In Trust Me, I'm an Author, publishing strategist Zach Kristensen draws on over a decade of helping more than 100 nonfiction authors to give you what most books on writing and publishing don't: a framework built on principles that won't be outdated by the time you finish reading.
The Author Trust Framework rests on three pillars
Confidence — overcome imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and procrastination so you actually finish your book
Momentum — build the team behind your self-publishing and book marketing so your project never stalls
Impact — connect with readers, grow your personal brand, and create opportunities beyond the page
Every chapter brings real stories from authors who've been where you are, hands-on exercises, and honest talk about the business of being an author that the industry won't tell you.
Whether you're a consultant, coach, speaker, or entrepreneur, this is the aspiring author's guide to stop overthinking and start building — your book, your brand, and the trust that makes both work.
In Trust Me, I'm an Author, publishing strategist Zach Kristensen draws on over a decade of helping more than 100 nonfiction authors to give you what most books on writing and publishing don't: a framework built on principles that won't be outdated by the time you finish reading.
The Author Trust Framework rests on three pillars
Confidence — overcome imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and procrastination so you actually finish your book
Momentum — build the team behind your self-publishing and book marketing so your project never stalls
Impact — connect with readers, grow your personal brand, and create opportunities beyond the page
Every chapter brings real stories from authors who've been where you are, hands-on exercises, and honest talk about the business of being an author that the industry won't tell you.
Whether you're a consultant, coach, speaker, or entrepreneur, this is the aspiring author's guide to stop overthinking and start building — your book, your brand, and the trust that makes both work.
Each year, I ask my friends, clients, and professional network what has had the most significant impact on their lives, excluding people. The most common answers seem to be movies, games, travel experiences, conferences, and…books (save the best for last)!
I’ve encountered many books and authors who have had a significant impact on my life because of their words, actions, and purpose. To name a few of these books, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Atomic Habits, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, As a Man Thinketh, Calling In, and the Harry Potter series. Those books shaped the way I think, the way I perceive the world, and the way I connect with people.
Let’s take The Autobiography of Malcolm X. When I was in 8th grade, I was assigned to read a biography of a historical figure from the past 50 years and I picked this book. I don't remember why, but I'm glad I did. It exposed me to someone who had a completely different life than mine: living in a different place, in a different culture, and with a different upbringing; and I learned how that influenced the way they see the world. It reinforced that how I see the world relates to the choices I make, the values I hold, and how I perceive or misperceive my fellow humans. I still remember many of the experiences Malcolm X had and how his life ended.
Books can change culture. Sometimes they do it quietly, shaping how people think over generations. Other times, they do it visibly, influencing public opinion and social movements—even how entire societies understand themselves. Consider the impact of works like Common Sense, 1984, The Communist Manifesto, War and Peace, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and The Lord of the Rings—books that didn’t just reflect culture but reshaped it.
One book that hit me profoundly was The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, which I first encountered as a student in Junior High. I 10 Trust Me, I’m an Author
already knew about the Holocaust in a general, historical sense—the facts, the dates, the scale. But I didn’t truly understand what it meant on a human level until I read her words. Here was a teenager, writing with honesty and even humor, hiding with her family while the world outside turned monstrous. Reading her account alongside stories from my own ancestors who served in or lived through that war made everything more concrete and more personal. It moved history from a textbook into life. That’s what books do that nothing else quite can.
Think about how many books have been adapted into movies and TV shows. Did you know that Psycho, Mrs. Doubtfire, Shrek, Clueless, and The Devil Wears Prada are all based on books? In fact, research on global box office performance shows that a substantial share of the top-grossing films were based on published works. In recent years well over 100 new film and TV programs have been released that originated as books.
I think you get the point. Books change our culture on multiple levels. As an author, you may not want to have a cultural impact. Your desire may be to use a book to gain new clients. To that, I say, “GREAT!” But you have the opportunity to shape culture within your circle of influence.
If books have this power, why is it so hard to be an author today?
The Honest Reality
Knowing the reality of being an author will help you prepare for the journey ahead. Understanding how people behave and what influences them to read or not read will help you see the options available for reaching those who can be impacted by your words and ideas.
The Crowded Market
The market is crowded. According to the ISBN provider Bowker, more than four million books were published in the United States in 2025—a 32.5 percent jump over 2024. Of those, over 3.5 million were self-11 Chapter 1 • The Truth About Being an Author
published, up 38.7 percent in a single year. Traditionally published titles totaled 642,242, up 6.6 percent. Between 2022 and 2025, self-published output grew 43.5 percent while traditional publishing grew 10 percent.
You are entering this crowded space, or, as I like to say, a red ocean where thousands of other authors are competing for attention and reach.
Despite the volume, the industry continues to grow. Print book sales reached 762.4 million units in 2025, marking the second consecutive year of growth after post-pandemic declines. The AAP estimated the full U.S. publishing industry at $32.5 billion in revenue for 2024, up 4.1 percent. In 2025, reported revenues from approximately 1,300 publishers totaled $14.6 billion, up 1.1 percent, with hardback revenues climbing 2.4 percent and digital audio crossing $1 billion for the first time. Print formats continue to represent over half of all industry revenue.
Within nonfiction, the picture is mixed but instructive. Adult nonfiction remains the industry's largest segment by a wide margin, even with unit sales down 1.5 percent in 2025, following a 0.5 percent drop in 2024.
Self-help book sales were a standout in 2025, jumping 14.7 percent. The category was led by The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, which sold more than 2.8 million copies and became the bestselling book 12 Trust Me, I’m an Author
of the year. It's worth noting that Atomic Habits by James Clear, first published in 2018, still sold over 742,000 copies in 2025—a reminder that the right nonfiction book can sell for years.
Business and economics books declined 3.9 percent in 2025 and were among the hardest-hit nonfiction categories. Academic book revenues also fell 6.5 percent. Despite the decline, business books remain a significant segment of the nonfiction market and continue to serve as a primary tool for thought leaders, consultants, and entrepreneurs to establish credibility and generate opportunities beyond the book.
Memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies dropped 7 percent in 2025, the steepest decline among major nonfiction categories. The category had posted some of the strongest gains earlier in the decade, but growth has moderated as the market adjusts from pandemic-era highs.
I don't usually lead with those numbers when I sit down with a new author. Statistics about market size can be more paralyzing than motivating, and that's not why most authors show up. What I've noticed, consistently, is that the authors who move forward aren't the ones who've done a competitive analysis. They're the ones who feel compelled. They have something to say, someone they want to help, or an experience they need to put into words. They aren't naive about the competition—they've just decided it isn't the point. That attitude, more than any platform size or marketing budget, is what tends to separate the authors who finish from the ones who don't.
The Reading Reality
In 2025, the average adult reported reading 12.6 books per year. Averages and self reporting can be misleading. It’s actually closer to five books annually, and over the last twelve months, about 23 percent of Americans did not start a single book. That can feel discouraging to an author, so it’s worth noting that reading habits vary widely by genre and audience.
Also consider this: in November 2024, The Atlantic published an article titled, “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books,” in which professors at Columbia University noted that some incoming students had never read an entire book. I nearly fell over when I first read that. It’s a small sample size and a specific context, but it points to a trend many educators are watching closely.
Readers Are Distracted
A favorite TED Talk and book of mine is The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. He highlights that more options don’t make us happier; they paralyze us. He describes spending an hour trying to find the “perfect” pair of jeans among countless options—boot cut, straight, skinny, dark wash, light wash, ripped—and leaving less satisfied than when he had only one choice. The abundance of options made him wonder whether he had made the right decision. Your readers face this same kind of paralysis.
Thanks to the internet and the rapid growth of AI, we now have nearly unlimited access to information on almost any topic, with thousands of choices competing for our attention every day. That applies directly to your target audience. How are they supposed to know which of all the creators, influencers, videos, courses, friends, and books will actually help them? 14 Trust Me, I’m an Author
We’ve gone from deep diving into topics to skimming just enough to get what we think we want. Headlines dominate, and we’ve become wired for short snippets of information that promise a shortcut to results. I’m not saying that’s good or bad. It’s simply a product of the world we’ve created.
Personally, I have found it’s hard for me to read a book for long periods of time. At about the 30-minute mark I start to feel restless. I think this is a manifestation of the content I curate each day. To move into deep reading, I need to remove all distractions.
Why Books Are Hard to Sell
Books are hard to sell for a myriad of reasons. Visibility is limited and often short-lived, whether a book is competing for attention in an online marketplace shaped by algorithms or on a physical shelf that refreshes every few weeks. Marketing windows are brief. Reviews tend to accumulate slowly. Word-of-mouth takes time to build, and books can miss their moment simply because it wasn’t the right time. None of this is a reflection of the quality of the work. It’s the reality of how the publishing industry functions.
One book that illustrates this well is the FranklinCovey book Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager by Kory Kogon and Suzette Blakemore. When I helped with the production and launch of this book, the reality was that it didn’t have a big marketing budget nor was it seen as a “big” title for the company. What it had was clarity—a title that spoke directly to the person who needed it and content that delivered exactly what the title promised. As of this writing, the book has over 2,200 Amazon reviews and continues to sell consistently—not because of a flashy launch, but because it found the right reader.
That said, not all of the difficulty comes from the industry itself. A significant part of what determines whether a book sells comes down to how readers experience the decision to buy and read it. That leads us to the question, “Why is it so hard to sell a book?” It’s not because books are that expensive. In fact, compared to many things we buy without thought, books are often a bargain. I’ve bought socks for $15 a pair, several $6.75 artisanal doughnuts from Dough Doughnuts in NYC, 15 Chapter 1 • The Truth About Being an Author
and I once saw an $18 cup of coffee. So what’s the difference? I have a few theories, one of which starts with expectations.
When people consider buying a book, their expectations usually fall into three areas: time, environment, and value.
TIME
I never feel like I have enough time in the day, and I do my best to make the most of those precious 86,400 seconds. How do you choose to use your time? How does your target audience choose to use theirs? Readers want a book to be a worthwhile investment of time. If someone spends four hours reading your book, what do they expect to gain from it? Will they feel happy, challenged, changed, encouraged, or disappointed when they finish? Overall, I believe people pick up a book for one of three reasons. To be educated, inspired, or entertained.
ENVIRONMENT
If someone is taking the time to read your book, you want the ideas to stick. To do that, a supportive environment helps readers focus. For some, it takes a moment to settle into that environment, even if it’s as simple as putting on noise-canceling headphones or getting comfortable in a favorite chair. That kind of focus takes deliberate effort. A book isn’t typically something you can buy and immediately consume, like a doughnut.
VALUE
Finally, what will your reader get out of the book? The value is suggested through the title, subtitle, and description, but the payoff of that perceived value doesn’t arrive until the reading begins. It’s delayed gratification, and many of us have trained ourselves to expect frequent hits of dopamine (the brain’s feel-good chemical). If a reader doesn’t get something fairly quickly, it can be difficult for them to stay with the book until the end.
Outside the cover, most books are black-and-white, printed on white or cream-colored pages. Not the most visually exciting format. As I’m writing this, I’m looking out my front window. It’s 9 a.m., and it’s a 16 Trust Me, I’m an Author
comfortable 50 degrees. The sun has broken through the clouds and is lighting up the maple tree along the park strip. The leaves are shifting from green to red and orange, glowing like multicolored bulbs. The stillness and brilliance of that scene is uplifting. And then, right in front of me, there’s a computer screen, and I’m typing on a black-and-white document.
Which one would you rather look at?
You don’t need to do anything fancy to overcome the fact that a book is black and white. In fact, restraint is often better. It’s the power of the reader’s imagination that captures attention when a book is written well, planting a seed that grows into new insight or change.
As the author, it’s your job to create the opportunity for those moments of insight to strike the reader.
What This Means for You
How are we to make sense of these realities? Book sales are rising while reading rates are falling. That suggests people are buying books but not necessarily reading them. I probably finish about 50 percent of the books I buy, and that may be a bit generous.
Book sales alone don’t tell the full story. Readability and engagement determine whether a book is read, finished, and shared. What makes your book feel urgent to the reader? What makes it memorable enough that they tell someone else about it? How does your book become one of the twelve books someone actually reads in a year because of the value it brings to their life?
People are still reading, just not always in the ways they used to. That reality affects how your content reaches and engages readers. Authors need to think beyond the book itself and consider how their ideas are encountered and consumed. Some readers prefer audio, video, or shorter written formats, such as a Substack, LinkedIn article, or summary that lead them deeper into the work.
When you think this way, the goal isn’t just finishing a book. It’s creating multiple points of entry that get people talking about your ideas and help your content cut through the noise.
What Separates Authors Who Succeed from Those Who Stall
Given everything stacked against authors (the crowded market, distracted readers, and the difficulty of selling even a single book), what actually makes the difference?
After working with more than 100 authors, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern. The authors who make progress aren’t always the best writers. They don’t always have the biggest platforms or the most resources. What they do have is trust, built intentionally in three directions—and great marketing.
First, they trust themselves. They’ve done the internal work to move through false stories they tell themselves, procrastination, and limiting beliefs, even turning those experiences into superpowers. They believe their message matters, even when the work feels uncomfortable.
Second, they trust their team. They understand that publishing is a team effort and surround themselves with people whose expertise strengthens the work. They don’t try to do everything alone.
Third, they earn their audience’s trust. They know who they’re writing for, what that reader needs, and how to show up consistently with value. They don’t just publish a book; they build a relationship.
Together, these three trust pillars lead to confidence, momentum, and impact. They form the foundation of what I call the Author Trust Framework. It’s what this book is built on, and it’s what will guide every decision ahead.
We’ll explore this framework in more depth in Chapter 3. For now, keep this in mind. The challenges we’ve discussed are real, but they aren’t the whole story. What you bring to the table matters more than the obstacles you face.
You Have More Going for You Than You Think
Uncertainty is a common part of the author journey. The learning curve is real, and the work is demanding, but uncertainty alone is not a predictor of failure. What matters more is whether you are willing to stay engaged long enough to learn, adapt, and improve.
Along the way, there are tangible markers of progress. Authors I’ve worked with often remember finishing a first full draft, sending a manuscript to design, seeing a cover for the first time, or hearing from a reader whose perspective changed because of their book. These moments don’t arrive all at once, but they accumulate, and they signal that the work is moving forward.
Ultimately, what determines whether those moments compound is the author brand you build. That work begins with understanding what you bring to the table as an author and why your perspective matters. Clarity here strengthens your confidence, sharpens your message, and gives your book something durable to stand on.
One of the authors I’ve been working with initially believed they needed to publish their book before they built their brand. They saw the book as the starting point that would bring everything else into focus. Through our coaching, they realized the opposite was true: they needed to build their brand first. The issue wasn’t motivation or effort; it was clarity. They knew they had a powerful message to share, but without a clear sense of what came after the book and how their work would live beyond its pages, they felt uncertain. Once they clarified their author brand message and purpose, their confidence increased, the book itself improved, and they moved closer to their publishing date.
Your Unrepeatable Advantage
That clarity starts with understanding what makes you distinct as an author. Nobody can duplicate your life experience or what you’ve learned from it. The moments that shaped your childhood, teenage years, and early adulthood inform how you see the world, regardless of your book’s topic. Others may have lived through similar events, but no one experienced them exactly as you did.
It’s similar to what we learned in geometry class: shapes can be similar but not congruent. That’s my only math reference, I promise. The point is that your stories and experiences are yours alone. They haven’t been lived before, and they won’t be lived again.
That, my fellow author, is worth sharing.
A strong example of bringing personal experience into a book comes from Frank Rowe, an author I worked with and the author of The Leadership Stroke. Frank has a lifelong passion for rowing and works as an executive coach. While his book sits within the crowded leadership development space, what sets it apart is how he applies lessons from rowing to leadership. That perspective makes the book distinctive, story-driven, and engaging. It’s informative and is genuinely enjoyable to read.
Even when a book reflects your experience and expertise, it won’t resonate with everyone. And that’s okay. Your book isn’t for everyone. For the readers it is meant for, your goal is to make it compelling. When you do, the impact can be significant.
Equifinality—There’s No Single ‘Right’ Path (and That’s Good News)
Consider Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy, who published No Hard Feelings with no significant social following—just a niche workplace webcomic and a handful of published articles. The book became a Wall Street Journal bestseller, selected by Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, and Susan Cain as one of the best business books of the year. Their platform wasn’t big. But it was real, and it proved their ideas had an audience.
Their path didn’t follow the script most authors assume they need. And that brings me to a concept I encountered during my graduate studies that has stayed with me: equifinality. It refers to the observation that in any open system, a diversity of pathways may lead to the same outcome. In simpler terms, there is more than one way to reach your destination. Each path brings a different experience, but the outcome is similar.
Your book, your brand, and your process will be shaped by your circumstances, strengths, and constraints. Your path will look different from other authors’, and that difference isn’t just acceptable—it’s essential. You have limitations others don’t have, and you have insights and ways of expressing them that others don’t.
Remember equifinality. There is more than one way to get where you want to go.
What Will Keep You Writing When It Gets Hard
Remember equifinality. There is more than one way to get where you want to go.
I first encountered Simon Sinek’s Start with Why in 2011, two years after his TED Talk and his book were published. It took time for the idea to reach me, and it reached me because someone at work handed me 21 Chapter 1 • The Truth About Being an Author
the book. I read it, then watched the talk. That experience reinforced an important point: books often take time to gain momentum.
Your “why” as an author is what sustains you through that time. Being an author is a long-term endeavor filled with uncertainty, vulnerability, and uneven progress. When you hit a bump in the road and pause, your why is what helps you continue.
Your why shows up in several ways.
INSPIRATION TO DEDICATION
Your why goes beyond motivation. It reflects dedication to something larger than yourself. When the work feels heavy and progress stalls, remembering what inspired you to write and who you hoped to inspire can be enough to get you moving again.
IMPACT
Your why also shapes the impact you want your book to have. When you share vulnerable experiences, readers who have lived through something similar recognize themselves in your story. Hearing how your book has affected someone else reinforces that the work matters.
Defining Your Mission and Values
Your why helps define your values and the boundaries you set as an author. Many authors build entire bodies of work and organizations around what they stand for. One example is Kristen Jenson, who self-published Good Pictures, Bad Pictures, selling over 400,000 copies. Her work led to the creation of Defend Young Minds®, an organization focused on educating parents and professionals about the harms of pornography. Her audience is engaged with what she does because she is passionate about it.
Build Your Author Brand
Finally, your why shapes your author brand. Your brand is what people associate with your name and your work. It extends beyond any single book, with each book serving as an ambassador for what you represent. We’ll explore this more fully in Chapter 13 of Part Four.
My Why(s)
My why for writing this book is to address the challenges nearly all authors encounter and the barriers that prevent them from moving forward. I kept going because I didn’t see anyone discussing these challenges in quite this way, and by focusing on evergreen principles, this book won’t become quickly outdated.
My why for Juxtabook is threefold: books shape culture, and I want to be part of that process; authors are deeply passionate people, and I enjoy working with them and learning from them; and words matter—the words we choose can heal or harm, and I want to be on the side of words that heal.
Your why doesn’t have to be grand or perfectly articulated, but it does need to be honest. Keep it in view. Everything we build from here is meant to support it.
The Long Game Pays Off
Being an author is a long-term commitment. While I would love to map out exactly when and how you’ll achieve the success you’re working toward, that timing isn’t fully within your control. What is within your control is persistence, and persistence on your author journey matters.
A clear example comes from a podcast interview I heard with author Jim Murphy, the author of Inner Excellence. Jim’s book had been published for nearly nine years and sold roughly 9,000 copies during that time. In the tenth year, after the rights reverted back to him, he chose to self-publish. That year alone, the book sold more than 100,000 copies. What changed? It wasn’t a sudden shift in the quality of the book or a new marketing strategy. It was timing and visibility. During an American National Football League (NFL) playoff game, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was shown on national television
reading Inner Excellence on the sidelines. Commentators took notice, viewers searched for the book, and momentum followed.
It would have been easy for Jim to walk away during those nine years of steady but modest sales. Instead, his persistence kept the book in circulation long enough to reach the right moment and audience. It took nearly a decade, and thousands of copies sold for that opportunity to appear, but when it did, the groundwork was already in place.
You Got This
As with anything worth pursuing, this won’t be easy. Most people know writing a book is hard, but they often underestimate what makes it difficult and how long it takes to do well.
Writing is a skill. Maybe you don’t feel like a natural writer (I don’t), but it’s a skill you can develop. You don’t have to become the most prolific writer in the world. You just need to find people who are and enlist their help. Writing, publishing, marketing, building an author brand—it’s a team sport.
Pause for a moment. Take a breath. Notice how you’re feeling.
Excited? Scared? Nervous? All of the above?
Whatever it is, lean into it. That’s where growth occurs. You don’t need to have it all figured out right now. You just need to keep going.
Be brave. Step outside your comfort zone. Take the next step.
You are an aspiring nonfiction author. You dream of turning that brilliant idea into a published book—one that appears on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, your local bookstore, and so on. You dream it helps readers and perhaps even opens up consulting opportunities. That’s when self-doubt creeps in: Writing a book is damn tough, so can you really do it? Others can, but can you—the perennial dreamer—do it? Do you really believe that you can see it through from idea to published book? What if I fail? What if I never finish? Maybe I'm not cut out to write a book after all.
Enter Trust Me, I’m an Author: A Clear Path to Confident Nonfiction Book Publishing and Brand Building by Zach Kristensen. This book answers every one of those doubts with an emphatic, "Yes, you can!"
The journey from beginner to successful author can be overwhelmingly daunting without an experienced guide. At first glance, the path may seem straightforward: write, publish, and market. Today, you might even think AI can teach you the entire process. So why invest in a guide like this one?
The answer is that the apparent simplicity is deceptive. Writing, publishing, and marketing each branch into numerous interconnected steps once you dive into the details. Choosing the right set of steps from start to finish can quickly become overwhelming. Without experience, you may make costly mistakes that waste both time and money.
Let me explain with an example. At the very beginning of your project, what should your first step be? As a novice, you might think, "What's the big deal? I'll grab a notebook and start writing! (Or dictate/type it into my phone or computer.) Then I'll find a publisher, and so on." Unfortunately, that approach is too naïve. Before writing a single word, you need to determine whether a market exists for your book (Chapter 2, p.31). If there isn't, writing it is pointless! Some other preparatory—and sometimes parallel—steps should start before you begin writing. The section titled "How Your Platform Supports Your Book" (Chapter 13, p. 151) explains another part that's missing and yet is critical for success.
There are several other pitfalls too. Learning by trial and error can amount to reinventing the wheel. Apart from wasting considerable time and money, it can lead to avoidable frustration and annoyance if you get stuck somewhere. Turning to an expert at that point may be too late.
This book discusses the entire process of publishing nonfiction books (Note: Fiction books have been omitted apparently due to significant differences in the publishing process). It mainly discusses market assessment, publishing paths, fair and ethical use of AI, overcoming author negativity, developing a growth mindset vs. a fixed one, avoiding perfectionism and procrastination, building an effective author team, author branding and marketing, etc.
The book has an attractive and expressive cover. In addition, the inkblots on it instantly convey that it’s a book for authors. There are exercises at the end of each chapter that aid learning. Readability is good thanks to a well-designed interior layout. The author writes with commendable maturity and depth. In addition, the citations at the end lend it a degree of authority. However, the book contains a few minor English language errors. A noticeable number of widows/orphans also exist.
Balancing the positive and negative aspects (above), I award it 4 stars.
The discussion above, I hope, makes it abundantly clear why a guide like this is so crucial for a beginner. It’s a must-read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all nonfiction authors before writing their first book.