25 Reasons to Self-publish, Part II

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 750 authors and imprints.

Today, we continue, "25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part II," continued from the first post, "25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part I." 

Last time, we wrapped with #13 (25 inconveniently being an odd number).  Read, rejoice, and be merry!
  


14. EBooks on the rise. "Since April 1 2011, Amazon sold 105 books for its Kindle e-reader for every 100 hardcover and paperback books, including books without Kindle versions and excluding free e-books. (after less than 4 years of selling ebooks) " http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/technology/20amazon.html NYTimes. Printed May 2011.

15. More ebooks on the rise while print falls. "According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), in 2011 e-book sales rose 117%, generating revenue of $969.9 million, while sales in all trade print segments fell, with mass-market paperbacks plunging by nearly 36%." http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/50805-aap-estimates-e-book-sales-rose-117-in-2011-as-print-fell.html Publishers Weekly. February 2012.

16. Interest in and loyalty to authors over publishers. (Yes, L.J, Drew, I'm talkin' to you!) "A 2006 survey (conducted by Spier New York) found that book readers were visiting publisher and author websites; half have purchased books as gifts. 18% of readers have visited a publisher’s website. 23% of readers have been to an author’s website." http://www.barbaradoyen.com/author-promotion/do-you-have-a-website via Publishers Weekly (expired, can't find original source)

17. The rise of the Kindle Millionaires. "Hocking says she’s sold 900,000 copies (mostly electronic) of nine different books since April 2010. If you give her the highest price point and royalty for each book, that would mean she’s made close to $2 million." http://www.forbes.com/sites/kiriblakeley/2011/03/06/who-wants-to-be-a-kindle-millionaire/ Forbes. March 2011.

18. And for paper....Those of you who are old-fashioned types can cheaply self-publish paperback copies through Amazon's CreateSpace. "For $25, the on-demand book publisher will list a book on Ingram and Baker & Taylor, two of the national distribution catalogs from which bookstores order new copies." How to Use CreateSpace: http://mashable.com/2011/07/19/self-publish-amazon-createspace/

19. Genre fiction sells well as ebooks. "Crime, sci-fi, Christian fiction, and other genres drive e-book sales. Deborah Reed wrote "A Small Fortune" while waiting for her literary novel to take off. The success of her thriller drove up sales of her first book." http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2012/0504/How-to-self-publish-an-e-book Christian Science Monitor May 2012 (For all my buds here at CFC!)

20. You retain all rights to your manuscript. "It’s typical for publishers to take 50% of the advance on rights deals they make themselves, and if your agent brokered the original then she’ll take her 15% commission out of your 50% share; whereas if your agent sells those rights for you directly, you’ll get all your advance minus your agent’s cut." http://howpublishingreallyworks.com/?p=4045 June 2011. More details on author rights in traditional publishing contracts: http://www.fonerbooks.com/contract.htm Morris Rosenthal. 2011. (Hitch note: for those of us who are control freaks, this one is hard to resist.)

21. The Tide! "Since 2008, there have been more self-published titles than traditionally published ones. In 2009 there were 764,448 self-published books." A list of the most successful self-published Sci Fi and Fantasy Authors: http://io9.com/5911634/the-most-successful-self+published-sci+fi-and-fantasy-authors i09 Books. May 2012.

22. Publish Internationally. "In a move that could cut some agents out, Amazon now allows those authors to distribute their print books through European Amazon sites for free." Paid Content. http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/17/amazon-createspace-europe/ May 2012.

23. Ebooks in Translation: Romance author Barbara Freethy "sold 1.6 million copies total and is taking an unusual step: Self-publishing foreign-language editions of those e-books ... Freethy’s The Sweetest Thing, which costs $2.99 and was originally published by Avon in 1999, is now #35 on the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) combined print + e-book bestseller list and #22 on the e-book-only list." Paid Content. http://paidcontent.org/2012/03/22/419-the-next-self-publishing-frontier-foreign-language-editions/ March 2012.

24. The Write Stuff: "In 2006 there were around 51,000 authors who self published books. By the end of 2010 that number had exploded to more than 133 thousand." Self Publishing Gives Budding Authors The Write Stuff. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/14/self-publishing-gives-budding-authors-the-write-stuff/ CBS. May 2012.

25. Editors, Editors, Editors: (Jodie, my friend, this one's for YOU!): You can employ an editor yourself. "In the past, self-published books lacked one thing that traditionally published books had - a good editing and revision process. I think that greatly affected the opinions of the bookstores, reviewers and even readers. I have witnessed a great turn in traditionally published writers choosing the self-publishing route." http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20120506/LIFESTYLE/205060315/Self-published-books-getting-into-mainstream-local-shelves Hattiesburg American. May 2012.

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And that's all, folks! Go forth and conquer the authoring world.

How I Avoid Train Wrecks: Confessions of a Creative Procrastinator

By Peg Brantley, Author at Work, Stumbling Toward Publication

There's a reason why writer's should write every day (and more importantly, work on their current project every day), and that is because it takes a lot more energy to start a stopped train than it takes to get a moving train to go faster.

I'm told that true professionals write when nothing is happening for them. When the well is dry. When the words are jumbled or flat.

Depending on who you believe, either Peter DeVries or William Faulkner said something like, "I only write when I'm inspired, and I make sure I'm inspired every morning at 9 a.m."

Then there's that quote I've only seen attributed to Jack London: "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

But then there's the philosophy that if a train is stopped, it's unlikely to get in a wreck. No way a stopped train can jump the tracks. Am I right, or am I right?

Why tempt fate? If I leave the story alone right where it is, it's still a good story and there's no chance I'll mess it up.

Fear and Uncertainty are two creatures who are sure to kill creativity. They're twins who live to tell me I can't write and that no one will ever enjoy my stories. I've been on intimate terms with both of them. When my train comes to a stop, these two leap into action, and here's a partial list they hand me of some of the things I can do rather than write:

1. Do some laundry.

2. Clean out the refrigerator/pantry/drawers/closets.

3. Organize recipes.

4. Rearrange furniture.

5. Change my nail polish.

6. Fill the bird feeders.

7. Play Free Cell or Spider.

8. Watch LMN. Or HGTV.

9. Make a grocery list.

10. Clean something.

Blah, blah, blah.

But in the end, I'm a writer and I need to write. Somehow I'm reminded that Fear and Uncertainty are imposters and I give them both the boot. A possible train wreck is a whole lot better than rusting on my tracks.

What finally works for me is to just dive in. After a while, the words begin to flow easier and they go from flat to round and oval and all different kinds of shapes and colors. Pretty soon I notice the landscape flying past and I settle in to a very cool rockin' rhythm.