About Dayna Offutt: Publishing Educator, Speaker & Author

Hi, I’m Dayna. I’m a publishing educator, speaker, and author, and I’ve always been curious about how people turn ideas and concepts into something that outlives them.

I watched my dad build his own business from nothing. He hit setback after setback, the kind that would’ve made a lot of people quit. I was there for all of it, and it changed how I think about building something meaningful and durable.

That upbringing taught me what it costs to bet on yourself. It also gave me a lot of respect for people who do it anyway.

My work has taken me through publishing, visual communication, education, and tech. I went to Indiana State and IU Indianapolis, and I’ve worked in corporate offices, nonprofits, schools, and my own business. Since 2020, I’ve been a mentor with SCORE. I started out helping with general business questions, and now I specialize in digital marketing and publishing.

Here’s the thing most people get wrong about publishing: they think it’s all about writing the book. It’s not, not even close. The real work starts after the manuscript is done. How do you position it? Who’s it for, and how do they find it? What makes an author worth backing for the long haul?

That’s the whole idea behind Publishing Beyond the Book℠. I teach authors, no matter where they’re starting from, how to see the full picture, and think like a publisher.

I’ve done this work myself. I wrote 9 Things to Know When Self-Publishing Your Book and 120 Days: A To Do List Guide, and I’ve been published in Thrive Global and elsewhere since 2014. Right now I’m working on something new, a memoir about entrepreneurship, legacy, and what it means when someone you love just won’t quit.