Ever wonder what happened to all the great stories that died before self-publishing came into it's own? Oh, when I think of the waste!
Back in the traditional publishing heyday, when we had dictators and self-appointed "experts" that knew just what everybody else wanted to read (and what they thought would sell)...some actually granted a few (damn few for what they should have been publishing) aspiring authors an audience with King Publication, himself.
Here is another example of an obscure but aspiring author, Amanda Hocking (pictured), who, after trying to no avail for traditional publication, embraced self-publishing and found success by selling 164,000 copies of her books in 2010.
Now don't get me wrong, it does take talent...and a hot genre...and blessings from God...and magic stardust...and ad infinitum!
Here then is Amanda Hocking's story By Carol Memmott, USA TODAY:
Authors catch fire with self-published e-books
You may not know her name, but Amanda Hocking and others like her are riding the comet of digital publishing.
Fed up with attempts to find a traditional publisher for her young-adult paranormal novels, Hocking self-published last March and began selling her novels on online bookstores like Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com.
By May she was selling hundreds; by June, thousands. She sold 164,000 books in 2010. Most were low-priced (99 cents to $2.99) digital downloads.
More astounding: This January she sold more than 450,000 copies of her nine titles. More than 99% were e-books.
"I can't really say that I would have been more successful if I'd gone with a traditional publisher," says Hocking, 26, who lives in Austin, Minn. "But I know this is working really well for me."
In fact, Hocking is selling so well that on Thursday, the three titles in her Trylle Trilogy (Switched, Torn and Ascend, the latest) will make their debuts in the top 50 of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.
A recent survey shows 20 million people read e-books last year, and more self-published authors are taking advantage of the trend.
Read and learn more
Back in the traditional publishing heyday, when we had dictators and self-appointed "experts" that knew just what everybody else wanted to read (and what they thought would sell)...some actually granted a few (damn few for what they should have been publishing) aspiring authors an audience with King Publication, himself.
Here is another example of an obscure but aspiring author, Amanda Hocking (pictured), who, after trying to no avail for traditional publication, embraced self-publishing and found success by selling 164,000 copies of her books in 2010.
Now don't get me wrong, it does take talent...and a hot genre...and blessings from God...and magic stardust...and ad infinitum!
Here then is Amanda Hocking's story By Carol Memmott, USA TODAY:
Authors catch fire with self-published e-books
You may not know her name, but Amanda Hocking and others like her are riding the comet of digital publishing.
Fed up with attempts to find a traditional publisher for her young-adult paranormal novels, Hocking self-published last March and began selling her novels on online bookstores like Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com.
By May she was selling hundreds; by June, thousands. She sold 164,000 books in 2010. Most were low-priced (99 cents to $2.99) digital downloads.
More astounding: This January she sold more than 450,000 copies of her nine titles. More than 99% were e-books.
"I can't really say that I would have been more successful if I'd gone with a traditional publisher," says Hocking, 26, who lives in Austin, Minn. "But I know this is working really well for me."
In fact, Hocking is selling so well that on Thursday, the three titles in her Trylle Trilogy (Switched, Torn and Ascend, the latest) will make their debuts in the top 50 of USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list.
A recent survey shows 20 million people read e-books last year, and more self-published authors are taking advantage of the trend.
Read and learn more
6 comments:
Wow, John! Quite interesting!
Yes it is!
So when is your Cuban Adventure going to appear???
When I get off my ass!
After beginning my research into publishing three things happened.
First, initially I became disillusioned about the prospects of traditional publishing and put "Havana Harvest..." on the backburner.
Second, I became so enthralled in the publishing revolution that was taking place just at the time of my research that I dug deeper and started two blogs about it.
Third, I began to uncover more, interesting, alternative ways to publish and reported on them. This became my first burner priority, you might say.
Now, I have to re-direct my energies to "Havana Harvest..." and use all the new found tech and pub "stuff" I discovered.
I just have to complete the damn manuscript, right?
I hope you haven't lost your fervor! Maybe if you pull it out of the mothballs, you will gain a whole new perspective and renewed zeal!
Oh, I have not forgot about "Havana Harvest..." by any means...I still intend to bring it to total life.
You said something about 'fervor'...I'm not entirely sure I EVER had any fervor (even since the day I was born), always too laid back for such an ambitious thing!
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