I published my first book Building a Better Law Practice with the American Bar Association, which is one of the largest publishers in the legal and law practice space. I worked with some really good people and am happy with how the book came out, but I learned along the way that traditional publishing isn’t for me. It allowed me to become an author, but limited my opportunities for an author business with multiple income streams.

It gave me some things I thought I needed in the moment. Having my book picked up by the ABA gave me the pride of knowing a publisher wanted to work. But the strictures of working with a traditional publisher were more confining than I was comfortable with, whereas independently publishing my books has given me control over the entire process, which I have written about on the Expectant Writer blog.

Creating an Author Business and Being a Facilitator for Others

So I created my own publishing imprint, Scarlet Oak Press, and have published each of my subsequent books, Stop Putting Out Fires and Level Up Your Law Practice, through it. And the opportunities I can create for myself by having the flexibility of an independent printing press, rather than having my work published through a monolithic entity, are worth all of the extra work required to bring a book to life.

Episode 8 of Lawyerpreneur is about not only my transition to indie publishing but also my opening up Scarlet Oak Press to publish the works of other lawyers, giving them the same opportunities I have to explore their entrepreneurialism and creativity through an author business.

You can listen here or on your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and RSS.