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Meet Tal Lazar: Empowering Authors to Become Their Own Publishers
by Writing Workshops Staff
4 hours ago
When a publisher shuts down just two months after launching your debut novel—right in the middle of your book tour—most writers would see it as the end. Tal Lazar and his wife, bestselling author Sanibel Lazar, saw it as the beginning of something better. What followed was a crash course in taking control, a journey that transformed disaster into empowerment, and ultimately, a roadmap for other writers navigating the increasingly complex publishing landscape.
Tal Lazar brings a unique perspective to the conversation about independent publishing. With over two decades of experience making movies, a background as a software developer and startup founder, and teaching positions at institutions like Columbia, City College of New York, and the American Film Institute, he understands what it means to disrupt traditional gatekeepers. Ten years ago, he did it with film distribution, ultimately selling a movie to Netflix. Now, he's bringing that same revolutionary spirit to publishing—not by doing it for authors, but by teaching them to do it themselves.
In How to Become Your Own Publisher: A 2-Night Zoom Seminar, Lazar offers honest, practical knowledge about the publishing industry as it exists going into 2026, not as we wish it were. This isn't a how-to course for self-publishing—it's something broader and more valuable. It's about understanding the full spectrum of options available to authors, from traditional publishing to independent publishing, and knowing how to navigate between them with power and confidence. For writers tired of feeling powerless in their own careers, or those who've been burned by the false promises of traditional publishing, this course offers a chance to open the toolbox and take inventory of what's actually possible.
Our Q&A with Tal Lazar
Writing Workshops: Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Tal Lazar: In my workshops, I ask people to say what they answer at the airport when the border agent asks them what they do. It's not a conversation you want to prolong, and it requires you to distill what you do in the briefest way. So I'll give it a try myself: I'm a teacher.
And sure, I can say that I taught at universities like Columbia, City College of New York, Berklee Music or the American Film Institute. But I think of this title, "teacher," a bit more broadly. That's because for over 20 years I made movies, and my journey always somehow got to me back to technology (I started out as a software developer and later founded a startup).
To me, a teacher is someone who wants to drive some change by giving other people the tools to do it themselves instead of doing it for them. And I've been doing that my entire life, through movies, products, in the classroom and more recently with a book.
Writing Workshops: What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
Tal Lazar: This course came to life with a disaster. My wife's debut novel was doing really well right after it was published, and then the publisher shut down within two months of the launch. We were in the middle of her book tour when she got the message. But instead of seeing this as the end of a story, we decided to make it into the beginning of a better one.
I jumped into publishing headfirst. This was not the first time I did something like this. About 10 years ago I did it with movies, when I was frustrated with how distribution for independent films worked and decided to do it myself. We then sold the movie to Netflix and also got international distribution. With Sanibel's book already being a national bestseller, I figured it would be silly to give it to another publisher. We got the audiobook and eBook back up almost immediately, and after 3 months had a new paperback edition which is now available in bookstores and online retailers. I learned a ton, especially about the gatekeepers and scam publishers authors have to navigate. For me, the road to turning this into a course was just a natural progression.
Writing Workshops: Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
Tal Lazar: I think that the most important takeaway from this course is that authors have more power now than ever before, and it's time to open up the toolbox and take inventory. This is not a how-to course for self-publishing, it's a lot broader than that. We'll first align expectations, because many authors think that a publisher is going to do things they have no intention of doing, like market your book (very few publishers do this, and even then only for select titles). Then we'll look at what authors are expected to do in 2026 and on, which is probably very different than what you were taught at a creative writing program or signed up for when you started writing. We'll look at indie publishing as a spectrum, not as one thing. You can take things you want, leave other things that don't feel applicable. I think that this knowledge alone can already put an author at an advantage when negotiating with their new agent or with a publisher. And finally, we'll look at some practical steps to take in order to publish as an independent publisher, and how that is different from self publishing.
This last part is especially important for those who want to go ahead and publish their book independently. It's possible at a minimal cost, even if traditional publishers will tell you otherwise. This will set us up for an accelerator program I am starting with WritingWorkshops in which we will walk you through publishing your book independently (and, hopefully, result in a proof of your book). I don't want to open an indie press and charge authors thousands of dollars and then run around and find the cheapest copy editor and cover designer. I want to empower authors to make these choices themselves. That's what this is all about.
Writing Workshops: Who was your first literary crush?
Tal Lazar: Maybe I'm a bit of an oddball here, because I don't see myself really as an author. I do have a nonfiction book coming out at the end of 2025, published traditionally by Routledge. Knowing what I know now, there's a good chance this will be my last traditionally published book for a while, and I do intend to publish.
So while I did read a lot as a kid, I can't say that there was one author that inspired me to change my life or career path. I'll answer the question in a more literary way. My author crush is my wife, Sanibel.
Writing Workshops: What are you currently reading?
Tal Lazar: I just finished reading The Death and Life of August Sweeney by Samuel Ashworth, which I could not recommend more.
Writing Workshops: How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
Tal Lazar: There's a joke in filmmaking that if you knew how difficult it's going to be you wouldn't start it in the first place, but by the time you realize - it's too late. I think I live by it, and try not to think too much about how difficult something is going to be. It would be an understatement to say that this mentality put me in trouble in the past.
Everything I start working on, I do with the intention of bringing it to a full completion. It does feel like my projects choose me and not the other way around. My book about cinematography started as a successful course which then became a video series and ultimately - and very naturally to me, a book which seals that chapter in my life. I'm already working on more than one literary project, all nonfiction, and all inevitable as far as I'm concerned.
Writing Workshops: Where do you find inspiration?
Tal Lazar: I find inspiration in people. For my cinematography book, the inspiration came from my students. I am working on a book about teaching, and the inspiration came from the many educators I've worked with. I'm developing a project about cinematic thinking in communication, and the inspiration comes from executives and founders I'm helping now. I believe that the biggest danger to inspiration is to isolate yourself from other people.
Writing Workshops: What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
Tal Lazar: I'm hesitant to give any writing advice, since I feel I am in the early stages of learning it myself. The best advice that I read and was repeated by my wife who is an author, is that you should know what you want to say and strive to say it in the most direct way possible. That doesn't mean you can't be poetic about it, since form and content are closely linked. But there's a difference between unnecessary ornaments and a style that is closely attached to voice and message. When you think about it this way, you become very aware of your choices.
This is familiar to me from filmmaking, where the exact same thing happened to me. Once you become hyper aware of your choices you start questioning everything. Why move the camera this way, or why light it that way. Very soon you avoid many choices which came naturally before, some of them good. But that's a necessary phase to simply becoming more deliberate about the way you express yourself.
Writing Workshops: What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
Tal Lazar: On Writing Well by William Zinsser is a book I often go back to. I like it when teachers don't only talk but also demonstrate it in their work. Zinsser writes like I would like to write, and shows how something that appears effortless takes so much work. That kind of honesty and vulnerability is what makes a good teacher, and for those who are starting out I'd recommend his book.
Writing Workshops: Bonus question—What's your teaching vibe?
Tal Lazar: I think of teaching as part performance, because our brain is not wired to remember information. We remember experiences. I try to embody that by creating experiences, whether it is making people think, try stuff out, discuss… whatever version of an experience I can create. Hopefully, I am successful.
The publishing industry is changing, and authors who understand their options will always have an advantage over those who don't. Whether you're considering traditional publishing, exploring independent routes, or simply want to negotiate from a position of knowledge and power, Tal Lazar's insights can help you navigate this landscape with confidence. His approach isn't about rejecting traditional publishing—it's about understanding the full spectrum of possibilities and making informed choices that serve your work and your career.
Ready to take control of your publishing journey? Join Tal and Sanibel Lazar for How to Become Your Own Publisher: A 2-Night Zoom Seminar and discover the tools and knowledge that can transform how you think about publishing your work.
