If AI lets everyone publish a book, what is left to compete on once supply is way up and demand is only slightly up?
A Note from James:
One weekend I tried to write a vampire novel with AI.
And by the end, I felt like I was rewriting almost everything it gave me.
So eventually I thought: why did I even use AI?
AI is very good at giving you the average answer.
And for a lot of things, the average answer is exactly what you want.
But with writing, the average answer usually isn’t the interesting answer.
Chandler Bolt runs selfpublishing.com. They’ve helped publish thousands of books.
And one of the examples he gave me was a book for mobile notaries.
Mobile notaries.
When they published it, even Chandler thought, “Who is going to read this?”
It has something like 1,600 reviews on Amazon.
That immediately got me thinking about what the moat is now.
Because AI can help almost anyone create a book.
But if I write a book on intimacy, somebody can reasonably say, “James, you’re on your third marriage. Why am I listening to you?”
No moat.
Then Chandler introduced me to something I’d somehow never heard before after writing roughly 25 books:
The viral coefficient.
How many additional book sales does one reader create?
And why would you ever send somebody two copies of your book instead of one?
For years, I’ve argued that self-publishing can outperform traditional publishing.
Chandler corrected me a little.
The average self-published book doesn’t necessarily outperform the average traditionally published book.
But the authors making serious money?
A lot of them are self-published.
So we talked about books, AI, niche markets, distribution, audiobooks, Amazon, how people discover information now, and what still makes a book worth writing when anybody can generate 50,000 words before lunch.
Here’s Chandler Bolt.
What You’ll Learn:
Timestamped Chapters:
[02:47] A Note from James
James introduces his failed experiment writing a vampire novel with AI, Chandler’s niche-book strategy, and the concept of the viral coefficient.
[03:42] What Changed in Publishing This Year?
Chandler gives James an update on selfpublishing.com and explains how AI is changing both publishing and customer acquisition.
[04:57] People Are Still Buying Books
Chandler argues that demand remains resilient; the bigger change is the enormous increase in supply.
[06:04] The Problem With Generic Nonfiction
James and Chandler agree that another broad book about success or leadership has a difficult time competing unless it offers something genuinely different.
[07:32] What Kinds of Self-Published Books Are Working?
Chandler describes the strength of niche prescriptive nonfiction, fiction’s greater upside and risk, and continued audiobook growth.
[08:48] The Mobile Notary Book That Took Off
Sign & Thrive becomes Chandler’s example of how surprisingly narrow subjects can support successful books.
[09:04] AI Books, Intimacy, and Narrow Niches
Chandler gives examples ranging from AI leadership to relationships, real estate, mobile homes, and self-storage.
[11:16] Become the King of a Small Category
Instead of competing in a giant category, Chandler explains why an author can use a specific book to own a much smaller niche.
[11:42] What Does selfpublishing.com Actually Do?
Chandler explains the company’s coaching, production, publishing, marketing, and ghostwriting model.
[12:55] Is Self-Publishing Still the Backup Plan?
James and Chandler trace the shift from publishing-industry gatekeepers toward direct access to readers.
[13:51] Who Actually Makes More Money?
Chandler separates average performance from the economics available to successful self-published authors who retain more of the upside.
[15:42] The Economics of Traditional Publishing
James remembers his experience publishing Skip the Line and explains why advances often matter more to authors than royalties.
[16:14] Could AI Write The Six Pillars of Intimacy?
James asks whether a capable model could research and assemble most of a prescriptive nonfiction book.
[17:01] Readers Ultimately Care Whether the Book Is Good
Chandler argues that AI assistance itself may matter less over time than whether the finished product actually delivers value.
[18:17] The Moat Has Moved
If everybody can create the product, James argues, competitive advantage shifts toward trust, reputation, expertise, and distribution.
[19:28] Discoverability vs. Distribution
Chandler separates getting found when someone is searching from proactively getting the book in front of readers.
[20:26] The Viral Coefficient of a Book
Chandler introduces the idea that every reader can potentially generate additional readers.
[21:00] How Do You Make a Book More Viral?
Reviews, participation, challenges, team purchases, and social behavior all become mechanisms for turning one reader into more than one sale.
[22:30] How James Launched Choose Yourself
James remembers refunding early readers who could demonstrate they had actually read the book, helping generate attention and reviews.
[24:37] Behavior Change Is the Best Marketing
Chandler uses The Miracle Morning to explain why people naturally talk about a book when it changes something they actually do.
[26:06] Why You Should Send Two Copies
Chandler recommends giving prospects or customers two books with one instruction: pass the second copy to somebody who needs it.
[27:10] What Can a Publishing Company Do That AI Can’t?
Chandler argues that packaging, positioning, coaching, distribution, and understanding what readers want remain critical.
[28:23] The Book Is the Front End, Not the Business
A business book can generate consulting, training, speaking, leads, investment opportunities, and authority worth far more than its royalties.
[29:16] Why James Thinks AI Writing Will Plateau
James explains his theory that generative models are excellent at finding common patterns but struggle when creative work demands unusual choices.
[31:12] The AI Vampire Novel Experiment
James describes spending a weekend trying to co-write fiction with AI—and eventually realizing he was rewriting nearly everything himself.
[32:21] Creativity Requires Bold Inputs
Chandler argues that averaging the preferences of many writers can remove exactly the qualities that make an individual voice distinctive.
[35:13] What About Publishing 1,000 AI Books?
James asks whether enormous AI-generated output can still exploit small publishing niches.
[35:38] AI Publishing Arbitrage
Chandler compares the strategy with an older model built around cheap ghostwriters and algorithmic arbitrage—and questions its durability.
[36:46] Will People Still Read Books?
James asks whether websites, streaming, social media, podcasts, and now AI will eventually erode long-form reading.
[37:16] AI Is Wide; Books Go Deep
Chandler argues that instant answers satisfy surface-level curiosity but do not necessarily replace sustained immersion in a subject.
[38:11] Why Audiobooks Keep Expanding the Market
They discuss how easier access through services like Spotify can bring audiobook listening to people who never developed an Audible habit.
[39:30] From $10 Million to $100 Million
James asks Chandler how he plans to grow selfpublishing.com by another order of magnitude.
[40:03] When AI Starts Taking Your Search Traffic
Chandler explains how customers who once arrived through Google increasingly ask AI for an answer without visiting a website.
[41:07] SEO Becomes AEO
James introduces answer-engine optimization: positioning a business so that AI systems recommend it directly.
[42:00] The Winner-Take-More AI Search Result
Chandler explains why AI recommendations may be even more valuable than traditional search rankings when the system returns only one or two choices.
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