Skip to main content

Four Ways to Develop a Niche and Indie Publishing Project



Selfpublishing in a niche industry is a good solution. Many times the niche is just too small for traditional publishers to address. There are few barriers to entry and technology has made it very affordable.

Authors can physically write a book and make it available. However, to create a good name and develop a pristine reputation takes more work. Incorporate the following steps successfully launch your self publishing or indie publishing projects.


1.  Have a message
Is your message passionate; a burning message that screams, “I can help make your life easier” or “How do you live without me?” Such a message should be yours exclusively and available everywhere and trustworthy. It doesn’t have to reflect the current practices or industry standard to be accepted.
In wrote my first book “ISP Certification-The Industrial Security ProfessionalExam Manual” after earning my certification. I developed my own study material that gave me the confidence to pass. I wrote the book and developed training to help others. I burned with a desire to get more people to pass.

2.  Develop the fine points and address contention
Your message might be considered a revolutionary, going against the popular teachings. Go ahead with it as long as you are polite, professional, accurate, factual and not contrary to laws or regulations. It just means that you will have to develop allies to help preach the soundness of your message. But preach you must, so that others will become believers in your ideas.

My books have gone against traditional teachings of related professional organizations. Yet I have developed great working relationships with those within the profession who recognize my message as one of challenge and not of contention. I went out of my way to demonstrate a willingness to help develop professionals. They spread my message because it rings true. It’s hard creating your own niche within an industry, but it’s rewarding work. I've continued the path to develop more books on broader scopes including security clearances.

3. Develop lines of communication
How do you get your message out? You can talk to everyone you see, present in conferences, and write articles for blogs, newsletters and social networking sites.


4. Define quality control
You write a book as the undisputed authority in the subject. A great way to succeed is to be the first in your industry to press. However, don’t rush to get to market at the expense of your messages’ accuracy or at risk of a poorly edited work. You’ll want to be credible on the first printing. A great way to do that is to call upon your allies to check and double check your work. Reward them with free copies of the finished product and a shout out in your book.

Referring to my ISP Certification book, I’ve had it reviewed my many experts in the field. Those who have edited it for content and accuracy are named in the acknowledgement section. They receive public recognition in their profession.

Self publishing in a niche industry is easier because of a lack of competition and few barriers. You control the writing, publishing and marketing. Book development should consider the entire lifecycle of the project, not just the writing part. Use these four steps to successfully launch your projects.


Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing. Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel". Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearances" and "DoD Security Clearances and Contracts Guidebook". See Red Bike Publishing for print copies of: Army Leadership The Ranger Handbook The Army Physical Readiness Manual Drill and Ceremonies The ITAR The NISPOM

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Ways to Build Credibility By Teaching a Course

Residence classes This is a real opportunity to build credentials and create a real academic presence. Traditional education opportunities are solid and recognized ways to get your message out. Teaching provides a return on investment but takes hard work and persistence to get started. Also there are two different avenues. You can host these classes yourself, or you can get them sponsored. Host the Residence Class Yourself Just like self publishing you can control the product. You have the freedom to create and do not need to seek approval from anyone to get started. You choose to set up the class time, the material, the advertising, and everything else you need to start a successful course. It also means that you have to bring in the resources yourself. For a residence class, you will need a classroom or similar environment, curriculum, projector, screen, training aids, certificates and supplies. There is a terrific possib...
2 comments
Read more

To Self-publish; Reason Number One

Here is an expansion of the reasons you should self-publish. The first reason: You own all the creative decisions. The boss makes the rules. So, if you self-publish, you get to decide. You decide book format, writing and publishing timeline, book and cover design, type of book, colors, page count, page type and on and on.  Many decisions are pretty mundane such as interior design and format. If people like your material, they'll buy it in whatever format it is available in. However, the cover and content are very important aspects to your book that you have to get right. For the cover, choosing the right colors, images and fonts is critical. The book has to look attractive to its audience and must be legible as a thumbnail while displayed in on line book stores. This decision is made easier if you study your niche and look for books that relate to your topic. What colors are favored, what types of images are popular, and what type font matches the competing books? Get t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why authors might choose to work with a publisher instead of publishing themselves

  Why you might prefer to publish with another company instead of do it yourself. There are a lot of blog, newsletter, training and podcast information telling the good news about current publishing opportunities. Most tout the benefits of putting your own book on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It is a great resource, but contrary to the popular discussion, it’s not the only option. It seems most information coming out seems to publisher shame anyone who does not “do it yourself”. It’s as if the expectation is to self publish and anyone who does not, is a publishing pariah. There are so many published articles describing benefits to putting your own content out though KDP, heck, even I do it. Most build entire businesses around the KDP instruction or consulting opportunities.   However, I’m more concerned with the author who just wants to write and publish their books without the hassle of the publishing business. The author who wants an outlet to make their book ava...
Post a Comment
Read more