How and Why I Chose to Self-Publish The Growth Equation
Back in 2005, I wrote my first book—and learned the hard way why traditional publishing isn’t for everyone. The book, one of the first on CSS design, was published with Apress and turned out well, but the experience of working with the publisher was anything but fun.
The deadlines were crazy—one chapter every 10 days, with edits due back within five. If my draft chapter was even a day or two late I’d receive an angry and accusatory email from my editor, making the whole process feel really unpleasant. The deadline was so tight that I was eventually forced to quit my job to get the book finished on time.
The publisher’s vision for the cover was also highly restrictive. They wanted it to resemble their technical titles, while I felt a more visually appealing design would better suit the audience. The fight for an appropriate cover took an inordinate amount of effort, at one point going all the way to the company MD. Eventually, the issue got resolved, but not without a struggle. Thankfully, this turned out to be the right decision, as the cover had a big impact on sales.
Marketing support from Apress was non-existent. I had expected the publisher to help promote the book, but I ended up doing all the work myself. Considering I was earning less than a dollar per copy, this felt like a really poor deal. That experience taught me that if I ever wrote another book, I wanted full control over the process—from the design to the marketing. That’s why I chose to self-publish The Growth Equation.
Becoming an Accidental Author
I didn't set out to write a book. Far from it. It all started from a talk I gave to a group of early stage founders a few years back. Over the Christmas break, I found myself with some free time, so had a crack at turning the talk into an article. However, once I started, I just kept on writing. Six weekends later, I had 12,000 words—far too long for an article but maybe enough for a short book?
I decided to flesh the book out with more quotes and examples. Three more months of weekend writing, and I was up to 40,000 words. I wanted to create the book I wish I’d had as a founder—a step-by-step guide to mastering early-stage growth, from finding your first customers to scaling your revenue—so things were starting to take shape.
To get an outside perspective, I hired a developmental editor with a background in early-stage startup growth. She helped refine the structure, ensured the chapters flowed logically, and added more humour. She also suggested adding the “next steps” sections at the end of each chapter to make the book more actionable. The title, The Growth Equation, was there from the start. However, it wasn’t until near the end that the equation itself emerged, partly as a nice McGuffin to hang the marketing around.
The Editing Marathon
After developmental editing, which took around three to four months, I moved on to copy editing. Given the larger U.S. market, I chose to Americanise the language. This wasn't as easy as just changing the S's to Z's. It also meant removing some of the more colourful colloquialisms and references an American audience might not understand. The eight-week copy edit also led to endless debates about capitalisation, hyphenation, and whether to use an Oxford comma or not.
Then came the citations. I tracked down all my references, added footnotes, recreated screenshots, and reached out to rights holders where possible for permission. I also worked with a designer friend to create 20+ bespoke illustrations, which took more time than expected. This phase likely added another two to three months of fairly tedious admin work.
Navigating Self-Publishing Platforms
Two self-publishing platforms dominate: Amazon KDP for print-on-demand and IngramSpark, preferred by bookstores. Both involve uploading a cover design, a formatted PDF, and details like pricing, keywords, and descriptions. Each book needs an ISBN, which Amazon and Ingram can provide, but their ownership restricts access to other platforms. I ended up buying a block of 10 ISBNs because smaller batches weren’t available.
The setup process wasn’t especially user-friendly. Both platforms have outdated UIs, and I made a few irreversible mistakes due to clunky interfaces and poor messaging. I had particular problems with Amazon, which I’ve written about separately. Despite my best efforts, they wouldn’t allow my preferred cover design, which led me to question whether traditional publishing might have been easier after all.
I probably spent another two to three months perfecting the interior layouts, printing demo copies, and ironing out all the bugs.
Pre-Launch Preparation
For a new book by an unknown author—at least in the field of startup growth—social proof is essential. I reached out to a few dozen well-known contacts for endorsements. These included authors, startup founders, and growth leaders at major brands. I was able to secure about a dozen endorsements, which provided much-needed credibility.
I also set up a pre-launch mailing list, initially bringing in around 150 sign-ups. Offering three free chapters as a lead magnet brought in another 50 subscribers. While not huge, the mailing list helped convert 70% of subscribers into buyers—a promising start.
As launch day approached, I emailed 80 friends, offering to send them an advanced copy if they’d consider leaving a review on Amazon. Around 40 responded, with 20 posting reviews during launch week. While I had hoped for more, I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who stepped up.
Launch Week and Beyond
On launch day, I emailed everyone on my lists, leading to about 300 copies sold in the first 10 days. Considering most books never sell more than 1,000 copies, this felt like a reasonable start, especially since 70% of my mailing list purchased a copy.
However, the real challenge is getting the book into the hands of people outside my immediate network. To do this, I’ve been actively promoting the book through a self-organised speaker tour. I’ve appeared on a dozen podcasts, spoken at conferences, accelerator programs, and university entrepreneurship courses.
Right now, I’m writing this from a hotel room in Lisbon before a talk at a startup event. This is the life of a self-published author. Every copy you sell beyond your immediate network is hard-won—at least for the first few months, before word-of-mouth marketing hopefully kicks in.
My Goal—and How You Can Help
I'm really proud of the results and think The Growth Equation can help founders navigate the toughest stage of their journey. As such I'd like it to be mentioned in the same breath as books like The Lean Startup, Obviously Awesome and The Mum Test. One of these books that people immediately recommend folks buy when they have a specific problem — in this case finding early users.
My first target is to sell 1,000 copies, which will cover my costs. Fortunately I’m well on my way to that. The next milestone would be 10,000 copies, which is where publishers start to consider a book successful. My ultimate goal is to hit 100,000+ copies, placing The Growth Equation among the top startup books.
If you'd like to help, please share the book with any early stage founders you know. Every recommendation helps spread the word!