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For the past 22 years, I have
struggled to get my novels traditionally
pub-lished. Although I have come close on numerous occasions, I've yet to see
any of my work produced by a royalty paying publisher. I've submitted
hundreds and hundreds of queries, both paper and electronic, and several
dozen manuscripts. Month after month, I've waited anxiously for their
replies, and had my hopes dashed far too many times with the receipt of a
rejection letter.
I've had contracts fall through, verbal agreements
dropped, and I even turned down a publishing contract because I thought I
could find something better.
I've had the big, "million-dollar" agents. I've
made dozens of contacts with the NYC movers and shakers, am friends with
editors, agents, and NY Times Bestselling authors. I've even had a senior
editor at a major publishing house query me! It's been a fun, yet mostly
unfulfilling quest.
So, why am I
doing this?
I want to sell my books:
There's power in numbers--the more members we
have, the more exposure all of our work will have from blogs, social and
professional networking sites and even emails and
newsletters.
These websites expose more writers
to my writing services, seminars and books,
and I
enjoy helping writers, as I've been doing now for nearly twenty
years.
I've charted a new course for my own
writing career, and I ain't looking back. This ship's pulling up anchor
soon, and will be sailing fast. Care to come
aboard? I guarantee a fun ride!
Gordon A Kessler
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Why Be an Independent Writer and Sell Your Work in
eBook and POD Formats?
Incredible things are happening. Actually, much of
it started years back, but only a few visionaries saw the full potential
of what was taking place. It started with "eBooks". They have literally
revolutionized the book publishing and selling
industry.
The facts, as I see them, are listed
below.
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The nearly
unbeliev-able success
stories:
Not long ago at a writers conference, I heard a
simple little lady around 70 years old speak about her experience with
her newly epublished cozy mystery. She looked and spoke no more special
than you or I. However, she had recently become a
successful writer after publishing one eBook for Kindle on Amazon. She
had blogged quite a bit to get the word out. She told about making only a
few sales the first month, but sales increased dramatically as months
passed. Now, Sales for the fifth month were nearly 1300 books,
and in the first six days of the seventh month, she had sold
400.
This wasn't the only story at the conference:
another lady did the same thing, with similar results; averaging
55 eBook sales per day.
Then there’s the story of
26-year-old indie novelist
Amanda
Hocking who sold
169,000 eBooks in her eighth month of epublishing, making her total at that
point more than 500,000. In the first year, her eBook sales have reached over
1,000,000!
Brian S. Pratt went from poverty
level in 2009. With eBook sales, he's on track to earn over
$200,000 in 2011.
Lindsay Buroker has made $724
in royalties for just her third month of selling her two eBooks.
Award-winning mystery/
suspense author L J Sellers went independent, even though she was a
successful, traditionally published writer.
Best-selling thriller author
Barry Eisler turned down a $500,000 advance in favor of epublishing as an
indie! Why? His NYC publisher would only pay him
15%!
The stories go on and on.
The secret seems to be persistence which makes monthly
books sales grow EXPONENTIALLY!
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Traditional
Publishing:
1. Fewer people are
read-ing. Printing prices are sky-rocketing.
2. It can take years to find a
literary agent, then more years for an agent to sell
a manuscript.
3. It takes around 18 months (or longer) for books
published tradi-tionally to arrive on the bookstore shelves.
4. Traditional publishers spend very little if
anything to market their midlist authors' books.
5. Bookstores are closing shop because eBook and
Internet (esp. Amazon) paper book sales.
6. Traditional publishers have more competition
due to POD and eBooks.
7. Traditional publishers are pricing their eBooks
at $8.00 to $12.00 and up.
8. EBooks are taking a larger slice of the pie, so
traditional publishers are printing fewer books, and stores are ordering
fewer.
9. Traditional publishers are delaying eBook
version debuts until after printed versions have been out, to sell more
of the paper.
10. Traditional publishers pay 10 royalties on
print, 25% on eBooks, tops.
11. Bestselling authors' books are now selling
better as eBooks (NYT BS Steve Berry anticipates his book sales will be
60-70% eBooks this year).
12. Although most books are sold by author name
recognition and return fans; the cover, book jacket synopsis, first pages
and PRICE sell nearly as many.
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Indie
ePublishing:
15. Indie authors' eBooks are being published for
Kindle and listed on Amazon at no cost to the author (along with other
eBook sites in formats for other eBook readers).
16. They receive the same attention as
traditionally published eBooks do (the same basic
listing).
17. Indie authors receive 70% royalties for eBooks
priced at $2.99 and over (35% for under $2.99).
18. An eBook can be published and made available
within 48 hours.
19. An author does not need an agent (or an
editor) to publish an eBook—this can be a bad thing, too, if you know
what I mean.
20. Indie authors can reach thousands of readers
all over the country and world with just a little
blogging.
21. Indie authors can price their eBooks much
lower than eBooks distributed by traditional houses.
22. There are incredible marketing tools available
to everyone with the Internet, including blogs, websites, social
network-ing sites like Facebook, and even book trailers made for YouTube
and eBook websites.
23. Book trailers can be acquired for as low as
$40 or even be author-produced for very little.
24. Even short stories can be produced for Kindle
and sold on Amazon!
And here’s a really telling fact: this past
December, only six of the top 26 indie authors with eBooks on Kindle were
already established writers.
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You've landed on the entrance page for the
Indie Writer Alliance.
It's
a sort of co-op, based from a special member page one click away on this
Writers Matrix website.
From
the IWA member page, we'll plot our course and work together getting our
work epublished in as many places as possible. And we'll promote our work
both individually and as a team, finding the best blogs and Internet sites
to promote, market and sell our books.
Why join
Indie Writers Alliance?
As an IWA member,
you'll have easy access to dozens of critical links and other resources
pertinent to eBook and POD publishing, as well as a blog frequented
by like-minded indie writers.
Through strength in
numbers, your exposure to readers will increase exponentially with dozens
of members blogging, social networking and otherwise connecting with
readers.
Alliance members will feel compelled to purchase and
provide positive reviews for other members' work in the spirit of
reciprocation. After all, that's what "the Alliance" is all about--writers
helping other writers become successful!
You'll find a step
by step strategic, book-marketing plan, following in the footsteps of
experienced indie writers in order to promote, market and sell your books
and help make you a successful author.
Where Readers Go to Get the
Best Quality Fiction and Nonfiction from Writers Who Dare to be
Independent!
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A few
concerns to consider before you
epublish:
1. What are the traditional publishers going to
do—do you think these behemoths will take it lying down? What can they
do?
2. Will all these indie eBooks overload the
system?
3. Will indie epublishing make it too easy for
anyone, even kids and idiots, to publish poor quality work and
trash?
4. Will new restrictions be made on indie authors'
work to help ensure quality?
5. Just what will the market look like in six
months, a year, two years?
READERS MATRIX!
WORKING TOGETHER FOR INDEPENDENT
SUCCESS!
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