Ev BogueTwo years ago in August, I quit my job with only $3,000 in the bank.
I recall those days vividly. I moved a lot during that time -- from New York to Portland to Chicago to New York. I untethered from all of my stuff in order to focus on my work.
I didn't know it at the time, but I was going to become a professional writer making my entire income from taking books to the web.
My bank account was hemorrhaging with every day that I spent crafting words.
Many people told me during that time that I'd fail. "No one makes a living as a writer. It just isn't realistic. Go get a day job."
I'd had a day job. I'd been down that road, I knew exactly what it looked like. There are people who enjoy punching the clock from 9-5, but I'm not one of them. So, I had a choice: publish a book or starve. Actually, I remember at the time wondering if I'd do both: publish and starve. What if this book was for nothing? What if no one cared? What if no one reads books anymore?
I moved back to Brooklyn in the middle of winter, to live with my girlfriend at the time. Her only request: pay your half of the rent. If the book thing works, fine. Otherwise, go find somewhere else to live.
Have you ever over-drafted your bank account? Depending on your bank, they charge you a different number. For me, it was $35. Now I had -$42.25 in the bank, from buying groceries. I remember feeling like I'd been punched in the gut. I called Citibank. Please: you don't understand. I needed that money. "Sorry sir, there's nothing we can do."
Something had to change in my life, sooner rather than later.
The traditional method of publishing didn't seem like a good idea for me. When I asked authors about bringing a book to Borders (now bankrupt) or Barnes and Noble (getting there?), they all said it was a long hard process. It was a process involving gatekeepers, editors, distribution, etc. Could I get an advance? No one seemed to have the answer to that.
I wasn't going to put a manuscript in the mail and cross my fingers. In Portland I'd launched a blog, people were starting to read it. There had to be a better way.
So, I made a decision: I was going to take my book to the web.
The choice seemed obvious, the other option was freezing to death in the Brooklyn winter.
I still remember walking up to the corner coffee shop every day, spending the last few dollars of my savings on another Americano to fuel my words. I wrote frantically for as many hours as I could before hunger and burnout set in, day after day until I had a book that was ready to go to the web.
I shipped on February 11th 2010. The book? The Art of Being Minimalist. It was about how living with less had allowed me to survive on less than $3,000 for three months since quitting my day job.
I wrote the book, I designed it in Indesign, and I designed a cover in Photoshop.
Then, I hit the publish button.
To my surprise, people bought it. On the first day, not many, but enough. I could buy some food. By the end of the month? I was paying rent.
By the middle of 2010, I'd pulled a few $5,000 days from taking books to the web.
The Age of Uncertainty
We're living in the age of uncertainty, for the publishing industry.
And we have a choice.
Do we pursue the old, broken, model, as it fades into obsolescence?
Or do we choose to experiment with new ways of publishing?
In the old way, we know exactly what's going to happen. It's all been laid out in front of us. It's easy, because we're probably going to get rejected before the process even starts, and then we can give up getting published now.
The new way is hard. Why? Because no one sitting in a position of power is going to reject us. There are no rejection letters, return to sender, on the Internet.
Publishing on the web, right now, is the frontier.
Which option are you going to choose?
Independent publishing experiments
For the last 2 years, I've made my entire income from publishing books directly to the web. I've involved myself in every step of the process, from writing, to production, to distribution. Every element of this process isn't easy, but it is rewarding.
My first e-book was The Art of Being Minimalist. I launched it in February of 2010, to my surprise (and with a lot of work), it started selling enough copies for me to make a sustainable income online from publishing books.
My second e-book was Minimalist Business. It was about launching a zero-overhead online business that runs itself. This e-book was a huge hit. Many people purchased it, and applied the information contained in order to grow and streamline their businesses online.
My third e-book was Augmented Humanity. It was about how technology is changing our lives.
Now, I'm working on a new e-book. I've taken all of the other e-books off the table in order to focus my attention on one goal: a book that truly defines the work that I'm doing. The tentative title is: Untether.