With the new opportunities arising from the various platforms in publishing, authors and industry executives alike are seeing an increase in the ability to get timely works to market. Whether it is biographies of notorious figures or journalists’ perspectives on the most recent uprisings, digital publishing has allowed readers to enjoy more relevant works at a faster rate by reducing the time to market delays that naturally come about in traditional publishing.
Tommy Angelo, a professional poker player and coach, was able to take advantage of the ease and speed of self-publishing to put his book, Elements of Poker, on the market just in time for the massive trend in poker that took place several years ago. He had already been developing a name for himself in the world of writing about poker by becoming a sought-after columnist and blogger on the topic.
“In 2003, there was a poker explosion from the combination of internet poker, televised poker tournaments on ESPN and other networks, and cameras built into the tables that showed the hole cards to viewers,”said Angelo in an interview with GoodEReader. “The number of people playing exploded. I started a coaching business where I would coach players, teaching guys how to maintain their mental stability in the middle of this game.”
Angelo published his book using CreateSpace and its series of professional design tools because of the feedback he’d received from other writers. He later released his ebook of that work through an ebook distributor, then developed a second book, A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales By Tommy Angelo, a collection of some of his best articles and blog posts with some new content interspersed.
“I knew I would be using CreateSpace again, but by this point I was able to use my own skills and my editor’s skills to do the lay-out, the cover, etc. With the second book I decided to do the ebook release with CreateSpace even though the only distribution was with Amazon. I knew if I wanted to distribute it elsewhere I could do that later, but I haven’t yet.”
“I haven’t gone with a traditional publisher because I’m so well connected within the field. I can do very effective distribution and interviews because I’m known. I’m working on a third book and because I’m committed to it I’ve started a mailing list and upgraded my website. I’m a self-published writer; I went into self-publishing not knowing anything. Because CreateSpace was so helpful I was able to see all the different pieces of the publishing game and over the years I’ve been able to see where they fit. It’s a bigger, more complicated world if you’re trying to make money from it.”
Angelo’s third book, Painless Poker, is in the works.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
