Some people who are self-published make hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Many more make a few dollars.
Some who buy a high-priced package of services for self-publsihing may end up losing money.
Some get a glowing review from the New York Times' Michiko Kakutani. (Who, as Annie Lamott once said:" The one little problem with Michiko, though, is that if she doesn't like your book, she will kill you -- cut your head off with a surgical knife, and play hacky-sack with it until she grows bored. Then, maybe in the last paragraph, she'll pour acid on it.") (Read more about her here.)
Most never get noticed.
And no one really knows why something like 50 Shades of Grey is a huge success.
When I got my first contract in 1997, the only people who self-pubbed were deluded fools who ended up with boxes of books in their basement. I still meet people who have paid thousands to have their picture book published with cheap materials and bad drawings. (Often, sadly enough, they seemed to be suckered in by a company that claims to be Christian.)
I've seen people break with traditional publishers, and people who have had success self-publshing happily sign with one of the Big Six (or is it Big 5 now?).
Recently, I've read two interesting articles about self-publishing.
One lengthy one in Time magaizne says, "Its an article of faith in the indie movement that writing fiction can be a way to get rich."
Here's a link to a pdf of the article called The 99-Cent Bestseller. he author they profile earned $352.70 in nine months. Not get-rich-quick stuff.
NPR also covered self-publishing, including looking at the prices people pay for help in getting their book in e-print.
I have put all my backlist out as ebooks. I seldom earn more than $300 a month. But hey, it's free money (I did the formatting and my husband did the covers), and it means that people are still reading my older books.
My ebooks and another ebook that for some reason isn't showing up when I click Kindle.
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Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-publishing, money, self-pubbed, Add a tag
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: success, self-publishing, self-pubbed, Add a tag
One self-pubbed author nabbed a six-figure deal with a traditional publisher, but it’s probably not anything others can replicate.
- Are you the managing editor of American Cheerleader or another magazine that appeals to the same audience you’re writing for?
- Have you already written six unpublished novels?
- Are you active on YouTube?
- Do you have a blog?
- Are you active on Facebook?
- Have you made a trailer for your book?
- Have you gotten Publishers Weekly to run several articles about you:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/49745-ya-author-with-huge-wattpad-fan-base-tries-self-publishing.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/industry-deals/article/50213-swamped-by-offers-self-pubbed-ya-author-gets-agent-and-more.html
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/50659-s-s-acquires-self-pubbed-life-s-a-witch-in-three-book-deal.html
Well, then you might be out of luck.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-pubbed, serial killers, Add a tag
Recently, Jezebel reported: “J.D. Bauer is an outspoken environmentalist who's written a young adult novel called Quest for Water. Incidentally, he's also a serial killer. Earlier this week, The Province reported that Bauer was actually Charles Kembo, a Canadian man currently in prison for murdering his wife, his mistress, his friend, and his stepdaughter.
Read more here.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-pubbed, amanda hocking, success, Add a tag
NY Times Magazine had an article/interview with Amanda Hocking, the 26-year-old e-book wunderkind who recently signed a $2 million contract with St. Martin's for her next four books.
In the past year, Hocking has self-pubbed 10 e-books and made about $2 million
from them, even though she prices them between 99 cents and $2.99. She now averages 9,000 downloads per day. While she says she thinks about each book for up to a year, she spends just two to four weeks writing them.
“Hocking is at a loss to explain the phenomenon. “I’ve seen other authors do the exact same things I have, similar genre, similar prices” — like many self-published authors, she prices her books radically below what traditional publishers charge; typically hers cost between 99 cents and $2.99 — “and they have multiple books out. And they all have good covers. And they’re selling reasonably well, but they’re not selling nearly as well as I am.””
She started with fan-fiction, then moved on to writing her own stuff. She started self-publishing because she couldn't get an agent. She has signed with a print publisher because only 15% of people owns e-readers and she wants to reach the other 85%. She's already a million-dollar author. For me to be a billion-dollar author, I need to have people buying my books at Wal-Mart.”
Read more about her here.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-pubbed, editors, self-publishing, ebooks, Add a tag
All those self-pubbed ebooks mean that many aren’t edited, or they are edited by someone who has an interest in making their client the author, rather than the reader, happy.
As one editor turned writer says in an essay in The Guardian: “It is extremely dispiriting to sit in a room with your editor and be told that the book (in my case novel) you have lovingly crafted over a long period of months is not gripping, charming and perfectly turned out, that it is in fact repetitive, unconvincing, too sketchy here, too drawn-out there. But I'd be mortified were anyone other than my editor and agent to read the first draft. It is vital that an author has someone willing to be tough with them. It's in their best interests, and if that person is employed by the author themselves on a freelance basis, I question how tough they'll be willing to be.”
Read more about the importance of editors.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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A bookseller writes, “This past holiday season two of our bestsellers were self-published books. This was a HUGE surprise to me when I ran the numbers at the end of the year.”
Read on to find out the reasons why they were such a success.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Some people will tell you that they go the self-publishing route so they don't have to share the money they're sure to rake in with an agent, a publisher, or anyone else.
For a reality check, take a look at what Author Solutions charges folks to self-pub. For the low, low price of $1999, you get the "Pinnacle" package: "For those serious about selling their book in the retail marketplace, our PinnacleSM self publishing package offers all the tools an author needs to get his or her book shelved. Along with the noteworthy features of DiscoverySM, this package offers our Booksellers Return Program that makes it easier to get bookstores to carry a book and a Book Signing Kit to make your events more memorable."
Notice how they say "make it easier to get bookstores to carry"? That's one reason self-publishing is often a bad idea. Unlike a traditional publisher, there is no marketing team trying to get bookstores all over the nation to stock your book. No, it's just you. And when you approach bookstores about carrying your book, they're usually not interested in something that is often priced higher than comparable traditional books, that offers them less of a discount, and that isn't returnable.
One Colorado bookstore has found a way to turn all the self-pubbed authors into cash flow: "The store charges its consignment authors according to a tiered fee structure: $25 simply to stock a book (five copies at a time, replenished as needed by the author for no additional fee); $75 to feature a book for at least two weeks in the “Recommended” section; and $125 to, in addition to everything else, mention the book in the store’s email newsletter, feature it on the Local Favorites page of the store’s website for at least 60 days, and enable people to buy it online for the time it’s stocked in the store. And for $255 — essentially, the platinum package — the store will throw in an in-store reading and book-signing event."
Read more about the Boulder bookstore's program here.
Remember: Money flows to the author.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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I think the title sums it up: Birth Control is Sinful in the Christian Marriages and also Robbing God of Priesthood Children!!.
You’ve got to look just for the comments.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-pubbed, Add a tag
Author Solutions offers lots of “packages” to people who want to self-publish their books. Author Shiloh Walker offers a clear look at why it’s such a bad idea. She says:
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“His company also offers fantastic packages like ‘a social media package’ that includes…
facebook profiles, myspace profiles
facebook page for your book, myspace page for your book
flickr
feedburner
Shelfari, Goodreads, Librarything
Twitter
The cost? $949.
I’ve got most of those… don’t use flickr-don’t see the point, but I vaguely recall the cost. Free.”
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Read her entire post here.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-pubbed, Add a tag
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: self-pubbed, Add a tag
Have you written some kind of fiction and considering getting it self published? There are a million reasons why not, IMHO. To read some of them, click here.
Blog: So many books, so little time (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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There's some story floating around on the Web about an elderly author who used her advance to buy a house for her friend so that she wouldn't have to go into a nursing home.
As you might suspect, it's a nice STORY. Read the real story here here.