Catchy headline, right? You’re probably wondering what it means. I’ll get to that….
The germ for this post started with my reading an article in the New York Times about the rise of self-publishing. It basically says that it’s no longer considered more prestigious to get published by a major publishing house. More and more authors are opting to self-publish, because of the control it offers. And, of course, the potential to make lots of money. For the first time in history, some self-published authors are hitting the best-seller lists or becoming the most downloaded books on Kindles.
So what does this have to do with real estate? That idea came from one of the comments I read in response to the article:
Authors who expect to reach readers … start their own businesses, just like any businessperson would, and farm out whatever tasks they do not have the expertise to do themselves (for example, they would hire a competent editor and a cover designer) . Traditional publishing may have more prestige, but a savvy self-publisher can actually make five times as much as he would with a commercial publisher.
And that’s where real estate comes in. This gave me a total flashback to when I was moving from a co-op apartment to a house. In an apartment, you pay a flat monthly fee to cover all of the services you might need (gardening, snow shoveling, etc…). And if you have a problem in the apartment, you call the super, who will come fix it. But when you move to a house, a whole new slew of responsibility comes your way. But with that responsibility comes choice. We can choose whether to mow our own lawns, or hire someone to do it. When we need new windows, we get to call different window companies, get bids, and decide what works best for us.
Owning a house is far more work, but there’s also far more opportunity to make it your own (and make the most money, too). Just like self-publishing. If you’re up for the challenge, it’s a great option.
Just one little plug here … if you do plan on self-publishing, don’t forget to outsource your website development and/or marketing. What good is writing a book if no one hears about it? And what good is building a website if no one visits it? That’s where we come in. Contact us today for a free consultation and we’ll give you ideas (and a competitive price) for selling your self-published book online.
If a publishing company’s publicity person is the “super,” who will do what the “building” wants, we’re the “contractor” who will do what YOU want.