Self-Publishing Success Stories
No longer do the gatekeepers of the publishing industry decide which books get widely distributed and which do not. Self-publishing is a $1 billion market and is quickly becoming the first choice for authors.
By Kevin OkabeNot long ago, authors didn’t have much of an option besides traditional publishing if they wanted to write a book. That’s all changed now. No longer do the gatekeepers of the publishing industry decide which books get widely distributed and which do not. Self-publishing is a $1 billion market and is quickly becoming the first choice for authors.
What Is Self Publishing?
Self-publishing means that an author oversees the entire process of writing and releasing a book entirely by themselves, including the overhead costs of funding the project, writing, editing, designing, and formatting, all without the help of a traditional publishing company. This makes for higher book sale royalties and total creative control, but it also makes for much more work.
Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing
In traditional publishing, it’s up to the author to first secure an agent, attract a publisher with your manuscript, and hope the publisher will buy the rights to your book and publish it. This equals fewer upfront costs for you, and with it comes the added ability to get your book into major bookstores. Sounds nice, right? Not so fast! The traditional publishing route is extremely competitive and very challenging to be accepted by a publisher; royalty rates are lower on sales, you have to deal with a lot of rejection, and less creative control. Also, nowadays, publishers don’t typically consider you unless a fan base or social following is existent.
This is why many authors today are opting to go the self-publishing route. On the plus side, there are no gatekeepers and no one standing in your way of getting your book published; you own complete creative control of your book from start to finish and enjoy the benefit of higher royalty rates. However, there are some cons to self-publishing; there are more upfront costs and responsibilities, plus it can be an overwhelming experience to oversee the entire process of a book release with no support. It’s worth noting here that the average cost to self-publish a book varies but typically lands in the US $1000-2500 range.
Success Stories
One of the many draws of self-publishing is the ability for higher royalty rates. Take Amanda Hocking, a previously unknown fiction author with seventeen unpublished novels, all of which had been rejected by publishing companies. A few days after deciding to self-publish her debut novel My Blood Approves, she began selling nine copies a day. A few weeks later, she decided to release three further books in the series. Choosing the independent route allowed Hocking to set her own prices for her books, opting to sell the first of the series for just ninety-nine cents to attract readers. Because she chose to self-publish, she was able to retain a 30% royalty versus the 10-15% publishing companies would pay. Hocking has now become a best-selling author after deciding to take the leap into self-publishing.
Then there’s E.L James, the author of the massively successful Fifty Shades franchise. The original novel was inspired by the Twilight series. James posted a story called Master of The Universe on a Twilight fan fiction website and published the story on her own website as well. She later removed the references to Twilight and developed it into an original trilogy. After a great initial response by readers, she decided to self-publish the first book as an eBook, and a limited run of paperbacks through an independent publisher based in Australia. Due to a limited budget, marketing was primarily in the form of self-promotion on James’s Facebook page, reviews by bloggers, and word of mouth marketing which eventually took the book viral.
Finally, we have Andy Weir; a computer programmer, space enthusiast, and author of The Martian, a best-selling novel-turned-movie. An excerpt of the book was originally published on Weir’s personal website due to earlier manuscripts being repeatedly turned down by literary agents. After repeated requests from readers to make the full book available, Weir decided to publish the novel in Amazon Kindle format, opting to sell it for just ninety-nine cents. It sold 35,000 copies in its first month and quickly became a bestseller in the Amazon Science Fiction genre. With that success, the publishers came knocking resulting in an audiobook followed by a hardback version which reached the New York Times Bestseller list and was later turned into a widely successful movie.
Final Thoughts
The self-publishing route is ripe with tales such as these which should offer some inspiration to writers everywhere who are hesitant or just fed up with the traditional publishing process of trying to attract a publisher and dealing with all the rejection and self-doubt that comes along with it. Finding success in self-publishing is no easy feat, but these examples are living proof that it can be done. Sure, it takes a lot of extra effort on the author’s part; learning to wear many different hats during the creation and release phases is difficult, but this is really the only way an independent writer can have any success when self-publishing. The author must become a savvy marketer and promoter; spending countless hours creating content for social media, finding blogs, community groups, and podcast opportunities in which to promote your work. Sure, it’s exhausting work, but it’s also incredibly rewarding to take something you created from nothing and bring it into the world with only yourself to count on. And who knows, with the right mindset, you too may write your own self-publishing success story…
