Book excerpt: Being the author of a published book unquestionably establishes authority, and today's non-fiction books might easily be referred to as the new business cards. The reason for being an author in the modern world is no longer about earning royalties but about establishing your brand by positioning you as an expert in your field. This step-by-step guide shows how to write your book and self-publish it as a trade paperback at little-to-no cost to you using modern print-on-demand technology where there is no minimum order requirement. With your author's cost of a paperback book being about the same as that of a promotional giveaway, you can use your book as the ultimate business card by giving copies to prospective clients. If you would rather have other people do some or all of the work in the production of your book, the chapter on outsourcing explains how and provides estimates on what each step would cost. There is also a section on how to easily convert your book to an e-book and distribute it across multiple platforms.