Note from the WWW team: Please bear with our sporadic schedule as we continue to be humbled by Mother Nature and endless power outtages. Also note that early-bird discounts for PubSmart: Emerging Authors, Emerging Avenues, ends tomorrow, Valentine’s Day, at midnight! If you plan on being a career author, it’s where you’ll want to be in April!
The following info is from a comprehensive report written by PubSmart keynote speaker and hugely successful indie author Hugh Howey. You may be surprised at the findings. Read his entire report at http://authorearnings.com/the-report/.
Says Hugh, “There is no absolute right or wrong way to publish; the path taken depends entirely on what each author wishes to put into their career and what they hope to get out of it. But as marketing falls more and more to the writer, and as self-published authors close the quality gap by employing freelance editors and skilled cover artists, the earnings comparison in our study suggests a controversial conclusion: Genre writers are financially better off self-publishing, no matter the potential of their manuscripts.”
Besides the stellar charts and graphs in the report, you can download the RAW DATA from which the report was generated by visiting the report and scrolling down to the blue “Download the raw data…” button.
So tell us, what do YOU think of the new reveals? And, how should traditional publishers react to information such as this?
I chose to self-publish for several reasons, none of which were to become famous or rich. Those are potential by-products down the road. I have always written and simply felt ready to put something out there. But being an outside-the-box kind of thinker and doer—an artist, if you will, I had no desire to attempt to jump on the assembly line of uber-capitalist publishing that exists in America today. This has been the unfair model that has only gotten worse as bottom lines have grown obese. It’s led to a lot of formulaic stories and writing, devoid of individuality. And as Heidi said, I’ve seen some shocking things done to successful writers’ work. (An example is the stupidity of curly-haired heroines on book covers don’t look badass enough so they are given straight hair. What?!)
Now I completely understand the need for editors, so that’s a given. Same with artwork and formatting (and even hiring marketing people if you have the budget). But the controlling, money-grubbing gauntlet a writer is told to run before an agent probably rejects him/her based on often subjective reasoning, is almost soul-crushing. There is something about the writing/publishing world that creates an extreme arrogance in some people (note: only some people). Honestly, I never bothered after a lot of research—the process just looked too obnoxious given there are other options.
Writers fall prey to the industry that has cropped up around their desire to be picked up by an agent and get published. I was shocked at what Writer’s Digest really turned out to be—mostly exploitative (I’m sorry, but that’s how it felt to someone who lives paycheck to paycheck so they can write. Oh, not to mention having to pay $$ to be in a competition). And I have to say, the majority of writers I know don’t have the money to spend $100 to $500 on webinars and seminars and conferences which often mold them into a ‘Strunk and White’s’ colorless automaton.
My point here is that not everyone wants to be forced onto the assembly line or be subjected to extreme molding. I consider self-publishing to be like the early punk rock movement, which didn’t produce pretty and polished music. However it changed not only music, but our culture. The DIY movement is alive and well today in everything.
As a writer, I wanted to learn, so I went to every affordable resource I could find. I have self-published to Amazon, both kindle and POD. I’ve begun my author’s platform and continue to grow as a writer, while sucking up every bit of info I can to increase my work’s visibility as well as my skill in all areas necessary. This is why I appreciate sites like ‘Where Writer’s Win’. It’s affordable without gouging me and gives me incredible insight and information that I can use in the real world. It also does so with respect and an open mind—which allows me to do it “My Way” (as Sid Vicious once sang).
And who knows—maybe an agent or publisher will come riding up on a white horse one day after noticing me somewhere and I’ll sell out and live happily ever after.
Because the real question for people on this site isn’t about selling out (as I view MakeYourMark’s question), it’s ‘how do you create an author’s platform if you aren’t yet an author?’.
Thank you, Shari, for all that you do!! I’m eternally grateful.
And thank you Dea for the considered comment (and always welcome flattery!) You’re absolutely right – it’s about building that brand (YOU) no matter how you’re published or what stage of the process you’re in… Keep up the great work and write on! Shari
I am one of those self pubbers the first poster was talking about. Yes, I am frustrated by the lack of sales. Yes, I spend all my time trying to figure out how to grab the audience. I have great reviews for all five of my books that I have self published, but just took a “real” job to be able to pay for professional cover art. If I were offered a contract from one of the big six, would I take it? To be honest, it would depend… I saw what a shoddy job was done on Suzanne Collin’s books. If that is what I would get, then no thanks.
How sad that this article will convince first-time authors to self-publish versus pursue traditional, or small press- publication. The reports are skewed. The facts about ebooks are as follows: yes, when Kindle first exploded onto the scene years ago, there were many emerging authors who uploaded their books for 99 cents, knowing that in January, after the holidays, readers would want to read something on their new toy.
Some even sold so many copies the big boys awarded them contracts.
That was then.
However, since that time too many authors (over 3 million titles) wrongly believe that e-publication is the way to go. They upload without editing {shudder}; have a title that is horrendous, and worse, they upload without an author platform. Then they wonder why they do not sell books? {hint: their title is lost among 3 million others}.
Historically, the ebooks that are doing well are backlist works from established authors whose rights have reverted back to them. Nora Roberts comes to mind. There are a few authors who are peddling their books to anyone who will listen. Established authors have a following. So for them, self-publishing is a no-brainer. Fledglings must work hard to build a reader following. Amazon will never, ever do that for them.
The self-published authors I meet, who are 6 months into the process, are weary and more than a bit angry at themselves for believing that they were going to make more money bypassing the traditional route. They admit they made a mistake. They are begging for an Independent Bookseller to stock their Amazon-printed book (which -most times- won’t happen because the author isn’t a customer of the bookseller, and Amazon is the enemy of the small businessman). The number of self-published authors who bemoan their choices over a cup of coffee is legion.
What has really happened is a surge of “buy local.” Face to face and you can not obtain that when you upload an ebook and pray that your title will shine among 3 million others. My advice, find a veteran self published author and ask them this question, “If a traditional publishing house offered you a contract today would you take it?”
Outstanding input and authors do need to keep in mind this is reflective only of genre books. Truth is, there is no cookie-cutter answer. We know other authors who traditionally published who know they did most of the work but are still being compensated at paltry rates. And others who are selling hundreds of books a month on their own.
Also agree that (again, sometimes dependent on genre) face-to-face is great — and why we maintain a huge list of indie booksellers in our Winner Circle, as well as hundreds of vetted live book clubs. But at the same time we include online reviewers and tools because of the need for authors to have a multi-channel approach.
One thing all can agree on – it’s a fascinating time to be an author – challenging, but fascinating!