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C.C. Kelly said:

If I already have a few thousand readers that are going to buy my book in the first week or so, (which will provide great rank and visibility), why do I need the publisher?

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Good point, CC Kelly. I think you've answered your own question.

I think part of it is still that non-fiction is a prestige game. A lot of non-fic authors are pubbing to support/shore up their career. The platform is a cycle. For them, they see NY as the ONLY path still.

And, personally, for non-fiction, if it's an indie book, make sure you're SUPER clear on why you're an "expert" enough to be educating others on the topic. I think that's where people drop the ball when self-pubbing non-fiction.

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That sounds like a good plan.

I tweet my day job and have gotten a following from it. It's been mentioned more than once that a short, direct book on the topic would do well.

But...

You knew there was one coming, right?

Even though I've now proved I'm an expert and created a following, I'm tied into some corners because of my ND/NC. I'm still working on the book in bits and pieces as I tweet and make notes as I think of them, but intellectual property in some companies/industries/states can be tricky.

Check out yours before you spend a lot of time on it just in case.

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I'm going to say something that will shock people here on the kindleboards

If you can write the book that quickly, the proposal is easy AFTER the fact (if you do it, DM me and I'll find the two books I found most helpful) -- AND if it's a topic that will get you a large enough advance to help you support your other writing AND a publisher that has national exposure pull.... the worst thing that happens is you say "no" if they don't offer you those two things, the book is done and you publish it.

There have been several authors I've met who have said on the DL after doing something like that, they later wrote the agent a one time "consultant's fee" check the agent wasn't expecting after their self-pub started bringing in real money.

Lots to think about. Either way, you're on a path to success, right?

When you say "non-fiction" can you be more specific? I can give you some advice from the business/technology side. From what I can tell, there's some significant differences between memoirs, business/technology, self-help, history...all non-fiction but all fairly different.

when i was shopping a memoir to agents, some agents talked about platform and some didn't. one agent said i HAD to outline my platform, and that outline should be at least 100 pages long.  i went with an agent who said nothing about platform. heh.  but it's weird how you can hear such conflicting things. i understand the concept of platform, but i don't think it's a requirement. maybe if someone hopes to get a huge advance, but otherwise...no.

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I'd work on building an audience - and definitely try to build an email mailing list if you haven't already. The bigger audience you build, the bigger advance you will be able to get.

But... you might not want to bother with publishers if you do build up such an audience. According to Amanda Hocking, it is easy to get exhausted and overwhelmed if you are doing everything. She eventually switched to a traditional publisher... article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/12/amanda-hocking-self-publishing