieved. How these networks and practices influence the role of marketing (one of the single most important strategies to guarantee author success), coupled with the author’s role in promoting the book, and how product placement sees the book into the hands of a ‘gatekeepers’ will inevitably determine success.

​It’s a long-winded process, with no short cuts available. What was once an industry of traditional printing, publishing, and bookselling, straightforward in its procedures, is now a series of complex relationships interdependent with one another—and difficult to negotiate.
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Vying for market and customers in an exceedingly competitive industry equates no longer to the publishing industry being a ‘straight-forward’ author-publisher-distributor relationship. The new trends and challenges are unprecedented, and with price wars between billion-dollar franchises like Amazon, Kmart and Walmart selling books below cost to entice customers through doors, the logistics of publishing an author to success are becoming increasingly challenging.

​Once Upon A Time…
The contemporary publishing industry trends traditionally relied on several interwoven industries, but with the event of technology, some of these are changing. Publishing is and has only ever been one part of the complex relationship (though integral) of producing a text, whereas printing, the logistics of marketing, distributing and book selling—whether digital or in bricks and mortar stores—and the authoring of the book also play crucial roles in the success of publishing.
The publishing world has long engaged with agents, proof-readers, editors, and marketers, as well as sales representatives, illustrators, and publicists, but not until recently has the industry directly engaged with its consumers to survive. A move driven largely by independent publishing.

​The importance of the publishing companies’ engagement with the consumer—and this includes the self-published multitasking author who dons the publishing and marketing hats—is vital for success. By treating the publisher as the gatekeepers to young readers, librarian Karys McEwen stresses that marketing is vital for generating genuine interest, and influences the type of book purchased for the high school libraries she works in.

Ventura Press publisher Jane Curry agrees that marketing is the crux of the industry. The publishing business exists purely to make a profit. The bigger you are as a publisher the more likely profits are made.
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It is a common theme within the industry no matter who you are. The contemporary publishing industry now pushes the smaller and medium-sized publishers into increasingly niche markets, to compete against global giants like Penguin Random House and Hachette. Only the most switched on independent publishers succeed.

​The book selling industry is depressing. It isn’t for the faint-hearted, and sometimes talent simply doesn’t count as much as the marketing.

However, it isn’t all bad news for the author. The development of new media flooding the market has a silver lining, explains editors Anabel Pandiella and Tom Saras. They highlight how professional networks are reliant on collaborations which result from new media, and how streaming platforms and well-placed entertainment magazines enhance this. Reflecting on their collaboration with Who magazine to “host book clubs for Who readers”, Saras saw an increase of author’s sales. Pandiella, who promoted a novel by partnering with an SBS streaming platform, also saw an increase of up to 30 percent in author’s sales. Professional book publishing networks are essential for success.
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However, in the current climate of self-publishing—a result of publishing due largely to discontent in earnings and the inability to secure a publishing contract—presents the question of what remains of the role of the author?
Tasked to doing most of the work themselves, the evolution of large-scale self-publishing has changed the face of the author’s role in publishing, even in a traditional setting with a publisher. Editing, marketing, and the author’s ability to maintain their own webpages, and other digital promotion is now commonplace for authors of any fashion. The alternative self-publishing mode has created a publisher’s requirement that an author must have some proof of ‘membership’ within the literary community through these tools and networking, even if it is minimal.

​The role of the author in marketing is crucial to the success of sales. The author’s “genuine” involvement with their books when marketing on social media platforms, attributes some publishing success to the author’s display of authenticity for the public to identify with. This becomes more important if what Pandiella suggests is occurring with notable consumer interest dropping away from the Internet and digital marketing.

The saturation of digital marketing creates a difficult online environment for marketers and publicists to negotiate; suggesting the importance of a ‘personable’ author to boost revenues via social capable—an approachable author online and off. The crucial role of publishers—large and independent ones—in promotional capacity is essential.
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The author’s role is to maintain the professional networks within the publishing industry and to maintain them in a rapidly evolving publishing environment.