They say everyone has a novel in them. However, those who have ever attempted it know that converting that idea in your head into a 50,000 word manuscript is no easy task. Imagine, then, the devastation of publishing house rejection. Now, rather than let their literature linger in the slush pile, more authors are going the
self-published e-book route. Check out these three success stories.
Amanda Hocking: Amanda Hocking spent nearly a decade trying to get published. At one point, desperate to raise $300 for a trip, she uploaded one of her books to
Amazon's Kindle Store. Little did she know that she was about to
make history. Within just a few months, she sold two million copies of her nine uploaded novels, earning her desired airfare, and then some, in the form of a record setting $2 million haul. Now, her fans are downloading 9,000 of her books a day, she’s inked a multimillion dollar contract with St. Martin's Press, and her hit
paranormal romance trilogy is headed for the big screen. Not bad.
John Locke: Former insurance salesman-turned-New York Times bestselling author
John Locke was the first entirely self-published writer to sell one million books via the Kindle Store. He’s best known for his
Donovan Creed thrillers, but he’s also penned a guide for aspiring authors who wish to emulate his success. Available for download from the same store in which he found success, the nonfiction tome, a sort of Self-ePublishing for Dummies, is aptly titled
How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months! Would-be novelists looking to go the indie route would be wise to heed its advice given Locke’s membership in the unofficial
“Kindle Million Club”.
J.A. Konrath: Independent booksellers may view e-publishing as a foreboding innovation, but for writers operating outside of the corporate system, it’s actually proving to be a boon to their financial health. Though he’s not as well-known (or as well-heeled) as Hocking or Locke (yet), fledgling author
J.A. Konrath is raking in Kindle Store profits that would be the envy of most authors. This post-holiday season, the Chicago-based scribe behind the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thrillers
earned $140K in one month. An avid believer in the newfound power of self-publishing, he provides a
helpful beginners’ guide on his blog that encourages others to join this emerging
DIY publishing trend.
