How I Can Help You

Today, I’m going to let you in on a secret.

I can make dreams come true.

(For real! It’s one of my cool superpowers. I can also organize ANYTHING.)

In 2016, I got an email through the entrepreneurial grapevine, introducing me to Denise Duffield-Thomas. Denise explained that she had self-published two books and wanted to pursue a traditional book deal for the third.

Normally, the fact that she had already self-published would be a red flag.

That’s because agents and publishers tend to have mixed feelings about self-publishing. Some authors — including Denise — take self-publishing seriously. Both her first book (Lucky Bitch) and her second book (Get Rich, Lucky Bitch) looked professional, were well thought out and marketed to a distinct audience.

And as a result, Denise’s sales numbers were good.

In her case, a history of self-publishing wasn’t a deal-breaker for traditional publishers.

But most of the time, authors don’t know what they don’t know, and simply self-publish as a way to speed up the process and get their ideas out there. But without knowing the market or promoting the book to a defined audience, the book doesn’t sell.