Why I Have Newfound Respect for Indie Authors
We often look at a finished book and see a product. We see a cover, a title, and a few hundred pages of text. We rarely see the machine that built it.
For a long time, I held a somewhat romanticised view of authorship. I pictured the writer sitting in a quiet room, typing away until the words “The End” appeared on the screen. I assumed that the creative spark was the hardest part of the equation.
Recently, however, I have been forced to confront the reality. Writing the manuscript is truly only one part of the equation.
I have spent the last few months deep in the trenches of producing my first full-length work. This process has been a significant learning curve. It has forced me to grow in ways I did not anticipate. Consequently, I have developed an immense respect for indie authors who make a living from their work.
Today, I want to share what I have learnt about the “invisible mountain” of publishing and why bringing a vision to life requires far more than just good ideas.
The Shift from Creator to Operator
The most profound lesson I have learnt is that you cannot simply be a “writer” if you want to be read. You must become an “operator.”
The Creator is concerned with flow, tone, narrative arcs, and the impact of the message. This is the part of us that loves the craft.
The Operator, however, must be concerned with deadlines, file formats, distribution channels, and metadata.
If you stay solely in the Creator mindset, you might produce a beautiful manuscript that sits in a drawer forever. To launch, you must embrace the Operator. You have to respect the process of delivery as much as the process of creation.
The Indie Spirit as a Leadership Model
I used to view self-publishing or indie authorship as simply a different logistical route to the bookshelf. Now, I see it as an intense boot camp in entrepreneurship.
Indie authors are not just writers; they are CEOs of their own media companies. They manage production chains, marketing budgets, and quality control. My respect for professional indie authors has grown significantly because I now see the invisible workload they carry.
They possess a specific kind of resilience. They understand that no one is coming to save them. They must own every mistake and earn every success. That is a leadership lesson in itself.
My Own Journey: Enhanced Leadership
I am sharing these reflections because I have finally reached the summit of my own mountain.
After months of drafting and operational planning, I have officially confirmed the launch date for my book, Enhanced Leadership: Amplifying Human Skills in an AI-Driven World.
The book explores a question that keeps many of us awake at night: “Will AI replace me?”. My answer is that leaders who use AI to automate the “noise” of daily work will replace those who do not. It is a guide to mastering the human-only skills - like empathy and ethical judgment - that machines cannot replicate.
Getting this book to the point where I feel ready to publish has been one of the most rigorous professional challenges of my life
For Leaders: Leading When You Are a Novice
There is a specific application here for those of you in leadership roles. We are often comfortable leading in areas where we are experts. But what happens when you commit to a project where you are a complete novice?
Producing Enhanced Leadership placed me back at “Step One.” I had to be comfortable not knowing the answers.
Takeaways for your leadership journey:
Embrace the learning curve: Do not hide your lack of knowledge. Let your team see you learning something new. It humanises you.
Respect the “invisible work”: Just as I underestimated the work of indie authors, you might be underestimating the work involved in a department you do not run. Take time to understand the operational hurdles your teams face.
Commit to the date: There is power in a deadline. Until I set the launch date, the book was a “someday” project. A date forces decision-making.
For Coaches: The Discipline of Completion
For my fellow coaches, we often talk to our clients about “accountability.” Writing a book is the ultimate test of that concept.
We help our clients navigate the gap between their current reality and their desired future. This book launch is my own journey across that gap.
Takeaways for your coaching practice:
Model the struggle: Share your current challenges with your clients. When I share that this process is hard, it validates the struggles my clients are facing in their own domains.
The process is the product: Who you become while achieving the goal is often more valuable than the goal itself. I am becoming a more disciplined person through this process.
Conclusion
I am officially on the path to the launch. The date is set. The manuscript is evolving into a product.
This journey has given me a newfound appreciation for successful authors and creators of all kinds. The work involves courage, strategy, and a willingness to be a beginner again.
If you are interested in how we can remain human in a technology-driven world, I hope you will check out Enhanced Leadership (you can find more information and a link in my About Me page). But more importantly, if you are sitting on a project that feels overwhelming, I encourage you to respect the “Operator” side of the work. Set a date. Make it real.
Level Up Leadership is a passion project in my spare time. I enjoy doing it, and I intend to keep these articles and podcasts free. However, the software and equipment I use isn’t free! So, if you are enjoying this content and would like to make a donation, you can do so by clicking this button. Thank you.