Todd Cardin’s ‘Grampy, The Rhino and The Soda’ shows how creativity and entrepreneurship now go hand in hand.
For centuries, publishing was a fortress. A handful of agents and publishing houses decided which authors made it to bookstore shelves. For most writers, the odds were slim. But today, the walls are down. Thanks to digital platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and print-on-demand, anyone with a story and determination can publish a book and share it with the world.
Todd Cardin is living proof.
A playwright, comedian, grandfather — and the owner of a very successful business — Cardin knows what it takes to create something from scratch and bring it to an audience. When he wrote Grampy, The Rhino and The Soda, a children’s book born from a funny family moment, he didn’t wait for a publishing house to give him permission. He self-published. Within weeks, the book was available on Amazon — reaching parents and grandparents across the country.
Cardin’s story highlights a much bigger shift in how storytelling works in 2025: the rise of the author-entrepreneur.
Speed Matters More Than Ever
Traditional publishing can take years. Manuscripts go through rounds of submissions, rejections, editing, and marketing cycles before hitting the shelves. By contrast, self-publishing platforms let authors go from draft to launch in a matter of months — or less.
For Cardin, that meant capturing the energy and humor of his idea before it lost momentum. Readers benefit too, because books tied to cultural moments, holidays, or fresh ideas can reach them while the excitement is still relevant.
Niche Stories Have a Place
A story about a rhino with a taste for soda might not sound like a mass-market hit. But that’s the beauty of self-publishing: authors don’t need to appeal to everyone. They just need to connect deeply with someone.
Parents looking for silly, engaging bedtime stories have embraced Cardin’s book. And in the self-publishing era, a small, passionate audience is enough to make a project worthwhile.
Authors Wear Two Hats
Here’s the big change: publishing a book today isn’t just about writing. It’s also about marketing, building community, and paying attention to data.
As a business owner, Cardin was already used to analyzing numbers, testing strategies, and pivoting quickly. Those same skills applied directly to publishing. He had to think like a marketer — running Facebook ads, connecting with parent influencers, and using SEO to make sure people searching for “funny children’s books” could find his work. With Amazon’s dashboard, he could see what worked and what didn’t, adjusting on the fly.
This mix of creativity and entrepreneurship is the new normal.
The Future Is in the Author’s Hands
Self-publishing isn’t just a shortcut; it’s a revolution. It gives control back to creators, lowers the barrier to entry, and ensures that stories which might have been overlooked in the past can find their readers.
As Cardin puts it: “The magic isn’t just in the story — it’s in realizing you don’t have to wait for someone else to give you permission to be an author.”
In other words, storytelling is no longer limited to the few who get picked. It belongs to anyone brave enough to share their voice.