Why The Waypoint Press exists, and what we mean by visibility.
Most indie author advice assumes you’ve already picked a lane.
Either you go traditional – query agents, sign with a publisher, give up rights and timeline and cover and marketing direction in exchange for someone telling you what to do next. Or you go indie, which most people interpret as “figure it out alone while reading eight hundred blog posts and watching two hundred YouTube videos and never quite knowing if you’re making the right calls.”
That’s a false choice. It’s the one The Waypoint Press exists to challenge.
The bind
Walk into any author Facebook group right now and you’ll watch the same questions cycle through every week. Do I need an editor or will the AI be enough? Is BookFunnel still worth it? Launch on Amazon, go wide, or try Kickstarter? How do I build an email list when I don’t have a book yet? Is this cover okay? How much should I be spending on ads? In the traditional MBA response “It depends”.
The answers exist. People who’ve launched successfully have figured out their version of each one. But that’s the catch – they figured out their version, which depends on their genre, budget, existing audience, day job, and tolerance for marketing work. None of those are yours.
What’s missing is someone who can sit with your specific situation and say: given everything you just told me, here’s what we suggest, in what order, with which tools, and why. Not a publisher who decides for you. Not a course that gives identical advice to everyone. A guide.
What we are, and aren’t
The Waypoint Press is built around one principle: you stay in charge of your work, we help you figure out what to do next.
We don’t take your ISBN. We don’t sign your rights. We don’t put our name on your book. We don’t run your campaign for you (unless your in need of that) – we plan it with you, walk you through the tools, build the roadmap, and hand it over so you execute it.
If that sounds like coaching, it kind of is. But “book coach” has a connotation problem in the indie author world – too many people calling themselves coaches have been selling vague encouragement at premium prices. What we do is closer to operational consulting for one-person publishing operations. The roadmap is real. The tool stack is specific. The engagement ends with a documented plan you own, not a forever retainer.
Four roadmaps, four situations
Most indie authors land in one of four spots:
Pre-Book: you’re still writing, but you know “publish and pray” won’t work and you want an audience before the launch.
Pre-Launch: your manuscript is done, you have three to twelve months before publication, and the runway feels both exciting and overwhelming.
Post-Launch Revival: your book is out, it had a moment, and now it’s quiet. You’re not sure if the move is more marketing, a series, a relaunch, or letting it rest.
Kickstarter: you want to launch via crowdfunding, and you’ve seen enough campaigns flame out to know this isn’t a wing-it platform.
Each one gets a different roadmap. The Pre-Launch playbook isn’t the Pre-Book playbook isn’t the Revival playbook. Same method, different terrain.
Building it in public
We’re producing our first launch right now – and we’re doing it openly.
The reason: most indie author services educate from the past. “Here’s how I sold ten thousand copies in 2021.” Useful, but the landscape has changed. AI tools are everywhere. BookTok algorithms have shifted. Ad costs have moved. Reader expectations have shifted. A method that worked three years ago might be the wrong move now.
So we’re documenting an actual launch as it happens. Every tier decision, every tool comparison, every “we thought this would work and it didn’t” – on YouTube, on this blog, in real time. By the time we open roadmap clients, we won’t be selling a theory. We’ll be selling a method we’ve already used.
What’s next
If this sounds like the conversation you’ve been wanting to have about your book, the waitlist is here. Tell us which track fits, and we’ll reach out when we open clients in that one.
In the meantime, the YouTube channel is where the build-in-public work shows up first. We showcase our project Authors to help spread the word about their work. Follow along while you decide whether we’re the right fit. No pitch, no spam, no pressure.
