Who will be #11?

Good Sunday afternoon all!

I was going through some back posts from my friends at Online College Courses and I found this nugget of fun.  Given how I'll be making the book signing rounds with Lies in Chance and Dream in Color again this summer, I wanted to give a nod to these fine authors who blazed a trail for all of us...and to especially point out #3, who has been sort of a spirit guide to all of my writing since I was in grade school and to #9 who opened my eyes to a world of possibilities while sitting at a table with me, eating peanuts.

10 Self-Published Authors Who Were a Success

It's not easy to get published. That's probably something you already know, but it's a fact that bears repeating. So many writers believe that they have the next great novel, only to find out that publishers don't necessarily agree. Even the likes of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling suffered at the hands of uninterested publishing houses, but King and Rowling also went on to incredible success. The following authors have enjoyed success as well, but they've taken a different route: they all got their start not through publishers, but by putting their books out themselves through self-publishing. These authors took it upon themselves to create their books in print or in e-book form, pounded the pavement to get them sold (with one even selling thousands of copies out of his car trunk), and eventually went on to become bestselling authors, most of them signing deals with major publishing houses. Read on, and we'll take a look at 10 successful authors who made self-publishing work for them.

1. Beatrix Potter

   Beatrix Potter's first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was rejected by several publishers, at least initially. But Potter was so driven to share her children's book, written for the son of her former governess, that she privately printed it starting in 1901. After finding success, Frederick Warne & Co. began printing it as a trade edition in 1902, and multiple reprints were issued in the years following. With more than 45 million copies sold, this self-published book is also one of the best-selling books of all time. The Frederick Warne publishing company went on to publish all of the books in Potter's 23 Tales series.

2. Amanda Hocking

   Amanda Hocking and her wildly successful paranormal novels have made lots of news recently as a threat to the traditional publishing model, although Hocking doesn't see herself that way. Still, at the age of 26, she was selling about 100,000 copies of her book every month and keeping almost all of the profit from them. Previously, she had been publishing stories on her blog. One of her books, The Trylle Trilogy, has been optioned for adaptation as a movie, and she now has three paperback books available through St. Martin's Press despite being previously rejected by several publishing houses.

3. Edgar Allan Poe

   Edgar Allan Poe's first public work, Tamerlane and Other Poems, was commissioned by the author himself, turned over to a young printer who had previously only printed labels, flyers, and other small jobs. The 40-page book was pamphlet-sized, and it is believed that only 50 copies were printed, although some believe the actual number is as low as 20 or as high as 200. Tamerlane and Other Poems is considered to be one of the rarest first editions in American literature. So rare, in fact, that noted poetry anthologist Rufus Wilmot Griswold believed that it didn't even exist until one was found. It's believed that a total of 12 of these self-published editions still exist today. Poe's next book, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems was picked up by publishers Hatch and Dunning, and Poe considered this to be his first book.

4. John Locke

   With such an auspicious name, John Locke was bound to do something amazing, and he certainly did: Locke became the first author to sell more than a million e-books without a publishing deal, and he did it in just five months. Perhaps the most amazing part of Locke's success is that he did it all without an agent, publicist, or huge marketing budget. Locke's success is credited to his deep understanding of the audience he writes for, a natural skill for a man whose background is in niche marketing. After finding success and joining the Kindle Million Seller club, Locke signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to have print editions of his books sold and distributed by the publisher. Locke has also written a guide to becoming a successful self-published author: How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!, a title which has done quite well itself, currently ranked in the top 100 of both Kindle's Self Help and Success stores.

5. Richard Nelson Bolles

   You may not recognize Richard Nelson Bolles' name, but you most likely know his popular self-help book, What Color is Your Parachute?, which was self-published by Bolles starting in 1970. Bolles typed the manuscript and pasted in drawings and lithographs, then had his local copy shop print it up about 100 copies at a time with spiral binding, allowing people to order it directly from his office, typically campus ministers who already knew him. He sold 2,000 copies that way, lugging each of them himself to his local post office in an experience that he calls "back breaking." By 1972, a commercial publisher, Ten Speed Press, picked it up, and have since published eight of Bolles' books. Since first being published, the book has been wildly successful, with more than 8 million copies in print. It was on the New York Times best-seller list for 288 weeks, and is now revised annually. For his contribution, Bolles has been called "the most widely read and influential leader in the whole career planning field," and "responsible for the renaissance of the career counseling profession in the US."

6. Christopher Paolini

   Cynics might say that it's easy to get published when your family owns a publishing house, but have no doubt that Paolini and his family put in hard work to self-publish his first book, Eragon. Paolini's parents owned a small, home-based publishing company, Paolini International, and after seeing the potential of their son's work, decided to publish the book. The entire family helped make Eragon a success, promoting the book in schools, libraries, and bookshops with the young Paolini dressed in a medieval costume. Things didn't go very well until the stepson of popular author Carl Hiaasen bought a copy of the book and shared it with his stepfather, who brought it to the Alfred A. Knopf publishing house, who contacted the Paolini family and offered to publish the book commercially. The book was on the New York Times Children's Books Best Seller list for 121 weeks, and was adapted into a feature film. He has since written three more highly acclaimed books.

7. James Redfield

   Would you buy a New Age spirituality book out of the trunk of an author's car? It sounds like a strange thing to do, but 100,000 people did, making James Redfield's The Clandestine Prophecy an incredibly successful book, despite being rejected by mainstream publishing houses. Warner Books eventually agreed to publish it, but not before author Redfield sold copies out of the trunk of his Honda, and not just a few: 100,000 of them. After packing up his bookstore in a trunk, Redfield's book became the No. 1 bestseller in 1996, and spent 165 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list. All told, more than 20 million copies of The Clandestine Prophecy have been sold worldwide, and a film adaptation of the book was released in 2006.

8. Irma Rombauer

   Irma Rombauer's The Joy of Cooking is in just about every kitchen you can find, as one of the world's most published cookbooks, in print continuously since 1936. But the cookbook started out as a privately published affair in 1931, with 3,000 copies created by label maker AC Clayton and illustrated by Rombauer's daughter. At the time, Rombauer was struggling emotionally and financial after her husband's suicide, and this was her way to support her family. For an initial investment of $3,000, Rombauer had her 3,000 copies, complete with mailing cartons and stickers, all designed to sell to Depression-era women who needed a book to take the place of professional cooks they couldn't afford anymore. In 1936, Bobb-Merrill picked up The Joy of Cooking, and has now sold more than 18 million copies. The self-published first edition is worth between $500 and $5,000 on the collector's market.

9. JA Konrath

   It took JA Konrath's book, Origin, more than ten years to find an audience, after being rejected more than 50 (yes, really, 50) times by every major house in New York. But in September 2011, Konrath noted that he has sold tens of thousands of copies of the book in the Kindle store, where it was ranked #274 at the time. In all, Konrath collected nearly 500 rejection letters for his nine unpublished novels before being picked up by Hyperion. But that didn't happen before Konrath finally found an outlet for his writing through Amazon's self-publishing system. On his blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, Konrath shares his secrets to becoming a successful self-published writer. Hint: it's perseverance, mixed with generous helpings of luck.

10. William Strunk, Jr.

    Along with his student EB White, Cornell University professor of English William Strunk Jr. wrote and published The Elements of Style as a guide to address elementary rules of usage, principles of composition, and commonly misused and misspelled words and expressions. It was originally designed for in-house use at the university and was known as "the little book," emphasis on the little. But it didn't stay little forever, and the book has since been revised and republished to much success and use. In 2011, Time magazine listed The Elements of Style as one of the 100 best and most influential English language books since 1923, and it is easily recognized as one of the most widely read and used English style manuals. All told, more than ten million copies of this originally self-published book have been sold.

Once an e-pub always and e-pub?

Hello all!

I'm currently in the midst of working on two big writing projects.  The first is a currently untitled humor book about my life with the female nit wit at my office.  (You can vote for a title here.)  The other is a straight up romance about a former figure skater and a former NHL star.  (It's  first for me, I actually set out to write a romance, and by gum, I'm doing it!) 

Elsewhere, as you may know, I have two books out in various forms.  The first is Dream in Color, which you can get in print or e-book form  (and yes, Nook users, you can get it at Barnes and Noble.)  and then Lies in Chance which is in e-book form only.  (And both these books could use your help!  AHEM!) 

I like the idea of being an e-pubbed writer.  While the guarantees aren't there...yes, I've sold about 11 copies of Lies in Chance, but I just know that any day now people are going to go crazy for this book...I at least have the book out there for people to read.  For a new author, one without the support of Oprah, (who would LOVE my books if she read them, of this I am certain) just having titles out there is key.  I love having control over my cover, my editorial content, the name under which a book is published.

Marketing...however...and distribution...well, that's not as much fun.

So now I've got these two writing projects going, and I'm really confident that one or the other or both are going to blockbuster big.  If I e-pub myself, I can get them out for sale quickly.  If I go through a publisher, I once again step on the treadmill of submit and reject.  Then, if I'm lucky, an editor will buy my book, and then I lose a lot of control over the book.  ("Lies in Chance" is ALL MINE.)

So, even though I've only got two titles out there and I'm not making $300 a day (I'm a disciple of J A Konrath that way) my writing career is my own.  It's exhausting, but the covers I pick are mine.  The titles I pick  (as lame as they can be sometimes) are mine.   How much I sell the books for are mine.

On the flip side, the two books I'm working on have a ton of potential.  Like a moderate advance check sort of potential. 

So, am I a fool to consider going back to traditional publishing, in the interest of furthering my career as an author?  Now that I've chosen the path of e-publication, is that the way I must always go?

Charting where and how our writing careers go is a very inexact science.  What works for someone may not work for someone else. As a follower of J A Konrath I believe in the power of the e-book.  I believe that publishing is heading in that direction and that while print books will never go away, a day will come when more people get their books on a reading device than from a book store.   (And yes, I can hear my author friends running and shrieking.  Hey, I never thought music stores and video stores would die...but when I can buy one song for a buck, or stream unlimited movies for a minimal fee, then why should I get in my car and drive anywhere?  E-books are here to stay.

On the flip side of the coin...the perception is still that someone who is e-published can't get published anyplace else.  That is a perception that is changing more slowly than the reality.  Successful e-pub authors edit just as much as those who are writing under contract.  Maybe the slick polish isn't there, maybe the story is a bit more raw.   But aren't we told from early on that the world is looking for our singular voice?  Still, the perception persists that e-pubs just aren't as good as "real" books.

So if I've got a slam bang story that I know is going to fit perfectly with a giant publisher, am I an idiot for even considering NOT submitting to the publisher, who could give me big distribution and make me a more recognized name?  Or am I shackling myself and giving up my lifeblood to enrich someone else?


I don't have the answer for these questions.  I don't think anyone does.  I think we creative types very much just want to share our vision and our stories with others.  All I want is to have someone other than my best friends and my mom enjoy my books.  (Well, that and I'd like to quit my day job and just write.)

Now, you don't need to answer the question for yourself.  You just need to go forth and WRITE!

E-publishing...logic, art, and environment all in one.

Good morning my friends!

The other day I was listening to a discussion between a store clerk and a university professor sort of woman.  The two of them seemed to be bemoaning the popularity of electronic reading devices.  The clerk went to far as to say this:  "It's going to be like 'Fahrenheit 451' because books are going to cease to exist and stories and thoughts are going to be illegal."  (For those of you not familiar, "Fahrenheit 451" is the story of a society that burns books and homes where books are found.  I haven't read it in decades, but my son had to recently read it for his English class.)

Now, as much as I respect the opinions of store clerks on most things, I have to say that this gent could not be more wrong when it comes to electronic publishing.  If the Internet has done nothing else, it has opened the world up to artists, singers, movies, and stories that would never have made it out of the artists' basement.    The iPod and other music devices has made it possible for musicians who might never have been heard in this country to be a household name in my own home. 

It's only logical that the same would hold true for literature.  I realize I've been very influenced in the last year by authors like J.A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson who are fully embracing the opportunities e-publishing offers, but my thoughts go a bit deeper than whether or not I can sell books online.  (I can, and I will, by the way, on June 4th.)

First of all, let's talk about the publishing industry.  With the economy in the tank, sales of books, other than romance, which continue to sell at a ridiculous pace, have dropped.  Publishers are simply not taking chances on new authors because they can't afford to risk money on a print book for an unproven name.    People aren't going to pay $24.00 for a hardcover copy of a book that might not be any good.  And they aren't going to pay it for a book that is good because guess what?  Second hand bookstores like "Half Price Books" are growing while their new book counterparts, such as Borders, are closing shop.  Why should I pay full retail for a book I can get second hand for half or less the price?  In fact, why should I pay half price when I can get the same book online as a download for $2.99?

(By the way...movie producers take note.  What's happening to Borders and other retail stores is going to happen to theaters sooner rather than later.  $10 for a movie that's marginally good is too much when I can stream something for $8 a month on Netflix.)

So book publishers are simply not offering as much new material as they could because the cost is too high to take a chance.  So while big name authors and celebrities will continue to release print books, it is very likely that new titles by new names are going to taper off tremendously.  This would be the death of new ideas and stories, were it not for the Internet.

By e-publishing, stories that might not make the very finicky cut in the publishing world are going to be told.  My own book, "Lies in Chance" is being released on June 4.  It's been rejected so many times by some many different agents and editors, I was about to give up completely, even though my beta readers LOVED it.  (And I have very picky beta readers.)  Shara's story might never be told if I leave it up to traditional publishing.

But let's look at this from a purely practical standpoint.  The environment.  The same people who are weeping at the death of the printed book are those who typically chain themselves to trees.  Well, my friends, no trees were harmed in the publishing of "Lies in Chance." 

Let's ponder for a moment, a world without print books.  Let's think about the room in your house that wouldn't be taken up by shelves and shelves of books.  Let's talk about the savings to the environment when millions of books aren't being printed, when instead  a small file on a reading device is all you need.

The possibilities are endless.  How much would schools save if instead of textbooks, they had electronic readers for everyone?  (Granted, the initial investment would be steep, but instead of the schools buying books, the students could buy the devices and then textbooks could be updated every year if needed, with minimal cost to the school.  Gone would be the days of horribly outdated history books!)  College textbooks...on a reading device!  Think of the savings to everyone!

Those of you concerned about how heavy your child's backpack is...why aren't you SCREAMING for electronic textbooks?  A kid could buy one of these in, let's say, second grade.  By the time he/she is in college, the reader would have more than paid for itself.  I paid more for my kid's calculator for his geometry class than an e-reader costs.  We do it for other things....why are we as parents clinging to and whining about printed textbooks?

So let's review.  Instead of a dark world where there are no books....we have a world with way more trees, we have a world where fifth graders aren't suffering low back injuries, and we have a world where there is room for every story, every idea, every new literary character.

Never judge a book by its cover...and you'll probably not sell too many books!

Good morning!

So this month I MUST, I MUST pick out material for a cover for "LIES IN CHANCE" the novel I'm going to epub this summer.  Everything is in line for a green light except for the stuff I have to do.  You know, the formatting and the cover.

I've lined up Nicola Martinez, the wonderful artist who gave me my beautiful cover for Dream in Color.  All I have to do is send her some ideas and a few online images and she'll get at it for me.

Which is why I'm stuck. 

See, when Nicola did the work with Dream in Color, I just filled out a form and she did the rest.  I didn't know what my dream cover would be until she created the cover.  I'm not an artist.  Worse yet, I'm not a person who reads because of what's on the cover.  I generally pick my reading material by author, by topic, and by the blurb on the back.

But I will admit to this:  I've picked up my share of books BECAUSE the cover interested me.

We all do our share of judging books by their cover.  We don't admit to it, but we do.  And don't be fooled:  Just because a book is published electronically doesn't mean the cover isn't important.  Quite the opposite is true.  Just read author J. A. Konrath's opinion on the matter.  A good cover, a good story, and good writing.  That's what you need.

The thing about doing it all yourself is that...well, you're the only one looking at the work before it goes out the door.  Granted, Nicola is working on the cover, and I have someone helping me with the formatting for this book.  But everything else, all the final decisions, are mine.  The final edits, mine.  The final cover, mine.  The title, mine.  It's a little scary flying solo, I'll be honest!

I heard at a recent   Mad City Romance meeting that sales for digital romance novels are through the roof because women who were once upon a time embarrassed to be caught reading something with such a racy cover can now read in peace with their digital readers.  No one is the wiser.  While this would tend to support the idea that the cover no longer matters, I can speak from experience, that shopping for a digital book is still driven by the basics, and the cover is one of them.

It was easy with Dream in Color.  I filled out a form.  What does the Hero look like, what does the Heroine look like?  Is there a special animal in the book?  Something else?

Nicola hit on all points...except the dog.  But to be fair, the dog isn't as big a deal in the story as the car and the guitar, and she got that spot on. 

Now, while Nicola will work her magic, I'm still the one picking the actual image for the book.  And it's is very important because people still do judge a book by its cover.  Even when it's a cover they'll hide from everyone else.

I'm at a point in my career where I want to support myself with my writing.  Which means every aspect of sales and marketing has to be clicking. 

Which means I have work to do!

Meanwhile, the rest of you...go forth and WRITE!

Appletinis and other things you probably shouldn't inhale right before a book signing.

Good evening!

Well, I did it. I went to my very first real live book signing. It wasn't in my living room. My mother wasn't there. In fact, almost complete strangers came up to the table picked up my book and looked at it! :) Of course, I shared said table with another author, a multi published author who had four different books available for signing. I tried spreading mine out a little to make it look like I had more books, but, really, who was I kidding?

I attended the WisRWA conference this weekend. This was first year that 1) I was an official member of WisRWA, a fact that confounded people I've known for some time now because I've been attending these conferences pretty much without benefit of membership; and 2) my book was out. Which means, I had the rare pairing of special ribbons on my name tag, I was a new member with a first sale.

In celebration of said first sale and the book signing and the fact that I survived pitching a romantic suspense to an agent who, not even 12 hours earlier had pretty much announced he/she wasn't going to be taking another romantic suspense for a LOOOOOOOONG time (Okay, the agent and I both knew how that pitch was going to end, but give me a gold star, I didn't break down and cry at the end.) my good friend and critique partner Linda bought me a drink.

Oh you all know what it was.

Yes, an appletini. I asked for caramel, which probably would have softened the alcoholic blow in my stomach, but they didn't have caramel, so it was a green appletini. And, because I'm a well brought up lady, I returned the favor by buying the second round...half an hour before my real live book signing.

To counteract the effects of two large glasses of pretty much straight vodka, I guzzled an equal amount of water.

And then I went to my first book signing.

Oh we all know how this is going to end, right?

Yep, about half an hour in to the hour long signing, I got a call of nature like never, ever, EVER before. But I can't leave my table. THIS IS MY FIRST BOOK SIGNING!

Oh wait. I'm a complete unknown set between J A Konrath (Arguably the most fun gent to have sitting next to you at a signing) and the erotic authors. (Have you seen the cover of "Dream in color?" It doesn't have quite the BAM factor a good erotica cover does.) So realizing that I wasn't the star of this show (Imagine my chagrin!) I begged one of the erotic ladies to sit in my chair for five minutes whilst I fought my way through a WEDDING reception that stood between me and the blessed haven of the ladies room.

The good news is, I was happily back at my post, and no one was the wiser, minutes later and fully enjoying my very first signing. Oh, and someone bought a copy of my book! I refrained from doing a happy dance right there. I was cool. I said, "And to whom am I making this out?" (Ya like that formal grammar?) You wouldn't have known me from someone who had a stack of different titles, or cover art depicting a nearly naked man wrapped up in what looked like duct tape.

Oh, and if you as an author get the chance to do a signing with other authors, and J.A. Konrath in in the line up, SIT AS CLOSE TO HIM AS YOU CAN! Or, if you see that he's doing a signing, bring the man a beer and just listen to him talk about pretty much anything. You won't regret it.

As for me, I had my first taste of the big time and, my friends, I loved it! Much like selling a book, signing a book with your name (And those "this book belongs to" stickers really don't count) is a high like no other.

Or maybe that's the appletinis talking.

Cheers!