Giving It Away For Free

About six weeks ago, I got this post on my Facebook page: "Dusty, You used to have such awesome stuff on your page. But now we only hear from you when you have something to sell."

He was right.

I'd been feeling I'll at ease about my interactions with all of you for a little while, but it took that post to put words to my thoughts.

I write books because I love to teach. But the act of publishing them had me feeling like less of a teacher, and more of a marketer. That relationship never sat easily with me.

I'm just like all of you: I started with nothing and managed to build something. Be you a competitor of mine, a Facebook friend, a Tweep or a fan, I have always considered you a peer. I treasure that relationship; that community. More than anything, I love teaching. It's something that comes naturally to me, and I love the feeling of adding value to someone's life through my words and thoughts.

A writer named Simon Sinek wrote, "In life, it's not what you do. It's why you do it."

What do I do? In addition to poker, I write and publish books.

But why do I do it? Because I love to teach.

I treasure the fulfillment I get from writing and publishing books; and, yes, I value the monetary value those books might create in my life someday. There's nothing wrong with that — we poker players are all capitalists, after all. But I don't want to write them if it requires me to be less teacher and more marketer.

So I took some time to prioritize and thought about how I could put "why I do it" ahead of "what I do."

Going forward, what I'm going to do is "lead with content." For me, the act of writing will be more like putting out a daily newspaper, and less like putting out a quarterly magazine. I won't go underground to write a book, only to emerge six months later to tell you over and over that I've done so. Like it or not, from this day forward, you won't be able to shake me.

In one form or other, I'll be giving you free poker content every day. Hopefully you'll find it valuable. This content will appear in this space, on my own website, and on Facebook and Twitter.

This is going to include frequent blogs and columns, both from me and a group of amazing guest writers; daily instruction; frequent podcasts with some killer guests; Q & A's with prominent members of the poker community; and previews of book content delivered in real time as we write it. Even better, much of this content will be dynamic, giving you the chance to comment, critique and ask questions.

This content will be produced daily, and it will all be free.

Here's what we'll be producing (and hopefully you'll be reading or listening):

*Between 4-6 columns and blogs every week, if not more, offering real-time commentary, instruction and more. In this space will also appear Q&A's with prominent figures in the poker community.

*Frequent podcasts featuring commentary, insight and instruction, as well as top guests from the poker field. (Yes, this show will ultimately be on iTunes. But right now we're working out the kinks. Right now the podcast is hosted on my blog at DustySchmidt.net. But if you'd like the podcast mailed to you as an MP3 file, please send an email to info@imagine-books.net.)

*A "Hand of the Day," which will appear each day on my Facebook page and blog. I'll allow you to weigh in on a hand I played, then I'll jump in with my own thoughts. We've been doing this for a few weeks and I think people really enjoy it. We've also had "Guest Hands of the Day," where someone else sends in a hand, and my friends and I give it a critique. (To send one in, direct it to info@imagine-books.net.)

*A "Question of the Day," which will take the same form as the daily hand. This is a great way for me to answer the many poker questions I typically receive each day. This will also appear on my Facebook page.

*Guest content from some top poker minds, including:

*Jared Tendler. Jared is the preeminent mental coach in poker. His instruction led to profound breakthroughs for me and a host of poker colleagues. He is a leading edge thinker and an instructor at DragTheBar.com. Jared has a new book coming out called "The Mental Game of Poker," which we'll be excerpting.

*Paul Hoppe. As many of you know, Paul co-wrote "Don't Listen To Phil Hellmuth" with me, and is one of the best poker minds I know. This is someone for whom I have tremendous respect, and you will, too. Paul also wrote the brilliant "Way of the Poker Warrior," which we'll be excerpting.

*Matt Reilly. Matt helped grow a business to approximately $500 million in revenue before selling it, and now works with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies on strategic issues of global significance. An accomplished writer himself, Reilly has been published in the Wall Street Journal, and cited in the Harvard Business Review and the Financial Times. This guy is smart, cool (though our politics don't always agree!), credible, and takes treating your poker like a business to an MBA level.

*Owen Gaines. Someday soon, Owen is going to be huge. He is an instructor at DragTheBar.com, as well as the author of two amazing books, "Poker Math That Matters" and "Hole Card Confessions," both of which will be available on this site Friday. He is a great soul whose content you will value immensely.

*Nicole Breazeale Schmidt: Nicole has a Master's in conflict resolution, and is an expert in the field of relationships. We all know that online poker creates complications in other areas of our lives. Nicole will help us negotiate that terrain with original content, as well as previews from her forthcoming book, "Suited Pairs." Not only is she a gifted writer, she's beautiful, too. (And I'm not saying that because she's my wife.)

*We'll have a recurring post called "Expected Value," which applies the EV concept to non-poker events, like marriage, religion, children, etc. You know, the small stuff ...

*Perhaps nearest and dearest to my heart is that I'm working on two books right now, "Treat Your Poker Like A Business 2" and "Raise," which is an autobiography that tells my crazy story from beginning to end. TYPLAB 2 takes the original TYPLAB and dives in to a much deeper level. Whereas the first gave you broad concepts, the next will take you on a very specific progression. I really, really think you're going to love it. I had a simple rule about writing a follow up to TYPLAB, which was that I wouldn't do it unless I could to a better book. I think we're on the road to doing just that, and I'll be previewing " TYPLAB2" and "Raise" on dustyschmidt.net months before it appears in book form. The same goes for "Raise" content.

There are no strings attached here; no hidden angle or agenda. I love teaching, and I want to do it every day. I'd also love to create an online community without the negativity that some others provide, and I want to participate in that community every day.

There is a great deal of poker content out there in the world, and I'm flattered that you might value mine. The best way to access this is to sign up for my Facebook page and Twitter feed. That way you'll get real-time updates as they happen. Please also bookmark this blog, as it's where most of this content will appear.

Looking forward to it!