Every Creator Has a Book Inside Them

You Can Start With Free Books — Here’s Proof

As long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed writing. Most of what I wrote was about things I did or knew how to do.

Most people think they need a perfect book before they publish. I’ve learned the opposite is true.

While managing housing rehabilitation programs for the City of Tampa, I decided to write a book about it. The title was Housing Rehabilitation: A Guidebook for Municipal Programs. The national housing group, NAHRO (National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials), wanted to publish it.

Fortunately, they had their own editor, designer, and cover artist, and it turned out to be a solid book that sold out two national printings.

I include it here among my “free books” even though it wasn’t free—because I didn’t receive a dime from the proceeds. So, in that sense, it was free to me.

Even without direct income, that book made me well known in housing rehabilitation circles across the country. It led to consulting work and helped me sell four additional books that I wrote and published myself.

Those books contained valuable content, but their editing, design, and covers left much to be desired. One of the covers is shown below - designed and drawn by me. Not great, but they still sold because the information was useful.

During those years, I took a writing course from Writer’s Digest. It was an enlightening experience. One of the most interesting parts was the fiction component—something completely new to me.

I wrote at least three short stories during that time, then tucked them away in a box with other materials.

Fifty years later, while going through old files in my office in Austin, I found those course materials again. There were the stories, complete with my instructor’s edits. I decided to share them.

I turned them into a short PDF eBook and published it on Gumroad as a free gift.

Some years earlier, I received a unique gift from my friend Tyson McLeod—an eight-page illustrated card featuring “Famous Bills Through History.” I liked it so much that I turned it into a small PDF eBook to share with others.

My most recent free eBook is a preview of a guide I sell on Gumroad. It offers useful information on its own and then leads into the full book, How to Create and Sell PDF eBooks.

You can create a book of almost any length, on almost any topic.

You can test its value by offering it free.
Then, if it resonates, you can build from there.

If you’ve ever thought about writing a book, you may already have one closer than you think. Start small. Start simple. Start now.

I welcome your comments anytime.

— Bill