“I’m gonna self-publish ’cause that’s just the world right now, and I think it’s cool.” – Actor/Author Jim Carrey
We found it interesting that famed author Anne Rice shared a link via Facebook yesterday from an April 16 New York Times article, New Publisher Authors Trust: Themselves by Leslie Kaufman. The article (view full text in the link) discusses Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and author David Mamet’s decision to self-publish his newest work, despite being an NYT best-seller with his previous work.
In the article, Mamet told the Times, “Basically I am doing this because I am a curmudgeon… and because publishing is like Hollywood — nobody ever does the marketing they promise.”
Kaufman went on to explain, “The announcement by ICM and Mr. Mamet suggests that self-publishing will begin to widen its net and become attractive also to more established authors. For one thing, as traditional publishers have cut back on marketing, this route allows well-known figures like Mr. Mamet to look after their own publicity.”
And, in a recent article by David Gaughran, author of Let’s Get Digital: How To Self-Publish, And Why You Should, he estimates through various studies of Kindle and other online sales figures that self-publishers have already conservatively captured 25% of the US e-book market. That’s a number that’s bound to grow as more “name brand” authors enter the space.
Huffington Post weighed in on this topic in an article earlier this year, Why Traditionally Published Authors Are Going Indie by Sabrina Ricci. Ricci claims that publishers are going indie “…for a variety of reasons—some because they were unhappy with their publishers’ marketing efforts, others because their publishers no longer wanted to publish their books. But after talking to six traditionally published authors who have since turned to self-publishing, it became clear they all had one common motive for making the switch: they wanted control.”
Forbes.com, via a recent article by Suw Charman-Anderson, summed it up best: “But it’s not just a matter of writing a book, throwing it up on Amazon and waiting for the opportunities to roll in. The downside is that you have to learn new skills such as marketing, as well as the craft of writing.”
Which of course is why Where Writers Win exists. When you’re ready to shrink the learning curve on that marketing bucket, we’ll be here! Stay tuned for coming announcements about our newest author marketing suite of tools, the Winner Circle…
I have a Paranormal Fantasy trilogy I’m working on. I self published the first book and did my homework on launching it right. I had tremendous help from companies and a publicist that specialize in it. I didn’t cut any corners and spent a fortune on marketing. At the end of the run I received amazing reviews for my work which encouraged me to keep writing but I closed out in the red. It has been so disheartening. Getting a distributor is important but not many will take just one book or someone who is an unknown. I just want to tell everyone that self publishing is not as easy as it sounds, there are a LOT of areas to handle and you are on your own. I can see doing it after you’re famous and have a track record but as an unknown who did pretty well with the first run, I can honestly say the chances of actually making money are slim. Just a reality check here folks because we’re all in this together. I still don’t know what I’m going to do with Book Two. It’s in editing right now and I find myself pulling in two directions! Should I pursue getting an agent or do it on my own again? Who knows?
Keep on… Suggest a bit of work on website to establish a traffic ranking and get page and blog and social media integrated and a look that’s more user-friendly… looks like site just isn’t being put to work for you yet. When you’re ready, we can help, ’til then, write on and stay tuned for our Winner Circle announcement – will be some tools there to specifically help you market first book…
Thank you for sharing this roundup of articles supporting self-publishing. I love that Where Writers Win supports professionalism, encourages indie authors and most of all, offers marketing help. I’m eager to see the Winners Circle. You can count on me to share talk it up to my tribe.
Thanks, Flora! We’re eager to launch, too… just getting through all the stickies of making sure everything works the way it’s supposed to 🙂
Yes, I want control too. That is why I self-publish. But it is mostly because it is free.
I have self-published three books and I have two books published by traditional publishers. As I see it there are two major issues that an author will have to deal with that are interrelated. Marketing and getting the word out about your book. The up side is that you get to keep all the profits you make, and you don’t have to go through the pain of rejection from a traditional publisher.
Like Russell, I have two books published by a small traditional publisher and one I just released on CreateSpace/Kindle. True, the editing/layout situation was a little different on this one, but I’m not working any harder on promotion. They did precious little of that. I have spent a few years developing a reliable network of collaborators who trade editing services, etc. That helps all of us keep production costs trimmed to the bone while ensuring professional products.
Thanks for weighing in Shaorn, and Great idea on the collaborating!
Very encouraging! Times are changing so quickly in terms of publishing. If these big wigs are on board, should I be? Worth thinking about…………..
Many of your articles are of great interest to me, for which I thank you. But your “Our Clients’ Books” feature flashes from book to book so fast that it’s hard even to read the title, let alone the author”s name. What’s your hurry? If you are going to do something, do it right!
LOL.. a function of Amazon’s widget – I’ll go try to slow it down 🙂