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Self-Publishing Reality Check: You’re No Guy

January 31, 2013 18 Comments

Am I the only one who finds Guy Kawasaki’s success with APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur—How to Publish a Book a little depressing?

Guy KawasakiBefore I get into this too deeply, I should probably do a little disclaiming. He seems like a really nice guy. I talked to him once at the height of the Author Solutions Jared Silverstone scandal. And, for what you can tell about a person in a 5-minute phone conversation, he seemed nice. Smart and nice.

But that’s just it. I know a lot of smart and nice self-publishing authors who will never have even one iota the success Kawasaki’s had. That reality should be a bit deflating for you people out there planning to self-publish. I mean, it’s not his success per se that’s deflating. It’s the comparison. The knowing that you will almost certainly never see anything even remotely like it.

When Kawasaki’s book was released on January 7, 2013—and for a couple of weeks thereafter—the internet went APEshit. (That joke’s been made already, hasn’t it?) My Google Alert for “self-publishing” was all Kawasaki, all the time*. Review links were popping up everywhere on my LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook timelines and in my Google Reader feed. Hell, even as far back as October 2012, the man had people lining up to fill out a form just for a chance to be one of APE‘s beta readers.

By the way, he had such a large pool of beta readers to choose from that he was able to treat his solicitation for volunteers like a job posting:

“A background in writing and publishing is helpful. Looking for any kind of comments such as copyedits, content, facts, style, etc. OCD is highly desirable.”

He had so many volunteers that he was able to turn people away.

In contrast, the self-publishers I know are sometimes reduced to begging for beta readers, and the ones they get typically have little to no real experience in copyediting or fact checking. They’re usually moms and friends and writing group buddies. Those beta readers are appreciated; don’t get me wrong. But there’s no denying the potential discrepancy in skill sets.


APE wasn’t the first project for which Kawasaki had asked for beta readers. That was What the Plus! At the time, he had asked 1,100,000 of his “closest friends on Google+” to volunteer, and 241 people signed on in just 24 hours. He reported after the fact:

“I sent the Word file manuscript to all of them. Approximately 100 returned the file with comments within a week. Not counting duplicates, this is what they found: 147 grammatical and spelling mistakes, 27 factual errors.”

Kawasaki did send the book on to a copyeditor after that, but think for a moment how much valuable feedback he got (for free!) and how quickly he got it back. If that’s not impressive enough for you, chew on this: Kawasaki figured he’d gained somewhere between 100 and 240 evangelists for What the Plus! in the process.

And here we are weeks after the release of APE. People are still writing about Kawasaki and the book. Diane Brady introduced him this way yesterday on Bloomberg Businessweek:

“Every wannabe pundit knows the drill: Do something cool, preferably in Silicon Valley or against all odds; talk and write about what you learned everywhere you can; build a following; then get a book deal. That’s what Guy Kawasaki did, converting his four-year stint as Apple (AAPL)’s chief evangelist into a 1989 book on guerrilla marketing called The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has since produced 11 more books and established himself as a marketing guru and venture capitalist. With 1.2 million Twitter followers and a popular blog, he’s a brand.”

And I think that sums it up, doesn’t it? Guy is his own brand—and he has been for a couple of decades now.

I’m not saying the man didn’t work hard to get there. I’m not saying success on that scale can’t happen to anyone ever again. And I’m not saying that self-publishing is a worthless endeavor for non-celebrities.

I’m just saying…you’re no Guy.

 

*Ten arbitrary points to the first person who can tell me the second name on the book without looking.

Photo credit: Kawasaki

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About Emily Suess

Emily Suess is a freelance marketing copywriter in Indianapolis, Indiana and a regular contributor at Small Business Bonfire.
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  • http://simplystatedbusiness.com Cathy Miller

    I know it’s Shawn something – do I get 5 points for half a name? :-)

    • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

      Absolutely, Cathy! :) Don’t spend them all in one place.

    • Wade Finnegan

      I’ll give you another 5 for just being you, Cathy.

      • http://simplystatedbusiness.com Cathy Miller

        Aw, thanks, pal ;-)

  • http://www.smilingtreewriting.com Dava Stewart

    One of the things that I’ve been curious about for a while is why some authors with really large platforms choose to publish traditionally. I even interviewed the generous Erika Napolitano about it, and tried to interview a couple of others who were near-rude when they declined…

    So, I have divided feelings. I think it’s pretty cool to see Guy singing the praises of self publishing, but I am also a little unsure if his advice would apply to someone unknown. (admission: I have not read APE, so really have no idea what I’m talking about)

    Thanks for bringing up something that’s been on my mind!

    • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

      Oooh. Now I want to know who the jerks were. But, I know, not the point here. ;)

      I have the same reservations you do about the ultimate helpfulness of APE, all of the author’s good intentions aside. And that’s why I wrote the post. Trying to keep things real.

  • Flora Brown

    Second name is Shawn Welch. I must confess, however, that I was one of the beta readers and have read the book more than once. .

    I was thrilled that someone of Guy’s stature experienced the downside of traditional publishing and was lead to enter self-publishing.

    You are right, of course, that we are not Guy, but there is still much of value we can learn from APE, and can benefit from self-publishing beginning where we are.

    • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

      Definitely, there’s a lot of good info in APE and his influence will go a long way in erasing some of that self-pub stigma out there. But there’s an element of “This is how we did it, you can do it too!” — especially in the Entrepreneur discussion — that feels a little Pollyannic to someone as critical as I am.

      Anyway, it seems we agree. And I’m just being redundant now. :)

  • Karen Jonson

    Hi Emily,

    Thank you for saying this. I had actually been thinking it. But didn’t take the time to say it publicly. Also, it feels a bit like I could become the victim of torch-weilding villagers if I say anything even remotely critical of Guy. I confess I haven’t purchased his book. But that’s because the table of contents makes me think the book contains information I’ve already learn from other people and practiced myself.

    Also, my gut tells me that the book is a vehicle for Guy to promote Guy. And he sure doesn’t need my money.

    BTW, I read on one of the two critical reviews on Amazon (out of over 200), that he apparently, at one point, actually recommends Author House. If that’s true, then he’s no friend of self-publishers.

    Love your work.
    Best,
    Karen

    • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

      Karen, you’re right. While a lot of the information is sound, none of it struck me as something I hadn’t already read somewhere else.

      I’ll have to dig into that bit about Author House. I do remember a section in the draft that brought up those kinds of companies as options, but didn’t think it made any real judgment about them. (I got a beta reader copy, but never proofed it because I had–cough, cough–paid work to do at the time.) That could have changed in the final draft though.

      At one time or another, I thought I knew that Guy was connected to Pearson or Penguin or Random House or one of those traditional houses that got in bed with Author House’s parent company, Author Solutions. That could explain a favorable or even non-scathing mention of any or all of the companies. Again, something worth looking up, just to have all the facts.

      Thanks for commenting!

  • Eve Gumpel

    You’re certainly right that guy is a phenomenon. Still, while most self-publishers won’t have Guy’s success, it seems to me that if you do the hard work of creating an audience for yourself, you can be modestly successful. But probably you need a reason other than money to self-publish: A message you really want to get out to people, or the credibility you gain by having written a book.

  • Mrs. Jen B

    The only thing I can add is this: No matter how popular you are, there is always someone who has never heard of you.

    And I can’t say that with 100% certainty because I had never heard of him prior to reading this post.

    Refreshing? Perhaps. Or maybe I’m just way out of touch.

    • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

      He’s definitely not a household name. But he does have some serious cred in certain circles.

      And, yes, it’s at least refreshing to me that you haven’t heard of him.

  • Elisabeth Kauffman

    The problem is, I guess, that everyone wants a road map to follow that will lead them to immediate and exactly duplicated success… but everyone’s background and current path is different… so how could your outcome be exactly like his. He could tell you exactly what he did re: the publishing process, you could follow it to a T, and your outcome will never look the same as his. But his book sells based on your expectation that it will…

    • Elisabeth Kauffman

      Oh, and “Hi, Emily!”

      • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

        Hi! :)

    • http://blog.emilysuess.com Emily Suess

      That’s exactly it! And I guess I see this post as my only alternative to smacking sense into people.

  • A_Writer_of_History

    Kawasaki hit the market at the right time … all of us wannabe-published authors are looking for guidance and he delivers succinctly and pragmatically. Does he say anything profound? No. In reality, anyone with lots of hours to spend and some business background could have found all his material in blogs from around the globe! Of course, that’s what people say when an obvious idea is proposed in any industry :) I think the other guy’s (no pun intended) name is Shawn.