Can You Publish a Book Without an Author Platform?

Yes. Technically, you can publish a book without an author platform.

However: What that tends to result in is low sales for your book.

A few years ago, I worked with an author who didn’t want to grow her platform — much.

After learning what it took to get a traditional book deal, she decided to publish her book with a hybrid publisher.

(A hybrid publisher is a pay-to-play version of self-publishing where the author pays anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 to get a book produced and distributed. Hybrid publishers can be good options if you have the cash, want support, and don’t want to traditionally publish.)

Since publication, this former client’s book has sold approximately 500 copies.

Compare that to the sales for How to Love Teaching Again by another client — Jamie Sears.

To date, Jamie has sold over 30,000 copies. And when I narrowed down her sales to the same time period as my client who chose to publish without an author platform — Jamie’s book was selling 10x as often.

Which means she was helping 10x as many people.

Ultimately, the publishing path you decide to take is up to you.