Ditch the Publisher: 40 Indie Authors on Their Unique Self-Publishing Journeys

By Hayley Sherman

Thinking of self-publishing? Who better to advise you than 40 writers who have been there, done that and, well, written the book?

Once upon a dark age, self-publishing authors were those who couldn’t get published, had huge bags of cash to hand over to the vanity sharks and enough space around their houses to store the hundreds of copies of their masterpiece, forever to remain unread. Back then, if you were a musician, dragging your little rock band around the pubs and clubs was the only way to get noticed, but for writers, going it alone was a badge of shame, a tattoo on the forehead saying ‘Reject’, a one-way ticket to obscurity.

But then came the Internet and the opportunities for new writers exploded. We could go indie too, develop a fan-base and even become a bestseller (heard of Fifty Shades of Grey?!) without ever having to jump through unpredictable, elitist, publishing hoops. It’s a revolution and it’s still changing. In fact, more and more traditionally published authors are looking over the fence at the colour of our grass, choosing the increased freedom and royalties over the perceived kudos and security of traditional routes.

These are exciting times, but to succeed on an ever-changing playing field, information is power and you’ve come to the right place. The contributors of this book occupy a sizable percentage of the space on the Kindle, Smashwords, Lulu and other indie-book providers, with experiences that span a wide range of genres, routes and success levels. We have bestsellers and newbies, all with something important to say on the subject, from writing the book, formatting it and finding it a home, to the all-important circus of marketing of which you must become the ringmaster.

Contributors include... Michael J. Sullivan, David Jay Ramsden, Beth Orsoff, Terri Reid, L.J Sellers, Diana Mylek, Lexi Revellian, Scott Nicholson, Joseph Lallo, C.S. Marks, Aliyah Burke, T.M. Nielsen, Gerard O’Keefe, Sybil Nelson, Lindsay Burouker, Dean Wesley Smith and Russell Blake. We are also treated to contributions by Arnold R. Beckhardt who published his first book at the age of 85 and German Alcala who published at just 13.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hayley Sherman
• Release date: Oct 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301729647

Hayley Sherman

Hayley Sherman was born in Ipswich in 1977 with a desire to move to Brighton, which she achieved in 2004. She now wants to live on a narrowboat and slosh about in little canals writing strange and unusual fiction. She has been writing since she was old enough to chew a crayon and divides her time between darkness and light.  Hayley works with other writers of all genres (fiction and non-fiction) to enhance the quality and clarity of their vision as an editor and creative writing consultant. Visit www.whoosh-editing.com for more info.

Book preview

Ditch the Publisher

40 Indie Authors on their Unique Self-Publishing Journeys

Edited by Hayley Sherman

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Hayley Sherman

All contributions copyrighted by respective authors, 2012.

http://www.hayley-sherman.co.uk

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Other Titles by Hayley Sherman

Non-Fiction

Blood, Sweat and Ink: The Pleasure and Pain of Writing a Novel

A Novel in a Haystack: Ebook Marketing for Self-publishing Authors

Fiction

Diazepam for Sale

The Applauding Coat Factory

The New Short Story Annual 2013 (Ed.)

Table of Contents

Introduction

One: Success as a Self-Publisher by Beth Orsoff

Two: The Secret Myth of Traditional Publishing by Dean Wesley Smith

Three: You’ve got Nothing to Lose by David Jay Ramsden

Four: Freedom by Steve Carter and Antoinette Ryder

Five: The Future was Never Brighter for the Indie Author by Timothy Lee

Six: Robbed! by R.J. Hamilton

Seven: The Ebook Revolution by Morgen Bailey

Eight: My thoughts on Self-Publishing by Aliyah Burke

Nine: Writing the Book by Brendan Gerad O’Brien

Ten: Creating Characters by C.S. Marks

Eleven: Authenticity in Fiction by G.M. Frazier

Twelve: Redrafting and the Magic Cupboard by Hayley Sherman

Thirteen: In Praise of Editors by C.S. Marks

Fourteen: The Writing Bug by JD Nixon

Fifteen: Nine Golden Rules (Part One) by Mel Keegan

Sixteen: Beginning with Nothing by Kirsty Fox

Seventeen: It Takes a Village to Bring a Novel to Life by Gerard O’Keeffe

Eighteen: Getting Ready to Publish by Maggie Barclay

Nineteen: The DIY Approach by Michael Wilson

Twenty: Five Places to Self-Publish Your Ebook by L.J. Sellers

Twenty-One: A Few Ideas to get You Started by Joseph Lallo

Twenty-Two: The Formatting Nightmare by Captain Peter Cain

Twenty-Three: Investing in Your Own Ebook by L.J. Sellers

Twenty-Four: What Does it Take to Become a Full-Time Indie Author? by Lindsay Buroker

Twenty-Five: Becoming a Bestseller by Terri Reid

Twenty-Six: Just Do It! by Lexi Revellian

Twenty-Seven: Publishing Full-Colour Books with Lulu by Alex Ritsema

Twenty-Eight: An Unknown Author’s Publishing Experience by Arnold R. Beckhardt

Twenty-Nine: In Hot Pursuit of Happiness by Ciggie Cramond

Thirty: My Rocky Road to Publication by Sybil Nelson

Thirty-One: From Imagination to Publication by Pete Darman

Thirty-Two: Success and the Death Threat by T.M. Nielson

Thirty-Three: Four Questions About Ebook Publishing by Iza Moreau

Thirty-Four: You Never Know... by C.S. Marks

Thirty-Five: Self-Publishing by Curtis Ackie

Thirty-Six: Why Can’t I? by Diana Mylek

Thirty-Seven: You Reap What You Sow by German Alcala

Thirty-Eight: I Left My Publisher, Gave Up on Bookstores and Started Making Money by L.J. Sellers

Thirty-Nine: Self-publishing: A Personal Journey by Fionna Barr

Forty: Nine Golden Rules (Part Two) by Mel Keegan

Forty-One: The Dark Side of Free by Russell Blake

Forty-Two: Indie Translators: Money is Waiting by Scott Nicholson

Forty-Three: Getting Print Copies into Libraries by Ilyan Kei Lavanway

Forty-Four: After you publish: How to Market Your Books by Michael J. Sullivan

Useful Resources

Also Available…

Introduction

When I started working in the publishing industry, the words ‘self’ and ‘publishing’, when fused together, had a similar impact to the words ‘professional’ and ‘suicide’. In fact, much worse than that, it was a label carved onto the foreheads of the untouchables, the inadequates, those too untalented to go legit – a group of authors huddled in a bus shelter, telling stories from books that will never be read to keep each other warm, shunned from the magical matrix created by the ‘real’ publishers and their shiny writers.

As if the cold and the label and the forgotten stories were not enough, this was a group who could no longer even afford the bus fare home because they had bankrupted themselves for their efforts. They had traded in their riches to literary crooks and now ate their breakfast from a table made up of the hundreds of copies of their magnum opus that arrived in the post one morning. What a day that was… ‘I’m published! I’m published… Er! How am I going to sell 900 copies of a book that no one’s heard of by an author that no one cares about with no financial backing?’ I’ll sell my breakfast table for a start!

But times have changed. Since the Internet cast its cumbersome tentacles into every last aspect of our lives, writers no longer have to sell their breakfast tables to make a name for themselves. No one’s got anything carved on their forehead and the shiny writers with the deals are starting to look over the fence at the colour of our grass. Self-publishing has grown a pair of respectable legs and toddled into the mainstream. In fact, if you’re an ‘unpublished’ writer it is not only easy, affordable and respectable to publish your own work; it is the very best route that you can take in the digital age to make a name for yourself. It is the equivalent of dragging your little rock band around the pubs and clubs until you’re established enough to have girls screaming at the back door to steal clutches of your hair as a souvenir.

That said, self-publishing is not a soft option. You still have a book that no one’s heard of by an author that no one cares about and now you’re cast adrift in a dumping ground of other books that no one’s heard of by authors that no one cares about. How are you going to get Becky Booklover to part with her hard-earned cash in favour of your tome? Even if you give it away, how are you going to be sure that it doesn’t sit at the bottom of her to-read list? However, before you encounter Becky Booklover, how are you even going to get the thing readable, professional, eye-catchingly covered, uploaded and ready to go? Well, that’s going to take a bit of patience and a lot of research, but it can be done and this book is a great starting point. What follows are contributions from writers who have been there, done that and, well, written the book.

I like to imagine that we came out of bus shelters around the world and met in a picturesque garden in the Cotswolds to make this book happen; we played a few rounds of garden bowls, maybe ate a Battenberg or two, sipped some martinis and then shared our self-publishing experiences. The reality is a less-glamorous foray of email tennis played over the course of months with extremely busy people who agreed to give up their time to share their experiences. Together, they occupy a sizable percentage of the space on the Kindle, Smashwords, Lulu and other indie-book providers that they will tell you about. Individually, their experiences span a wide range of genres (fiction and non-fiction), routes (from online publishing and paid self-publishing to the complete DIY option) and success levels. We have novelists and scientists, bestsellers and newbies, all with something important to say on the subject, from writing the book, formatting it and finding it a home, to the all-important circus of marketing of which you must become the ringmaster.

Some of the chapters are instructional and some are personal accounts of success or woe. Some focus on specific areas of self-publishing and others provide an overview on the subject. I have resisted my OCD urge to group them into themed bundles and instead present them to you in a loosely logical order, which can be dipped into or digested from beginning to end.

On a personal note, I would like to thank all of the authors who have contributed to this collection and urge you, the reader, to check out what they do when their services are not being extorted by me. Details of their books are provided and if you see something you like, why not check it out? We’re all in this together, so why not show your support?

Hayley Sherman

http://www.hayley-sherman.co.uk

http://www.whoosh-editing.com

http://notjennifersaunders.blogspot.co.uk

One

Success as a Self-Publisher

Beth Orsoff

The first week Romantically Challenged was available on Amazon I sold four copies … In 2010, when I’d only been self-publishing for six months, I sold 7,000 books. In 2011, I sold 60,000 books. Because of the Amazon Publishing deal, I have no idea what my 2012 sales number will be.

When I began my self-publishing journey almost two years ago (June 2010), I didn’t know what to expect. I’d been seriously pursuing traditional publishing since 2001 and my first book, Romantically Challenged, had been published by Penguin/NAL in 2006. Unfortunately, my timing wasn’t great. The chick-lit market crashed six months prior to the release. Penguin gave it a small print run, no marketing support and, not surprisingly, the novel was not a bestseller. I spent the next several years writing more humorous women’s fiction (we weren’t allowed to call it chick-lit anymore). Although these books were praised by editors and loved by agents, they didn’t sell.

Then, in early 2010, my world changed. I started reading Joe Konrath’s blog and several of my friends and relatives purchased Kindles. One of them even sent me a link to an NPR interview with Karen McQuestion. Suddenly, self-publishing was no longer for delusional hacks. Even good writers were self-publishing.

I discussed it with my agent, who was in the midst of shopping my fourth novel, How I Learned to Love the Walrus (an arctic romantic comedy), to the major publishers. She thought it was a good idea to self-publish Romantically Challenged (the book was already out of print and the rights had reverted to me) just to keep my name out there, but she didn’t think I would sell many copies. And neither did my normally supportive husband.

‘But how will people find your book?’ he asked when I told him my plan.

‘I don’t know,’ I replied. ‘How do you find a book in the book store?’

The first week Romantically Challenged was available on Amazon I sold four copies. I don’t know how people found the book, but they did. Soon after, I discovered Kindle Boards and the Amazon forums and started connecting with other self-published authors. We commiserated when sales fell, cheered each other on when things were going well and most importantly, we shared information. That, and old-fashioned trial and error, is how I learned the self-publishing ropes.

I uploaded my second novel, Honeymoon for One, a humorous, cosy mystery, the month after my first book. It had never been traditionally published and didn’t have the benefit of professional reviews, but to my amazement it sold even better than Romantically Challenged.

Several months later, I pulled How I Learned to Love the Walrus from my agent and self-published that title too. Not coincidentally, that was the first month I sold over 1,000 books. The following year, I self-published Disengaged, my current (as of April 2012) bestseller.

When I started experiencing success as a self-published author I was often asked whether that meant that I had turned my back on traditional publishing. My answer was always, ‘No. For the right offer I would still consider it.’ In December 2011, I received that ‘right offer’ from Amazon Publishing. Amazon will be republishing three of my existing titles in September 2012, and will be publishing my newest title, Vlad all Over, in October 2012.

From traditionally published author to self-published author to hybrid – it’s been quite a journey. But I know that everyone is most interested in the numbers, so I’ll talk about those too. In 2010, when I’d only been self-publishing for six months, I sold 7,000 books. In 2011, I sold 60,000 books. Because of the Amazon Publishing deal, I have no idea what my 2012 sales number will be. Like many self-publishers, I’ve learned that sales numbers go up and down. Some of it is within your control (e.g. how many new books you publish and what you charge) and some of it is not (e.g. market conditions, how your book will be received and ebook retailers changing their algorithms and policies). Do slower sales discourage me? On occasion. Like most people, some days I let events beyond my control get me down, but most of the time it just spurs me to write more and write better. Every reader I know, myself included, is just looking for a great read. I want to be the one to give it to them. I’m a writer. It’s what I do. I’m in this business for the long haul.

Beth Orsoff is an entertainment attorney and the author of humorous and suspenseful women’s fiction, including Romantically Challenged, Honeymoon for One, Girl in the Wild, Disengaged and Vlad all Over. She lives in Los Angeles, dividing her time and energy between writing fiction and drafting Hollywood contracts. For more information about Beth and her books visit http://www.bethorsoff.com.

Return to Contents

Two

The Secret Myth of Traditional Publishing

Dean Wesley Smith

You are guaranteed to sell more copies through a traditional publisher. Let me just try not to choke with laughter.

I keep laughing when writer after writer goes on about how much better traditional publishing is than indie publishing. Now, granted, I am still a traditionally published writer with a couple of books under contract, but the myths involved with traditional publishing are just head-shaking to someone like me, an old-timer.

And there is one major area that almost no one talks about when having a discussion about indie publishing vs. traditional publishing. And I was reminded of this area tonight by a writer asking me about a book. So give me a minute and I’ll get to it. But first, you all know the standard myths. But for fun, let me list the major ones here:

Traditionally published books are cleaner and better proofed than indie books. Well, no, maybe, sometimes, but not always. It totally depends on the level of proofing an indie publisher has done on his or her books. It also depends on how bad the proofreader was at the traditional publisher and what level your advance was. These days, as we are through the start-up phase, indie books are often far cleaner than a traditional book.

Traditionally published books get better promotion. Well, not really, unless your advance is way, way above six figures, and even then you are going to be doing a ton of it yourself. These days a midlist book out of a traditional publisher gets NO promotion. You do it either way.

You get more respect if you sell your book to a traditional publisher. Well, maybe in your own head, but real readers never care if Bantam or Bongo Books published the book they love. If it looks professional and is clean and easy to read, they will never notice the publisher. This one is only a concern to insecure writers who need professional help. Or authors who care nothing of writing, but only want to be published to brag and sit on panels at conferences or join writer’s organisations. They are not writers, they are authors.

Traditional publishing is a better way to launch a career. Well, if you have years to wait around while editors and agents and production departments get their fingers out of their noses and actually do something with your book. But most writers starting out would rather have a few readers on their books a little sooner than four or five years. It might only be a few, but that number will grow if you keep writing. If a traditional publisher buys two or three books and your first one bites it, they will drop the other two and you will repay the tiny advance.

Only ‘Good’ books get traditionally published. That is so darned silly; I have little I can say about it. Some of the major classics were rejected twenty and thirty times, which would never happen today. And some of the clone vampire/magic/sex books that are coming out of traditionally published houses are art I’m sure. Sigh. There are ‘good’ books being published both ways. Whatever ‘good’ is.

You can only get into bookstores by going to a traditional publisher. Well, maybe a year ago. But that has changed completely. There are indie distributors starting up all over the country that will take indie books directly into all bookstores, including B&N (unless you were really silly and signed an exclusive agreement with some store). We are firing up a distribution company ourselves that will be up and running this later summer that will take WMG Publishing books and other publishers’ books directly to stores.

You can only get reviewed with a traditionally published book. Well, that’s a surprise to those of us who know how to get books to reviewers. We have had both Pulphouse books and WMG Publishing books reviewed by all major review sources. It’s called ‘acting like a publisher’ instead of a spoiled writer. If you do a professional book and act like a publisher and send them out the same way as publishers do, reviewers will treat you like a publisher and review your authors’ books.

You are guaranteed to sell more copies through a traditional publisher. Let me just try not to choke with laughter. Folks, I have sold books to traditional publishers that sold exactly 625 copies at last royalty statement. I have had books go out of print and the publisher still hold them at less than 2,000 copies. Some of those books I got advances beyond thirty grand. Trust me, selling to a traditional publisher doesn’t mean numbers of copies.

And that leads me back around to the reason for this silly post.

The myth that no one mentions.

You write a book, you spend the years and the energy to sell it to a traditional publisher. They pay you part of the advance. You think the book will then come out. Right? Well, not so fast.

That’s right, fair myth believers. Selling a book to a traditional publisher is not a guarantee it will ever see the light of day.

I say I have ‘published’ more than 100 books through traditional publishers in my official bio. My sales numbers of novels are even higher. At a rough count, going quickly back over records and sadly functioning memory, I have sold and been paid for, and sometimes written, at least seventeen novels that never got published.

Yes, seventeen novels. I said that, I really did. Thirteen of them are fully written, the rest are partially written with outlines. That is not counting novels that didn’t sell but I wrote or partially wrote with outlines. There are a bunch more of those.

That’s right, I’ve written, sold and been paid for more novels that never saw print than most