How This Chartered Accountant ‘Self Published’ 3 Books on Amazon While Managing a Full Time Job

• Do you fantasize about waking up, sipping coffee, and writing the book you’ve always wanted to write?
• Unfortunately for many of you, that day is not today. We have so many responsibilities that just quitting our jobs to become full-time authors is not possible. But what if I told you that even while working a full-time job, you can write a book and publish it?
• I am Deepesh Dhamija. I have a full-time job as a fund accountant at a large insurance company but still managed to write and self-publish three books, work out every day, practice yoga, etc.
• In this article, I share the exact strategy I used to write and self-publish three books while working a full-time job.

Growing Up and the Journey to Chartered Accountancy

I was born and brought up in Mumbai, India. At the age of 15 years, I weighed 80 kg. I was a lazy and overweight student. I joined a gym after class 10. Initially, I was only interested in weight loss. But once I achieved my goal of weight loss, I was hooked on exercise and fitness.

In school, I was a very average student, but I have always been good with numbers and mathematics. I was lucky to get admission into Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai (India), where I was surrounded by so many bright and intelligent students.

There was a point in time where I was managing 4 courses at once and was lucky again to crack all 4 exams together: M.Com, CA, CWA, and CAT MBA Entrance Preparation. All this while, I managed to make time for the gym and exercise.

I qualified as a chartered accountant in 2008 and also got a 95 percentile in the CAT. I got calls from several prestigious management schools in India. However, I decided to start working instead of pursuing an MBA.

I got a job offer at the age of 23 from a leading insurance company (where I continue to work as a fund accountant) and joined the insurance industry. And exactly one year into my first job, I got married at the age of 24.

This was my life growing up, becoming a chartered accountant, and starting my corporate career.

How Did I Get the Idea of Writing a Book?

Early in my career, I tried my hand at several side projects, as I always wanted to have something of my own and transition from an employee to an entrepreneur!

While juggling a full-time job, my side projects, and family life, I would struggle to find my “me time.”

Within 5 years of starting my job, I had gained 18 kg. I realized I couldn’t continue with my existing habits. So, I read self-help books and started experimenting, retaining what really worked and eliminating what didn’t.

Within 2 years, I lost most of the excess weight I had gained! Since my transformation was so evident (I was also more at peace), everyone around me was surprised. They kept asking me for tips on how they could also get fit while working long hours. I would keep giving them tips and guiding them on everything from diet to exercise.

And that is when the idea of writing a book was born.

Self-publishing a book while working full time

I had the idea of writing a book, but just the thought of writing a book and then publishing it while working almost 12 hours a day seemed very daunting and scary. But the urge was so strong that I could not let it die.

I did a little online reading about how other people managed to write books in spite of their busy schedules. And I took the following steps:

1. I used affirmations to achieve what I wanted.

• I often think that people who become successful writers are born with some kind of natural talent.
• But when I got to know that many successful people use affirmations and small steps to achieve their goal of becoming a writer, an artist, or an entrepreneur, I decided to give it a try.
• I started using my affirmations to become an author.

2. I joined a group to help me with my goal.

• I started searching for groups that would help me become a better writer.
• As I was searching for such groups online, I came across Toastmasters Club, which helped people become better public speakers and leaders. So I decided to join the club.
• But something or other kept coming up that prevented me from attending the Toastmasters Club meetings. Finally, after a few months, I attended the Toastmasters Club meeting in Mumbai as a guest.
• Impressed, I attended a few more meetings and decided to become a member.

3. Gave speeches

• I started giving speeches about topics of health, fitness, and habit formation.
• I read several books about each topic to prepare my speeches.
• I would then take the points that I liked and apply them to my life, testing what worked for me and how.

4. I wrote each chapter using my speeches.

• I would use each speech to write about a specific topic.
• I would then share my experience in my speech and use the speeches to write my book chapter by chapter.
• After giving 15 speeches, I had read hundreds of books, accumulated several pages of content, gotten feedback on my speeches, used that feedback to improve my content, delivery, and stories, and finally compiled and edited those speeches into my first book.

5. I self-published my books.

• I then searched the internet, learned about self-publishing a book, and came across Kindle Publishing.
• I finally published my first book on Kindle in 2016—Losing Weight is a Piece of Cake.

Questions I get asked frequently

“How Can I Start Writing a Book?”

Writing a book is not complicated. You take one step at a time, then another, and another. You write a sentence, then a paragraph, then an entire chapter. Writing happens in bits and pieces. Following are a few suggestions for writing your book:

1. Know your why.

The question is NOT “Should I write a book?” “Why shouldn’t you write a book?” is the question. Before you decide to write a book, you should know why. Why Write:

• Passive Income
• Become an expert authority.
• Start and Grow Your Company
• A book is a visiting card on steroids.
• Obtain Speaking or Consulting Assignments
• Your book is your legacy. You will live forever!
• It’ll teach you about yourself.
• It Will Improve Your Intelligence
• It’s like therapy.
• It’s an amazing experience.

2. Research the topic you want to write about and the other books on the same topic. What extra do you have to add to that? How is your book different from those others?

 Writing is about moving forward little by little, even if you don’t have a perfect solution. Setting the target at 500–1000 words a day may feel exciting, but soon the reality will hit you and you will fall behind, feel tired, unmotivated, and unfocused. Set a goal of writing at least 50 words daily.

4. Write the outline first.

5. Get early feedback. Get early feedback on your writing from friends, family, peers, etc. Write twice the number of pages you wish to publish. Editing will take care of the extra pages.

6. Accept that the initial draughts will not be good enough. Your first few draughts may be shitty, and that is “ok,” because often from those first few shitty draughts will spring some good and a few brilliant ideas. You may write anything and everything that comes into your mind. You don’t need to follow any sequence. Let the ideas flow through you. You can organize the ideas into categories and edit them later.

7. Use online tools. You can use online tools like Google Docs, Dropbox, or a host of other tools that help you access your manuscript from anywhere. This way you can write on the way to work or while waiting for your train or bus or in the cab.

8. Find the right mood. Some rituals trigger the mood to write. For some, it may be getting up early in the morning and watching the sunrise; for others, it may be walking; for some, cooking, cleaning dishes, or reading. You need to find what gets you in the mood to write.

9. No matter what, finish the book. Do whatever you need to do to get it in front of people.

10. Publishing the book

• Even the most brilliant writers were rejected several times before they got published.
• You can approach a publisher and go down the traditional route, which is after writing the draught, contacting publishers, agents, etc.
• If you were to take your book to a traditional publisher, they would give you a royalty on your book sales and look after everything else like editing, marketing, publishing, etc. However, it could take months or years to publish.
• But if you choose to self-publish, then you can become an author easily. If you self-publish, you have to take care of editing, cover design, publishing, marketing, etc. all by yourself.

11. Marketing the book

• If you publish through the publisher, your expense is only the time invested; the rest they will take care of.
• If you “self-publish,” then you have to bear the expense of marketing and selling.
• If you market it well, it will do well. Books don’t sell themselves unless you are already famous. So you have to put in the work to sell your books by doing speaking engagements, free seminars, online marketing, etc.

12. Embrace failure. Send your book to as many publishers as you can, and even then, if it doesn’t get published, you can self-publish it.

13. Write another book. Your first book may or may not be successful. However, don’t let that stop you from writing your next one, because your next one will be a better one.

“What are the Most Common Myths That Prevent People from Publishing Their Book?”

1. You need to be an expert to write a book. You don’t need to be an expert; in fact, you become an expert only after you write a book.
2. Writers’ Block: If you have a problem writing but can speak, then record your ideas and give them to someone who will listen to them and transcribe them. You can also use the help of a ghostwriter if you have money to spare.
3. Fear of Failure: How many people will ask you if your book fails? “I didn’t expect this from you.” You tried something. You are better than passive critics who don’t have the guts to try and fail. So don’t worry about your critics.
4. A book is written. A book is not just written; it is engineered. It requires a writer, editor, publisher, designer, and marketer.
5. Your work stops after you publish the book. The real work starts after you publish the book. You will have to do speaking assignments, book signings, attend literature festivals, and do podcasts and media interviews to promote the books.
6. People must like your book. What people like depends more on their choices and preferences than on your writing. Most people don’t even read all the books they buy. Many people buy books for the sake of buying and gifting books.
7. You need a publisher to get published. This is the biggest fear of all writers – fear rejection of publishers. However, today, with Kindle, Create space, Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), etc., you can self-publish your own book.

“Should I Quit My Job to Pursue My Passions?”

A day job gives you money and a routine that you can use to enhance your ability to pursue your passion or try out new projects on the side. Without money, you will have to rely on the mercy of others.

In my opinion, only after you successfully start making money from your side project should you leave your job and jump full-time into your passionate side project. In the meantime, you can search for a job.

• That helps you acquire or practice the skill sets required for a side project.
• gives you fixed working hours.
• is close to your home and entails limited travel?
• Or a job that allows you to work from home so that you can use those few hours of time and energy saved to do the work you enjoy.

“Which is better, traditional publishing or self-publishing?”

With self-publishing, you can produce your content as quickly as you want. And in the Amazon Kindle store, you can publish a new book whenever you want.

That way, you can share your work as quickly as you create it!

• Traditionally published authors are typically paid an amount of money upfront, but they only get a small cut of the earnings.
• When you self-publish, you keep most of the earnings. On Amazon, self-published authors receive 70% of the royalties for an eBook priced between $2.99 and $9.99. Now that isn’t bad!
• Today, with Kindle, Create space, Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), etc., you can self-publish your own book.

“There is NO MONEY in writing the book.”Is it true?”

• The real money is in the business you build around the book.
• You can make more money from the business or speaking assignments that your book will get you than from the royalties you will earn from the sale of your books.
• Often, you may have to give away your books for free just so that people read them.
• Writing a book will earn you the “expert” tag in your field.

Concluding…

• Start where you are. Don’t berate yourself for not having gotten to where you wanted to go yet. One year from now, you will wish you had started a year earlier. START NOW.
• Use what you have. You don’t need to have all the resources handy to make your dreams come true. Sometimes people get so caught up in the things they “need” to make their dreams happen that they lose sight of the dream.
• Do what you can. That’s all anyone can ever do. As we start taking actions and moving towards our desires and dreams, our power grows.
• Be patient and give yourself sufficient time. Humans often overestimate what they can do in a week or a month but underestimate what they can do in a year or a decade. Think in terms of months or years, not days or weeks.

As of today, Deepesh is the author of three books: Losing Weight is a Piece of Cake, Atomic Habits Stacking, and You Are an Artist. He is also a yoga and acroyoga expert.