Why Bestselling Author Of Management Books, Tony de Bree, became An Indie Author Of Short Ebooks Again
In december 2025 I decided to return to self-publishing short ebooks as self-publishing indie author (‘individual author’) after having stopped publishing corporate ebooks at Bookboon.
This shift reflects my focus on providing timely, ‘just-in-time’ content that helps people to survive in a fast-changing online and offline world. Here’s why this move is both strategic and mission-driven:
1. On-Demand Self-Help and Survival Content
I write and publishes ebooks that are tailored to provide immediate solutions for people seeking practical advice on self-help and survival in the digital age. By addressing urgent needs like adapting to AI and surviving the great AI layoff, thriving as an independent entrepreneur, or navigating other political, social and economic events and developments. My purpose is to ensure that wahtever I give away or sell at a low price resonates deeply with his audience in line with his own True North.
2. Speed to People
The ability to write, design, and publish an ebook/ short reads or even low conten within a very short period of time using AI-assisted writing techniques, in hours and days, not in months and years as traditional publishers in the dinosaur management industry is a practical game-changer. This approach helps me to respond quickly to emerging needs, wants and problems of people, equipping them with tools they need to survive and succeed in time and fast.
3. Accessible and Actionable Insights
Short non-fiction ebooks are the ideal format for busy and desperate individuals seeking quick, actionable short term strategies. Tony tries to focus on delivering practical tips and survival techniques in digestible chunks, ensuring readers can implement solutions immediately.
4. Aligned with His Mission
My mission in line with my True North is to help individuals and small businesses survive and thrive in the AI-powered economy, the online shakeout, and political, social and economic uncertainty. It aligns perfectly with the self-help and survival focus of short ebooks. The content is designed to empower readers to take control of their lives and careers, even in turbulent geopolitical times.
More: New in 2026, Leaving The Corporate Rat Race & Start a Conversation
5. Freedom to Focus on the Essentials
By self-publishing, I do not only avoid the constraints of traditional publishing, but also the digital red ocean marketing strategy of large online publishing platforms like Amazon etc. Allowing me to focus exclusively on the needs of specific groups of people online. My ebooks address niche real challenges that are overlooked by mainstream publishers, making them invaluable practical resources for those needing to survive and thrive in the AI-powered economy, hybrid working or working at home.
6. Leveraging Digital Blue Ocean Opportunities
My decision to pivot back to self-publishing short non-fiction ebooks as he started to do after 2001 working at home and as digital nomad next to his dayjob at Corporate IT Strategy at ABN Amro Bank aligns with his digital blue ocean business strategy and digital blue ocean marketing strategy, focusing on people in underserved online niches, online niche markets’ and offering practical self-help and survival content. To be free and stay free. This approach hepefully helps me to be a kind of trusted guide for individuals seeking survival strategies outside mainstream channels and false expertise of harmful tricksters.
7. Practical Experience at the Core
Sharing real personal experience of helping myself after the bankruptcy of my fathers business in 1975 and over 26 years experience helping SMEs, online freelancers, startups & scaleups to survive and thrive. My short ‘how-to’ non-fiction ebooks thus draw from real-world insights, day-to-day practical experience including as AI-practitioner and AI-artist. This practical expertise aimes at ensuring readers that they receive practical advice they can trust and apply immediately.
8. Empowering Readers to Thrive
My short ebooks are more than just survival guides; they’re practical tools for self-help, personal development and empowerment. By helping you to learn how to adapt, innovate, and succeed fast, I My objective is to help you not only to survive but also thrive in an era of a fast changing online and offline world and find meaning in your life and work
By focusing on self-help and survival, my short ebooks meet a critical need for practical, actionable, and timely advice. By returning to indie publishing ensures I can deliver short high-impact content again that equips readers to face the challenges of the digital age and the fast changing world around us with more confidence and resilience.
Since the democratization of AI in 2022, I learned how to select the right AI-tools and the right platforms to create the images and cartoons I want with my True North in mind. And in line with Dutch and EU-legal frameworks. Avoiding the ‘AI-moderation’ of CEOs of Big Tech from the U.S.
Using different AI-powered apps to legally generate and publish the images I want including AI-cartoons on different social media platforms, including being very carefull on LinkedIn. As the basis for me new healthy and free personal life as now 60+!.
Reach out
Want to know more about how you might be able to lead a free personal life and free work life in a nice life-work balance? And how you can use AI for this? Then lets start the conversation.
