From Self-Published to a $2Million Deal

Amanda Hocking

From self-publishing to a book deal worth a supposed $2 million - that's what's happening to one 26-year-old from Austin, Minnesota:

(Complete Austin Daily Herald article can be found here.)  

...She’s spent years writing and rewriting books, always dreaming of becoming an author. She’d been thinking about paranormal novels before the “Twilight” craze hit the pop culture scene, but the vampire mania helped her decide on paranormal romance as a genre she could have fun with. Since then, she has written about teens and vampires, troll princesses, zombies and more.

She sold about 25,000 books online in mid-October, and was steadily working to put out one book a month on Amazon.com. Fast forward a few months, and as of Wednesday, Hocking has sold 1,030,768 books and counting.

[...]

Hocking’s book deal with St. Martin’s revolves around her “Watersong” series, a story arc involving sisters and sirens (the Greek monsters who lured sailors to their doom) she’s been toying with for some time. While the first book is due out by fall 2012, she’s free to publish other books online so long as they don’t interfere with the “Watersong” publishing schedule.

Stories like this one are becoming more and more common, proving once again what a rapidly changing world we live in.  Self-published e-books can sell hundreds of thousands of copies for unknown writers.  YouTube videos can be used to publicize self-produced music - and linked to iTunes to allow relatively unknown singers to make a decent living.  Throw in Facebook, MySpace (although this site seems to be fading fast) and a few other sites, and anything seems possible.  Even those who do not become big "stars" in the publishing or music worlds have a chance to earn some decent money and go farther than they otherwise ever could have hoped.

The business model definitely changing.  Publishers and music labels are having to adapt to a world they never expected to face.  Already, the music industry has crippled itself by fighting all this new technology rather than embracing and adapting to it.  Sadly, as their reaction to the whole e-book episode indicates, publishers are beginning to move down the same path chosen by the labels.

As consumers, we have to ask ourselves if this new way of marketing artistic content is good, or bad, for us.  Are we missing out on something potentially great because the big corporations cannot spend the kind of money they spent in the past to publicize artists?  Or, is the opposite true?  Are we being exposed to more talent than ever because "new media" make it possible for everyone to get their shot?  How many talented writers are going nowhere because they do not have the skills or desire to market themselves at a time when publishers are not spending the money to nurture people like them?

What bothers me a bit is that I have seen very few stories like this one about "serious" writers.  It seems, from what I've seen so far, that the only ones becoming successful self-published e-book authors are those writing off-the-wall thrillers, cookie-cutter romances, or books about zombies and vampires.  Where are the self-published authors who write serious literary fiction or nonfiction books?  Are they out there?  If you know of any who fit that description, please let me know so that I can take a look at their work.

Good thing or bad thing?  It's just not that simple anymore.

Pirates, E-Books, Publishers, and You

The publishing world continues to change at breakneck speed.  Just this evening, in a matter of minutes, I've run across articles that address various trends in the industry.  Take a look at these:

Book industry balance continues to tilt towards the author


Matthew Ingram contends that the balance of power is rapidly shifting from the Publisher to the Author and that writers with the smarts to market themselves are going to outsell those who still depend on the old fashioned author-publisher model of the past.  Ingram uses John Green (more on him later) and Amanda Hocking (whom I've previously spoken of) as examples of young authors who are cashing via all the new tools available to them.

Those willing to do "the hard work" that publishers seem reluctant to take on these days, have a legitimate chance to find readers for their work.  Admittedly, creating a bestseller this way is a bit like winning the lottery - but the tools are out there.

Tweeting from a La-Z-Boy, An Unfinished Book Hits No. 1


This Wall Street Journal piece highlights YA writer John Green who has the latest number one seller on both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.  What makes Green's breakthrough so newsworthy is that he is still working on the book from his Indianapolis home.

It probably does help that the same John Green has 1.1 million followers on Twitter.  Do you think?

Plenty of E-Book Shoppers Buy Directly from Author or Publisher

The Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites might still be the source for the bulk of e-books being sold today, but authors and publishers are doing pretty well by bypassing those outlets when they can.  According to a poll taken by scifi author Stephen Hunt (on his website, Facebook, and Twitter) something like 39% of e-book purchasers buy directly from the publisher and 25% buy directly from the author.

The bad news: 19% of e-book readers responded that they got their books from illegal sources.  That can't be good...or can it?  (See below)

Piracy - A Two Edged Sword

Some authors have tried giving their books away in e-book form, hoping to build a name for themselves with the buzz created.  Some, like Neil Gaiman even report increased sales for hardcopies of books they have made available for free.

I suspect there are special cases in which this will be true, but giving e-books away is not a longterm business plan for anyone, be they new or veteran writer.

What is a new writer to do?