Part 4: How to Write and Publish Your First Book in 30 Days – Self-Publishing, Traditional Deals, and Making Real Money
The James Altucher Show
James Altucher
4.6 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Notes from James:
Let’s be honest: most people who write a book never make money from it. Why? Because they stop at the last page. I want you to go further. In this episode, I show you how I turned my books into speaking gigs, consulting work, investment deals, and more. You don’t need a big publisher or a massive budget—just the right strategy.
Episode Descriptions:
In Part 4 of my 30-day writing series, I tackle one of the biggest questions aspiring authors face: Should you self-publish or go the traditional route? I’ve done both—some of my books were published by big-name houses, others I put out myself. This episode breaks down the pros, cons, and misconceptions of each approach—and how to make the smartest decision for your goals.
You’ll also learn exactly what to do after the writing is done. I cover how to market your book, build buzz, land media, grow your audience, and ultimately make your book work for you—financially, professionally, and personally.
Whether you're writing your first book or your fifth, this episode lays out the modern publishing roadmap and how to turn your words into real-world results.
What You’ll Learn:
- The truth about traditional publishing—what it offers and what it takes away
- Why self-publishing can earn you more money and give you more control
- What agents, publishers, and bookstore placement actually mean today
- How bestseller lists really work (and why most are just marketing tools)
- Exactly how to market your book after it’s published: newsletters, podcasts, and more
- How to build momentum before your book even comes out
Timestamps
00:00 Traditional vs. Self-Publishing: The Debate Begins
00:41 The Evolution of Self-Publishing
01:10 Benefits of Traditional Publishing
03:17 Challenges with Traditional Publishing
06:58 The Power of Self-Publishing
15:09 Steps to Professionally Self-Publish
16:34 The Importance of Audiobooks
21:15 Marketing Your Book: An Overview
21:53 Building and Utilizing an Email List
24:48 Leveraging Online Platforms for Book Promotion
27:08 The Power of Podcasts and Public Speaking
32:31 Maximizing Social Media for Book Sales
38:47 Final Thoughts on Book Marketing
P.S. Want to go deeper? Check out my full course on Udemy or visit chooseyourselfacademy.com: How to Write and Publish a Book in 30 Days – available now.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Audible brings your wildest adventures to life, delivering heart-pounding thrills at the touch |
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| 0:45.6 | That's audible.com slash Wondery, UK. |
| 0:49.7 | Many people debate, should I get my book published by a traditional publisher like Harper Collins or Simon & Chuster or a random house? |
| 0:58.0 | Or should I self-publish? |
| 0:59.6 | And for many years, for many decades, there was a stigma about self-publishing. |
| 1:03.9 | It was called vanity publishing. |
| 1:05.1 | You would pay a publisher to make a thousand copies of your book and then you would hand it out to your |
| 1:11.8 | friend and try to get it sold in a bookstore. By the way, some books were very successful |
| 1:17.0 | that started off as Batman Lee Publishing. One example I could think of is The Power of Now by |
| 1:22.3 | Eckhart Toll, which eventually was published by a regular publisher and sold millions, |
| 1:27.4 | but originally, |
| 1:28.3 | he just printed up a bunch and was handing them out. And self-publishing is when, in a nutshell, |
| 1:34.6 | you upload it to Amazon, you upload it to Barnes & Noble.com, maybe you upload it to Apple Books, |
... |
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