Valentine’s Day of last year was an extraordinarily special day for me, and not for any particularly romantic reason. February 14, 2024, was the day I published my first book, Artificial Intelligence in Short. At the time I was somewhat ignorant about self-publishing and released the book only as an ebook on Draft2Digital’s platforms and Amazon KDP. A little more than a couple of weeks later, I published the paperback version of the book on KDP and also published a paperback through D2D a few months after that.

“Your book is available in the Kindle Store!”

I will always remember walking around on my patio when I got the email stating KDP had accepted the ebook manuscript, evidenced by the above subject line. I did not know if they were going to turn it down for some unusual reason that would turn into a hassle. Amazon is such a well-known marketplace for books that I knew I had to get my book on their site. Undoubtedly KDP’s email is my favorite and well separate from the tens of thousands of monotonous emails that I have received over the years. Perhaps I should print it and get it framed sometime.

Writers have a plethora of different goals, but getting their work to the public is usually the highest on the list. I read several books about authorship and publishing, but two really stayed with me. Be the Monkey: A Conversation About the New World of Publishing by Barry Eisler and J.A. Konrath. One of Reedsy’s founders, Ricardo Fayet, wrote the book How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market, which helped me understand marketing minutiae and was the first time I had heard about Reedsy. I did not have an excellent grasp of how to publish a book. However, on the writing side of things, I knew I wanted to write a concise book about artificial intelligence and machine learning, and I understood that the most important part of writing books is to write a good book –which may seem obvious. The quality of a book is vital to its long-term success, and a writer must understand the purpose of their book. People with large social followings can write a mediocre book (that might have been ghostwritten), which then receives undeserved praise from their adoring fans, who gas them up regardless of the book’s quality. Anyone with a following can hit a lick one time when it comes to writing books, but if you want to be a highly regarded writer, you need to be a writer, not a marketing genius.

Aggression is a skill set, not just a mindset, that seems to be greatly undervalued in the world of publishing, as I do not believe I have heard anyone directly encourage aggression. You cannot win if you do not show up to the game. When choosing to write about artificial intelligence, I knew that I was coming out swinging for my first book, which was my first publication of anything. When thinking back, I do not imagine I could have written the book I did without doing my best to make the book better every day while also being bold enough to publish it when I felt it was ready for readers. Writing about technology is typically a timely pursuit. Tech progress moves along so rapidly, and honestly, you can edit a book for years if you want to, but a book must be released at some point.

Any author’s first book will always be a source of pride as it is the first rung of the ladder they have to grab before climbing higher. Artificial Intelligence in Short, is unique to me, but it will never be as vital as the current project I am working on, whatever that may be at the time. Continuous growth is vital to staying positive, and a significant part of growth is organization and planning. Furthermore, and perhaps more practically, your habits improve as you write. Nowadays, I try to write as cleanly as possible from the start. Editing is meant to improve your writing; it is not meant to torture you. If what you have written in a session, whether 1-5 paragraphs or even a whole chapter, is made of good quality prose, I believe you will be able to fit it into your book. When writing Artificial Intelligence in Short, I had to complete such a significant amount of research that the older copy I had written occasionally got replaced by my newer, more complete ideas. Writers fear (at least, I do) editing because it involves the pseudo-wasteful act of throwing copy out the window occasionally, but editing is also joyous because it is the time when your book becomes the best book it can be and the best book it must become to be a success.

After my first book, I went on to write The State of the Internet: Living on the Network of Networks, and I took all the lessons learned with me while abandoning my identified bad writing habits and did my best to instantiate new good habits.

I had a highly influential high school English teacher tell me that the process of writing was to write, think, and then write more. In terms of a writing session, the first time you write in a day may require pure aggression and determination because the start is often the most difficult part of making progress. You have to break the seal; that is the first step. Next, you must think about what you have written, how to continue, and how to improve upon a few things you have written already. Finally, you continue writing until you complete as much of your initial concept as you can for the day.

To conclude, I keep all my books lined up on my bookshelf behind my monitor against the wall. I believe I must glance at my books unconsciously half a dozen times a day. I am proud to have written all my books and aspire to one day write a book that a huge amount of people love because it benefitted them in their individual lives in some way. My writing is always for the reader. I have a lot in common with my readers, I am sure of that, but what I create is outside of myself and is specifically tailored for my audience, and that is likely the most important thing I have learned in the last year.

Follow your dreams, but be sure they do not become nightmares because they certainly can if you are unwilling to adapt. Thank you for reading.