If you are self-publishing

Thanks to my friend Rich Melheim (www.richmelheim.com) for this spectacular summary of Seth Godin's insights on self-publishing in his justly famous book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us.

If you are self-publishing, read what Seth Godin says in Tribes, then on his blog, then in a retracting of what he said on his blog:

1.  If you have a tribe of 1000 fans, you can make money on your ebook

2.  If your tribe of 1000 fans thinks you are trying to sell them something – rather than trying to add value to their lives – they'll disappear faster than a teenaged football star at a beer bash when the cops show up

3.  If you have something worth saying and say it well, there will be an audience for your work
4.  Just because you have something worth saying and you say it well, it doesn't mean anyone will see it

5.  Writing a brilliant book is 20% of the work. Getting others to market it for you is 80%.

6.  Ok, I exaggerated. Getting others to market it for you in 99% of the work.

7.  Nobody believes anything any marketer tells them anymore

8.  Most people believe their friends (until and unless they come to them selling Amway)

9.  There are only three ways to make money in the publishing industry today

10. None of those three ways work