Write. Publish. Repeat. Summary
5 min read ⌚
The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success
Successful authors Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant combined their insider knowledge to offer aspiring writers a foolproof guide to self-publishing. Read on to find out why Write. Publish. Repeat. is a must-read before you start writing.
After publishing a combined 1.5m words and becoming full-time authors in 2013, best friends Platt and Truant decided to share their strategy for achieving publishing success with their devoted readers.
SELF-PUBLISHING / WRITE.PUBLISH.REPEAT
Repeated hard effort will almost certainly be rewarded.
“Write Publish Repeat Summary”
Write. Publish. Repeat. isn’t just your average conventional marketing book. On the contrary, it reveals a totally innovative and ingenious perspective on the traditional way in which marketing is perceived and approached by people.
As the two authors state, this book is The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success.
The idea of presenting a guide rather than a regular book is justified and very pertinent. Rather than simply handing out advice, Write. Publish. Repeat. provides its readers with a compelling strategy that, if applied, can lead to outrageous results in terms of their professional careers. The key concept of the book is encompassed within the title. Write. Publish. Repeat. preaches the path of hard work instead of promoting any kind of overnight success.
Luck is something that sounds appealing to most people, but there’s no such thing as luck when it comes to developing your career. Everything is about the amount of work you are willing to bring in!
Even though the book provides a vast amount of information, it’s very well structured and written using simple language, making it easy to understand.
Write. Publish. Repeat. is split into six parts: Prefatory Matters; Understanding the Self-Publishing Landscape; Preparing Your Books and Making Readers Love You; Marketing Your Work; Thinking Like a New Wave Publisher; and Appendix: Interviews With Successful Indie Authors.
Right from the start, Platt and Truant insist on the idea that art and business are two entities that must co-exist and mutually determine each other: “writing comes first and business comes second.
You must learn to use both your creative mind and your business mind in order to achieve maximum results.
Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant discourage those who expect instant success by firmly and ironically stating that “you cannot publish poorly written stories and expect them to fly on the wings of a catchy title”.
One thing that aspiring writers must understand from the start is that “no matter how hard you try, you can’t please everyone”. When creating their stories, most writers have their minds set on making them appealing to everybody. But this situation is nonsense, and far from reality:
You can’t sell without turning some people away.
There are many harsh truths within Write. Publish. Repeat., but one of the harshest is that “only victims decide in advance that their success is in anyone’s hands other than their own”.
Consequently, the two authors strongly advise aspiring writers to stop bitching about how things are unfair and start focusing on finding solutions to the problems they’re facing.
In Write. Publish. Repeat. Platt and Truant developed the innovative theory of ‘1000 Fans’, which states that “an artist need only acquire 1000 true fans to make a living at their art”.
The book also reveals the theory of ‘10,000 Hours’, about the amount of work an artist is willing to do to attain his desired outcome: “in order to achieve mastery, somewhere around 10,000 hours of practice seem to be required”.
Platt and Truant expose the difference between tactics and strategies when it comes to professional careers: “Tactics tend to change quickly, but strategies almost never do”. They emphasize the importance of strategies: “always keep your eyes on the big picture”.
Describing the actual self-publishing landscape, the authors mention both good and bad news with respect to it. They focus once again on the importance of hard work:
Success comes from hard work and accumulation of small numbers… repeated hard effort will almost certainly be rewarded.”
Write. Publish. Repeat. reveals to its readers ‘The List of Myths’ regarding self-publishing, which could prove extremely useful for those intending to enter the industry:
- If you self-publish, you can’t publish traditionally.
- Self-publishing is what you do when you can’t publish traditionally.
- Publishers can do things for you that you can’t do yourself.
- Self-publishing is for artists who want to give their art the chance to succeed in a true meritocracy.
- Self-promotion and marketing are dirty.
- Readers care if a book is self-published.
- Self-publishing is a lottery, and you can (or have to) get lucky.
Chapter seven, “How to Avoid Looking Like an Amateur”, is one of the most significant chapters of the book, as it provides crucial information that can help writers stand out from their peers and successfully promote their products.
The authors unravel the striking importance of approaching your work in a professional manner:
If you don’t do everything you can to look professional, readers will run screaming from your book… Giving your readers the best possible first impression is essential.
Readers are introduced to an action plan that will help them avoid looking like an amateur:
- Have a Professional-Looking Cover.
- Edit Meticulously.
- Double-Check Everything.
When teaching their readers how to create professional products, Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant once again emphasize the huge relevance of having a high-quality book cover:
The cover is your chance to catch a browser’s eye… and the fact that with respect to covers ‘good enough’ isn’t good enough.
In Part Four of the book, the aspiring writer receives extremely handy advice for marketing their work. This advice is summed up in the following statement:
Love your readers, and they will love you back.
Chapter Thirteen contains priceless information that can help writers build deeper relationships with their readers: “You can build true fan connections now, for free, simply by being a reasonable human being”. The emphasis is on responding back to a fan whenever they take the time to contact you: “simply answering your fans will make you stand out”.
Regarding email marketing, the two authors offer a brief, yet extremely powerful, solution to their readers: “Do unto others as you’d have done unto you”.
An extremely crucial point of any writer’s career is the ability to deal with reviews. Write. Publish. Repeat. provides plenty of advice to help its readers successfully deal with both positive and negative reviews: “It’s not your business to convince someone to love you”.
For all the future self-publishers who are interested in gaining insight into issues like
- how to create your own brand;
- how to correctly evaluate your own work; and
- how to take full advantage of the internet for your promotion,
Write. Publish. Repeat. is the answer.
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Our Critical Review
Because of the exhaustive knowledge it offers, Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant’s book is indeed the indispensable weapon every aspiring writer aiming for self-publishing success needs.
If strategically applied, the guidelines in their book can make the difference between an average career and a stellar one.
Are you ready to start writing the next best seller?
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
