20/08/2026
I feel like traditional publishing has had very good PR.
Get the publishing deal. Get the advance. See your book in bookstores. Officially become A Published Author™.
Lovely.
But if you’re an entrepreneur, consultant or expert publishing a book after 20+ years of building a career, I think there’s a much more useful question to ask:
What do you actually want your book to do?
Because you might care less about building a career as an author and more about building authority in the career you already have.
You might want the book to lead to speaking opportunities. Introduce more people to your ideas. Support your services. Grow your platform. Or turn decades of knowledge into something tangible that you’re bloody proud to put your name on.
And suddenly, things like controlling your title, cover, timeline and how your book fits into the rest of your business become pretty significant.
A major publishing deal can absolutely open doors. For the right author and the right book, traditional publishing can make perfect sense.
But it’s not automatically the gold star of publishing while self-publishing sits over in the corner wearing a homemade badge.
They’re different business models.
And when your book is part of something much bigger than book sales alone, it’s worth choosing the model based on what you want the book to achieve.
Not which one sounds fanciest when you tell people at dinner.
