The self-publishing revolution started on clunky computers like this one
by Anne R. Allen
In a few days we’ll be leaving the twenty-teens to enter the 2020s. We’ll be saying goodbye to a decade of wild upheaval in the publishing industry.
It’s been quite a ride.
On January 5th, we’ll host agent Laurie McLean from Fuse Literary Agency, for her annual “Crystal Ball” predictions for the publishing world next year.
But today I’m thinking about the decade that’s passing, and how it disrupted and radically changed the way authors approach publication.
A lot of us got to behave like teens—experimenting with radical publishing ideas and trying on lots of new writing venues for size.
Amazon’s Kindle had the right name. It fired up the writing community in a major way. Self-publishing became a viable, lucrative alternative to the soul-crushing process of breaking into traditional publishing.
Names like Amanda Hocking, John Locke, Joe Konrath and Hugh Howey were on everyone’s lips. These icons of the self-publishing revolution showed us that self-publishing ebooks could lead to fame and fortune and eventually, if one were so inclined, to lucrative contracts with big New York houses. (Most of the early “indie” superstars are traditionally published now.)
But now, at the other end of the decade, things are changing again. Sales of Kindles and other ereaders are way down. A lot of indie authors have disappeared.
Does that mean the self-publishing revolution is over?
Is the Self-Publishing Revolution Over?
Experts agree the “Kindle gold rush” is history. And self-publishing is no longer a likely path to traditional publishing.
Writers who jumped on the “indie” bandwagon expecting to make millions like John Locke have moved on. (John Locke seems to be one of them. He hasn’t published a book since 2016. It didn’t help when people discovered his success came from buying Amazon reviews.)
But self-publishing is still here.
However, it has gone through drastic changes since 2010.
In the early days, there weren’t many ebooks for Amazon to sell to their newly-minted Kindle owners. So they encouraged writers to publish their own work through their new “Kindle Direct Publishing” (KDP.) They advertised indie ebooks to targeted customers with email marketing and careful placement in the Amazon store. All ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99 were treated as equals.
But then Amazon started its own publishing imprints like Montlake, Thomas and Mercer, Lake Union, etc. They now wanted to market their own publishing companies, not indies.
Indie incomes went down.
Then came Kindle Unlimited, the book service that allows unlimited reads per month for a flat fee.
Indie incomes went down a lot more.
A swarm of scammers, plagiarizers, and crooks learned to game the KU system and top the charts with stuffed, fake, and stolen books
Real indies lost out.
Readers left Facebook’s privacy-invading machine. And new algorithms no longer let as many readers see our author pages.
Indie incomes went down a bit more.
E-books were the bread and butter of the self-publishing revolution, but as people started reading more on glaring tablets and phones, they rediscovered paper books.
Big tech, which had once seemed so friendly to indie authors, became a minefield.
But the Self-Publishing Revolution Didn’t Die.
It’s true that indie sales are more modest than they were mid-decade, and you’re not hearing about any new “Kindle Millionaires.” Many of the indie authors I first met in the writing community have dropped off the radar.
A few of the original “Kindle revolutionaries” did well enough that Amazon offered them contracts with their new traditional imprints. (This isn’t the normal route to publication with Amazon imprints. They are a traditional publisher and require agent representation.) Other mega-selling self-publishers got agents and landed Big Five contracts.
But a lot of indies are still thriving.
Many romance, mystery, and thriller writers who joined the self-publishing revolution are now making a good deal more than their trad-pubbed counterparts.
Others are happily plugging along, not making a big income, but enjoying writing as a second job or hobby.
Self-publishing is still an excellent way to publish. But it’s not the same as it was in 2010.
Indies now need to have the training and capital to turn out a top-notch product and advertise it. They also have to be willing to learn the ropes of online marketing and put in the time with social media to build a following. They need to allot the time to put out a blog or newsletter. For more on how to make a living as an indie fiction writer, see Elizabeth S. Craig’s post: Yes! You Can Make a Living Writing Fiction.
Self-publishing allows you to control your career. You’re not dealing with agents or editors who might ghost you, get fired, rope you into predatory contracts, or lose their marbles. (The majority of agents are honest and hardworking, but their incomes are falling with decreasing advances, and many simply can’t make ends meet without a second job.)
Advice from a Self-Publishing “Influencer”
A couple of weeks ago, MiBl named this blog one of 15 major “influencers” in self-publishing. A great honor for us. But also a little misleading.
I’m not actually self-published. I’m with a small press called Kotu Beach. The only one of my books that is self-published is How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, which Catherine Ryan Hyde and I published with “assisted self-publishing” through a literary agency.
And even though Ruth is now self-published, she was traditionally published for decades. In fact, for a time she was actually the publisher at Kensington Publishing Corp, one of the few independent mid-sized publishers in the US.
There’s a big difference between self-publishing when you already have an established readership and knowledge of how the business works—and self-publishing when you’re an unknown beginner.
I’m not saying it can’t be done.
But it shouldn’t be approached as the “easy” way to publish. The query process is tough, but so is establishing an indie career. Generally an author needs to have five books out before they get good financial momentum.
It makes me sad to see new writers say they’re planning to self-publish a first novel before they’ve written anything else or established a platform. It’s especially sad when they say they’re doing it because the query process is too hard and takes too long. Or they can’t deal with all the rejections.
Self-publishing successfully is hard and takes a long time and is full of rejections, too.
Here’s my advice: Don’t choose self-publishing as the “easy” way to a writing career in the new decade. Choose it because you have an entrepreneurial spirit, enjoy social media and online marketing, and have the time to commit to running a business.
Publishers who take Un-agented Submissions May Be Your Best First Step
But what if you just want to write books and you don’t have a businessy bone in your body? The Big Five publishers are so hard to break into!
Unfortunately, this is increasingly true.
Emily Harstone at Authors Publish recently shared the depressing news that agents are increasingly unlikely to take on first books. “I’ve talked to a number of agents now who have openly spoken about preferring authors to get their first book published by a press open to direct submission first, and then find an agent for their second book. Advances are rare and small for first books and royalty percentages are often limited. This gives the agent very little wiggle room so it discourages them from working with first-time authors.”
This was news to me. But I realized I’d been hearing more about authors going from small presses to the big time. Which is much better than the other way around, which was more common in the past.
In fact, it was pretty much the norm: an author got a big advance, a three-book contract, and big-splash publicity on a first book. The sales didn’t reach J. K Rowling heights. So not-Rowling’s next two books got no publicity and she lost her publisher, her agent, and her career.
Not a good system.
But small publishing houses give tiny advances, so the system is different. There are a lot of advantages to a small house. Your editor will have time to nurture you. (More and more big houses don’t seem to do any editing at all.)
And it’s not only small presses that take unagented submissions. Many imprints in the big houses do too. Google around and you’ll find some. I usually include some in our “Opportunity Alerts.”
The big drawback with small presses is their mortality rate. You want to go with a publisher that’s been around a while and has established authors bringing in money. Newer publishers are almost always undercapitalized.
And always, always check Writer Beware before you submit a manuscript to a publisher.
Should You Plan to Self-Publish in the Next Decade?
Only you know that. Do you write fast? Write in a popular genre? Have good marketing skills? Enjoy social media? Do you blog? Are you okay knowing you won’t be nominated for a prestigious book prize or get a review in The New Yorker?
A “yes” to most of those questions would make you an excellent candidate. The only other big thing you’ll need is luck.
So good luck to you. The 2020s may be the time your career soars!
Whatever way we decide to publish, it will be a roller coaster, as Ruth told us in November. None of is is easy, but if you love what you do, it’s all worth it.
by Anne R. Allen (@annerallen) December 22, 2019
What about you, scriveners? Did you self-publish during the self-publishing revolution? Are you still doing well as an indie author? Are you with a small press or hybrid publisher? What would be your ideal publishing path?
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Another roadblock for self-publishers is the disappearance of valid reviews, and Amazon never explains why they’re removed. Reader opinions help sell books, and when they vanish, indies’ bank accounts suffer.
I published a letter to Santa earlier today, and I never thought about asking for the protection of valid reviews. So here it is, Santa: Please sprinkle magic dust on legitimate reader reviews so that AZ bots can’t delete them.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Anne and Ruth! May 2020 herald the beginning of the best publishing decade ever.
Kathy–I agree 100%. I didn’t have room to go into the whole Amazon review debacle, but everything you say is true. The tech world seems rigged against authors these days. And I second that wish for Santa’s magic!
Back atcha–many good wishes for 2020!
I agree. My gut feeling, based on my earlier career in the tech industry, is that Jeff Bezos has a very business-savvy (but inhumane) rule to avoid employing human beings if at all possible. Instead he will invest in developing automation to address a business need if at all possible. The reason for this is to keep costs low when the problem scales up to massive sizes. In the case of reviews, millions of people leave reviews and sprinkled in amongst them all are fake reviews and paid reviews that try to game the system. That’s what makes the problem a large scale one.
So given Bezos’s (assumed) insistence on automation, he’s opted for heuristics coded into software to try to pick the fake from the real. Unfortunately for us, on the opposing side there’s an army of clever and inventive people incentivised by a large pile of money on the KU table each month. And human beings can generally outsmart software – especially if they know the rules it’s operating under – so Amazon has to keep their heuristics secret.
But where Amazon fails, in my opinion, is not having a system in place that uses their automation to do the heavy lifting, but to allow a small and fixed number of exceptional cases to be handled by human beings who have been given the authority to use their human knowledge and feelings to make a decision. I think Bezos’s insistence on automation goes too far.
Luke–Oh, my. Don’t get me started. The truth is that robots are stupid. And incapabable of reason. When an entire ecosystem is based on robots, things don’t go well. I am owed 1000s of dollars from Amazon CA, but they refuse to pay me, because they say my bank information is “wrong”. Funny. Every other Amazon store in the world thinks my info is just fine. But one typo of my bank info by some Canadian who needed another cup of ‘Tim Hortons, and I lose my income. That’s bots. Only as good as the worst human error.
Luke–Okay I have to admit I had to look up the word “heuristics.” But yeah. Robots suck at a lot of things, Figuring out who’s a scammer and who’e legit is one of them.
They tend to give scammers free rein and get rid of the honest folk. That may work for Bezos, but it doesn’t work for readers. Or writers. I think new, smarter tech is emerging that will offer a real alternative to Amazon’s outdated, clunky way of dealing with scams and spam.
Hey Anne — thanks again for a thoughtful & thought-filled post. One of the many elements I truly appreciate about your blog is your recognition that every author is an individual. This post makes that point beautifully. Thanks again, & keep up the good work.
CS–I guess that IS what I’m saying here. Every author is different, and only you know what’s going to work for you. The same is true of readers. I’m infuriated by the marketers that tell us all book buyers are identical: they all have the memories of geriatric banana slugs and love, love, love them some spam. Grrr.
Thanks once again Anne for your frank appraisal re the world of self-publishing. Thanks to your sage advice I enter the fray with no allusions, no expectations and with a battle-tested suit of armor.
Kenneth–Best of luck on your writing journey. As long as you’ve got your eyes open, you can travel that road just fine.
Man, this post is sure eye-opening as well as depressing! Thank you for the enlightenment. This site is definitely one that I’ve been following for years and that I can trust. I am on the cusp of self-publishing but after reading this post, I don’t know if that’s the right road for me. I’ve published five books through a small press but haven’t gotten any traction from readers though the few who have left reviews are mostly 4’s and 5′. I’ve found querying agents is a waste of time. I send out 100 and get 55 rejections and the rest don’t answer queries unless they’re interested. So that’s no fun! Ha ha! So what does one do, right?
Patricia–If you’re already with a small press, it’s time to take the next step. You’re already “there” but you have to up your game. That means marketing. If they’re not helping you with marketing, you have to market like an indie. But you have inventory. And readers. You’ve already started to climb the ladder of success. That ladder may lead to self-publishing your next book. You’re not a newbie, so you’ve got a good chance of success.
Why, thank you, Anne, for the encouraging words – words I actually can have some faith in sin
ce they’re coming from you. Thanks a lot!
So depressingly fabulous! Seriously, it’s a spot-on analysis of the past decade, most of which I was here trying to publish for.
One small silver strike, perhaps, or perhaps it’s only copper, for us indies would be audiobooks. The money’s just as uncertain, but I’d say there’s almost nothing a big house can do for you (aside from the same distribution and boost they give your other formats). And finding (or even being) a narrator can help indies to network, find new hybrid models and most importantly reach new audiences. There are people, forget about paper or silicon, they wouldn’t give a second thought to visual reading anymore but with their lifestyle they go through a-books like Tic-Tacs. Another avenue into libraries, it’s a mirror world of indie publishing choices that could provide a bit more opportunity and stability. I mean, Whispersync is cooler than wintergreen mints but what else can a trad-pub do for you in a-books.
Merry Christmas Anne! All the best.
Will–Audiobooks hold a lot of possibilities for indies. My audiobooks don’t even buy me coffee these days, but I’m stuck in the ACX 7-year black hole. Amazon just gives our audiobooks away and we make nothing. But there are a lot of better opportunities now.
Laurie McLean will have hopeful things to say about audiobooks in January.
Hi Anne — great post and info to pass along to my author clients — wanted to mention that our family Christmas book discussion had everyone stating that they now defaulted to audio books, including some who had tried to read a book and be unimpressed, then tried the audio book version and loved it! A good narrator is gold, obviously.
Bountiful, blessed Holidays and New Year to you and Ruth!
I did self-publish during the 2010’s and found it to be a rewarding experience–I learned a lot. I was also published by a small press. They nurtured my writing and helped me to grow as an author. And in the 2020’s I plan to continue down the traditional publishing road.
Thank you for this interesting article, Anne. And have a happy holiday.
Leanne–I think you followed a path a lot of writers have followed. We were all experimenting in the early part of the decade, finding out what worked for us.
Anne—Excellent and realistic! Publishing has always been a feast and famine business. Authors are at the mercy of fads, luck and shifting tastes. As long as writers realize that, they will have a good grip on reality (and mental health). Not an endeavor for the delicate and thin-skinned!
Ruth–Educating ourselves is the only way to survive it It’s amazing how many myths and misconceptions about publishing are out there!
Maybe I’m a bit naive and always the optimist, but I see a good side here through my rosy glasses. Those who’ve gone through ten years of indie strife are goldmines of information about what worked back then, what works now, and what will never work at all. Most successful and long-lived indies are super-willing to help us lessers navigate the ever-changing self-publishing business.
I believe that today it’s easier to get it right by following the leaders. Ultimately, it’s a matter getting multiple high-quality products out where the market can reach them and then being persistent on keeping at it. That, plus a nice dose of luck 🙂 Thanks for all you do to help others, Anne and Ruth, and a Merry Christmas with an even happier new decade.
Garry–The trick is to keep up. I’ve seen articles written in the last two months who talk about Amanda Hocking and John Locke as if self-publishing hadn’t changed in 10 years. So yes, follow the leaders: the ones who are still selling and have changed with the times.
Anne, a wonderful retrospective on the decade and a reminder to look back now and then to see how far we’ve come. I think you are spot on with your description of what it takes to be an indie author these days. It’s a trade-off in some respects. You get total control over the process but total responsibility for all the business tasks and strategies that come with being an entrepreneur.
Luckily, now at the end of the decade, there are many more editorial services, cover artists, translators, marketing companies, and virtual assistants available than there were 10 years ago. An indie author can be successful, especially if they learn to choose carefully (trial and error is inevitable) and leverage these resources.
Carmen–You’re one of the indies who has really done it right! It’s been great to watch your career blossom.
I do most of my reading on my smartphone, and the number of readers who use pocketable (and purse-able) devices is increasing. This is an in-depth article (https://justpublishingadvice.com/the-e-reader-device-is-dying-a-rapid-death/) on ebook and ereader sales trends. It shows it’s mostly a movement of ebook sales for tablets and phones, not a precipitous decline in ebook sales. I’m self-published because I have the skills (I work in marketing for nonprofits), and I had a small press fold during my debut novel year. I took my rights back and now I relish having control of key things like covers and prices. I only have two novels out, mainstream, so it’s a tough go for me to get my books noticed, but I don’t plan on trying to earn a living from writing. Your article covers a very wide swath, and seems to disparage self-publishing a bit. It’s surely not for everyone, but it’s a perfect fit for me. And my readers are in the thousands now. With a small press, they were only in the hundreds. Vive le revolution! And check out the book marketing gurus. There’s a lot of good advice out there if you go indie.
Rdacus. I AM one of the book marketing gurus, I didn’t get named one of the top 15 self publishing influencers in the world because I’m a moron. I’m certainly not disparaging self publishing. Read the whole post.
I did read it. If you look at the replies, though, that’s more the takeaway people seem to be having. I do regard you as one of the gurus — in fact, I just bought your book! Thanks for your posts, which I read faithfully each week, the highlight of my Sunday literary activities. Happy holidays!!
Rachel–Thanks for buying my book. 🙂 I’m trying to save starry eyed newbies from falling for outdated myths and misinformation. Happy 2020!!
Thanks for a great summary of how we got here, with all its ups and downs. In the last seven year I’ve self-published 23 titles, things are certainly a lot leaner than they were, every time Amazon changes anything, sales seem to decrease a little more. A lot more marketing effort is now required just to stand still. But it’s still fun and a challenge to see if you can keep ahead of the system. Here’s to the next ten years. Wishing you a happy Christmas, a successful 2020 and more fantastic posts. (Incidentally, I’ve shared this on my website at https://richarddeescifi.co.uk/reblogging-anne-r-allen-looking-back/ )
Richard–Congrats on your amazing output! Authors who write fast (and well) do much better as indies. And we all have to market more. As I say, It’s all doable, as long as people have their eyes open and pay attention. Especially to the Zon, which is always pulling the rug out from under us.
Thanks for a realistic assessment of where self-publishing is at. Recently I’ve noticed authors entering bright-eyed and innocent…Instagraming, putting up videos, dabbling in blogs, getting likes, doing launches, setting up paid classes and consultations (offering information which in my opinion is based on limited knowledge when there’s so much free info offered). It is hard not to gently tell them what you said here…wonder if I can share your post anonymously? I’m very nonconfrontational and I can see it in their eyes…you’re an old lady, what would you know ????
Brenda–Those are the people I’d like to reach with this post. The starry eyed innocents who are told they can party like it’s 2009. They are ripe for scammers.
Do share the post. Spread the word.
I wonder if the fact that you are not self-published is the reason that what you describe is almost totally different from your description of the path of self-publishing. One example is your statement that the introduction of KU caused self-publishing incomes to drop when the fact is that many self-published authors have done extremely well being in KU. There have been ups and downs as Amazon has changed it but it did not immediately cause some ‘drop in income’. Nor, as I can testify, are romance, mystery, and thriller writers the only ones who can make a living, not by a long shot and I am not talking a ‘hobby’.
It is an interesting article and some comments I might agree with such as that it is an unlikely route to being trade published. If that is your goal, I suggest sticking with submitting to agents. But for the most part I can’t say I recognise your description of the last decade.
JR–Most indies reported a 50% or more drop in income after the arrival of KU. This was reported everywhere: on the Kindleboards, FB groups and 100s of blogs. I’m happy for you that you’re not in the majority. Good for you!!
I can’t speak to the situation before 2014, but everything Anne wrote agrees perfectly with my experience.
I was in KU from 2015-2018 and in fact earned about twice as much from KU as I did from ebook sales – until Oct 2017. Around that time I think Amazon changed their algorithms to only promote books (after the initial 3-month release period) if you bought ads. So for me my income basically fell off a cliff. Working out how to run effective ads is something I’m still only starting to learn.
I was on Kindleboards, quite active there as a matter of fact, and there were plenty of us also saying differently. The sky was not falling. My income has been remarkably stable (a comfortable living but not getting rich level) for the past six years whatever KU did or did not do. I am now wide, went wide about a year ago. One of the things that is necessary is reacting to and adjusting in reaction to what happens in the market.
Age is a factor. Old people generally own short futures, so less time to dedicate to marketing and building platforms. If you’re old with a string of published books, you deserve praise for your talent, foresight, and hard work. If you’re old, or old and ill (a common combination) and you still haven’t managed to write a publishable book that more than your family will risk reading, then you might want to consider kicking it in before you kick the bucket. Singing in the shower can afford you more pleasure and far less stress.
Anthony–This post is not meant to order authors to publish. If you’re not interested in publishing, or you just want a small run to give to friends and family, that’s great! That means you don’t have to enter the publishing industry and you can create art for art’s sake. Enjoy!
Thanks for the updates, Anne. I have a self-published book out there and am working on more. I write in niche non-fiction so never expected a trad publisher to be interested. However, I was unexpectedly invited to submit late in the process on the first book. However, the org was then bought by another larger publisher and they seemed to become unclear on what they wanted. They dropped the ball.
To your questions, I’m not a fast writer and the work requires lots of research. But I do have a large blog that serves a small market well. I’m active on a couple of social media platforms but limit my time there. I also speak at related conferences here and there. And yeah, I’ve been highly reviewed but have no expectation of going mainstream. Like most writers, I’m weak on the marketing front. Rather i lean on a prominent presence in the niche.
And yeah – not a real income but sales have been steady.
David- Actually, it sounds as if you’re marketing yourself rather well. A big blog is a major factor in selling books, especially nonfiction. Having a prominent spot in your niche is what I’d call success!
I’m not well versed in social media or marketing and to be honest, I find it to be quite overwhelming. I do envy those who have the street cred and are adept at such endeavors, but at my age, it all seems quite like street vendors hawking their wares. All bright colors and look at me. Can I get a ‘like’, hell yeah.
I opted to go with an indie publisher for my debut novel and have kept my expectations in check. Thanks for this article and for addressing the elephant in the room, namely marketing. Writing a book may be a labor of love, but the rest of it is just plain old hard work and know how. Kudos to those that have the nerve to ride that train.
bookish–You’re the kind of writer I hoped to reach with this post. Being with a small publisher, you’ll get some encouragement and help with marketing (hopefully) and not end up flailing around begging everybody on Twitter to buy your book every 15 seconds. Yes, marketing is hard, and increasingly scary as social media becomes more invasive and less reliable. But somehow it’s easier to face if you have a team behind you.
Anne, I’m your example. I started with a small unagented house, and moved to a bigger one after five books with the smaller one. On my second agent now. But yes, as I tell my classes: if you decide to self-publish, take note of that second word. You are becoming a *publisher* with all that entails. And you can be a good one or a bad one, depending on how much money and research you put into publishing. Me, I want to be a writer, not a publisher.
Melodie–I think moving “up the ladder” of publishers is the ideal career path if you can do it. I can think of another author who did it that way: J.K. Rowling. 🙂 There’s nothing wrong with starting small.
This is a great article. I haven’t tried to publish yet; just have two small blogs to practice on. I think a lot of the problem is still the myth of overnight success and getting rich quick. I get overwhelmed by authors desperate to make that sale, some even emailing to demand why I haven’t bought a book yet. Writing is a feast or famine business for most, and the most successful self-published small time authors I like acknowledge and accept the reality of needing a “real” job to pay the bills. I have been approached by those who claim I can get published so easy and get rich, all for a huge fee. The starry-eyed newbies will either listen or learn the hard way. As an older writer, I am not discouraged. There are more choices than ever these days. I see it as a fun challenge to keep busy. Like starting any business, it will be difficult with a few failures along the way. I will probably self-publish, in my own time and way. And if I don’t succeed, at least I tried.
Missi–The problem is that all the predators out there keep perpetuating the myths of easy-money self-publishing. And they use it to scam newbies, stealing their dreams as well as their money. I find it heartbreaking. At least once a week I hear from one who has paid a fortune to publish a first draft of a novel that doesn’t sell. I can’t help them at that point.
Taking your time and building an audience by blogging is an excellent way to go about establishing your career. Think outside the book!
I have two projects, one is something I’ve been working on over a decade on world building, and I’m still not ready to write it. The other is a sci-fi story I’m currently writing. My idea was to try to get the sci-fi story trad-published. Get my foot in the door, build an audience, and then self publish my big project.
I’m really just starting out as a writer, feels like I might be a bit late to the game. But this blog post helped me refine my idea. Once my sci-fi story is done, I’ll submit it to un-agented small presses, so it’ll be my first book.
Wolfeye–If you’re just starting out, the best way to build an audience is with shorter fiction. And you’re in luck! Sci-fi, spec. fic, and horror are the most popular genres for smaller journals and podcasts.
Get yourself some cred with short fiction (especially if it’s in a world that you’re building for a big book) and you will be very attractive to a small Scifi press. Think outside the book!
Thanks for the advice.
I’ve been thinking about writing
shorts set in the world of my sci-fi story, just to flesh it out more.
But, I’m not sure how that would work. Do you think having shorts published in magazines, or something, set in the same world as a book would effect the rights to the book?
Wolfeye–I’m not a lawyer, so don’t take my word as definitive. But I know of many books that grew out of short stories, which were published before the books were published (or even written.) So it seems that was not a problem.
Great post Anne,
I work with or have worked with somewhere around 150 authors over the last few years. If I had a nickel for every author who claimed they just wanted to write (or some version) yet complained about a lack of income, I would be a millionaire.
I think there are are 2 main influences driving this:
1) Authors who were trad published years (decades) ago and really didn’t have to do more than a few book signings in terms of marketing, yet have grown up a readership over the decades. Many still foster the falsehood that if you are trad published, you don’t have to spend any time marketing.
2) The authors who just want to write and make no efforts to market what so ever citing various excuses.
The authors that I work with (both trad pubb’d and self pubb’d) who are successful treat being an author like a business and do (or have done) all aspects of the business. They regularly create books that are well-edited, well-covered, well-formatted, and efficiently marketed. AND these authors move with the ever changing marketplace.
As I re-read this, it seems pretty harsh, but in today’s ever changing publishing environment, an author’s job is alway changing and the successful ones learn to change.
Barb–You’re not being harsh. You’re just not coating facts in pink candy. So many scammers are out there peddling misinformation (and bogus marketing) that newbies believe the myth of easy self-publishing.
Then they go to a real pro like you and say “well Scammy McScamface says I can be a millionaire if I just write!”
And you have to tell them the actual facts.
The reason I’m telling people here to start with a small press is that good small presses may not do much marketing, but they will give marketing advice. They can tell an author where to start and how to prepare a launch. They also may get the book some reviews. And they provide a shoulder to cry on that’s not yours or mine. 🙂
Being aware of changes in the marketplace is as important to a writer these days as knowing how to use an apostrophe. Thanks for keeping us all informed!
I’d say that’s a succinct and almost sad wrap up Anne – sad for how much harder it is to become a profiting self-published author. But like you said, we have to love what we do to pursue, and that’s what I shall be doing. Eternal optimist. 🙂 Happy holidays! <3
Debby–It’s sad because Amazon lost its love for indies and the easy money days are over. I remember watching my sales by the hour. That doesn’t happen much anymore, but there are still many good paths to self-publishing.
Have a fantastic holiday season!
Oh yes, the better days on Amazon when I’d actually visit my sales dashboard, lol – good times! 🙂 Happy holidays Anne 🙂
Excellent post, Anne. For much of it, I thought you were writing directly to me. I now have three novels self-published, all in 2019, all worked on over lots of years. My next one to come out 2020, will be with a small/indie publisher, as per your advice.
SK–I wasn’t writing for you, I promise. But from what I’m reading, it sounds as if a small press is the best place to be right now. (That and Amazon imprints, like our friend CRH, who just hit 4 million in sales. Sigh.) Congrats on finding a small press!
How much marketing do traditional publishers do (assuming you’re not a big name)? What sort of marketing do they do? I’ve heard that they hardly do anything.
Ned–Every publisher is different. I know authors who have had no publicity from a Big 5 imprint and some who’ve had fantastic tours and distribution from small presses and vice versa.
But all authors have to do some of their own publicity. Social media, blogging, newsletters–those are all up to the author these days. But what most publishers will do is send your book to professional reviewers. That’s a biggie.
Between Banana Slugs and Starry-Eyed Newbies this is another incredible post. Thanks, Anne.
GB–I’m especially fond of starry-eyed banana slugs. 🙂 Thanks!
A great summation of the decade, which I’ve been riding out in my own fashion: first book in 2013, and latest (5th) in 2019. I’ve gotten better at both the writing craft and the marketing part, but my progress has been so slow on the marketing front because I had to spend so much time flitting between stopgap jobs and was so risk-averse with my dwindling savings…now I’m at my fifth book, but instead of financial momentum, I’m out of money and have decided to change my model from stopgap jobs and lot of energy in personal appearances and consignment, to a full-time professional job again, with writing and marketing taking more of a backseat again as I build my savings back up. Social media experimentation seems to be going well. I’m positive about the change, as I’m finally accepting this experimental way of living, ad learning to embrace it. Good thing, as a writer! Happy holidays, fabulous guru!
Margaret–You have been riding that roller coaster, haven’t you? It’s very scary to quit the day job and try to earn a full time living as a writer. Most do better with freelance nonfic than fiction. But back in those heady days of 2010-2015, a lot of indie authors suddenly found they were making a good full-time living from ebooks. Then the bubble slowly deflated with Amazon’s changes. Some indies are still making a living, but many are not. I think a day job is a wise idea, whether you’re trad pubbed or indie.
Murphy’s Law usually has me stumbling onto the wrong blog. This time I stumbled onto one that shined a large beam on how my $ went from 5 figures a year to barely scraping up $100 a month. I believe Bezos has a lot of the blame. I started seeing the drop when he offered free ebooks. I started publishing in 1999, formed my own company, did jacketed hardcovers, had a fulfillment house. Every $ I made went back into the company with publicity and printing the next book. I discovered On Demand in 2005, then ebooks in 2010. What really helped in 2000 was getting together with 20 other mystery publishers, most self publishers but several well-known mid-sized, Poisoned Press for one. We shared booth space at book shows and conferences such as American Library Association, shared the cost of a full-color catalog of our books with an 8,000 mailing list. I have had reviews in Book List and Library Journal. Some of my fellow publishers aged out, some only published one or two books. Now with all the books and influx of self-pubbed, you have to jump through hoops to get a book signing and good luck getting on a panel at a mystery conference. I traveled for a number of years with two other authors doing mainly library appearances and getting paid quite well for them. But I moved away and since then one writer passed away. I still self-publish but in trade paperback through Lightning Source and ebooks through Kindle and Smashwords. There are few bookstores near where I now live but 3 book shows, all of which want me to pay $300+ for a vendor booth rather than be treated as a writer even though I’m working on my 18th book. I do have a following, continue to do my postcard mailings when I have a new release. Am I sorry I went the self publishing route? No. Queried agents for 5 years, that was my time limit. But 99% were not interested in cross-genre. But I write what I like to read. I know some of my marketing ideas aren’t good…I do not accept returns. I’m more interested in the reader’s wallet than pricing my books so high just to cover the return costs. I don’t spend money I no longer have traveling to conferences. I don’t tweet or blog or Pinterest, whatever that is. I am lucky to have a husband who was in the printing business and knows Photoshop. He puts my book together. Neither of us is savvy in creating an ebook but I have found very cost-effective people to do it for me. It seems my writing is more like a hobby now but not tax-wise, since my company is an LLC. Was it worth it? Yes. I expected that things would evolve but didn’t anticipate such a drastic downturn. I too wouldn’t advise anyone to jump into self-publishing without first sending out query letters. There are places to learn about the publishing business too. I had joined Publishers Marketing Assn (now Independent Publishers) and been a member for quite a few years. No more though. Even membership is out of my budget. They have somewhat inexpensive ads you can place in their targeted mailings. I attended a number of their workshops on publishing and learned about cover design, how to find your target audience, marketing strategies, budgeting, etc. I’m getting a little lengthy here. Almost feel as though I’m writing a blog. Sorry to take up so much space. Now back to Book #18.
Sandra–You are a veteran of the publishing wars, aren’t you? Self publishing in the 1990s was a brave thing indeed. You seem to have done everything right. Teaming up with other indies and small presses sounds very smart.
I think these days the most helpful self-publishing organization may be Alli (Alliance of Independent Authors) helmed by Orna Ross in the UK. You can access a lot of their services without a membership.
Sorry you’ve had such a drastic downturn, but you may find that using newer ways to reach readers, like social media, your sales will start to soar again. Social media takes time, but you don’t have to pay for a booth. 🙂
Thank you, Anne, for a depressingly wonderful summary of the world of writing. I’ve never been less happy to have my intuitions about the state of things shown to be correct!
I’m a self-published slow writer with several published books and six reverted-rights books that languish in the to-be-published pile. All receive reviews in the 4-5 category, which seems to me to be the new 3. 🙁 I hate marketing and social media.
Given your clear look at the business, it’s time to pull up my big girl pants and get into the game. Thanks for the nudge toward reality.
Jenny–You’ve got books with reverted rights? There’s gold in them thar files! My advice to you would be to make a battle plan for 2020 and put real energy into getting your career back on track. It’s already there. You’ve written the books. All you need to do is set aside some time and then: focus.
I recommend Barb Drozdowich’s book on getting reviews. Rachel Thompson’s advice on marketing at Bad Redhead Media, and my own book The Author Blog. The books are cheap and most of the marketing is free. Good luck to you!
I published my first book in 2013, and continued through the decade until today. My latest book, number six (not in a series) released in November to good reviews and steady, if low by some standards, sales.
But for me, it’s another step up. Yes, the gold rush is over. Yes, things seem more dire than ever in some ways. But I think those looking for the gold rush, the quick riches, will move on.
Those who persist, those who are determined to make a net gain over the years, rather than an instant success, can make it. Once the gold rush was over, there was still plenty of success to be found … over a longer period of time.
The market is still unsteady and uneasy. I remain convinced we could lose one of the big publishers in the next decade (and MacMillan is certainly painting a lot of targets on itself lately) as publishers continue to refuse to adapt to a changing ecosystem, pining for what they had rather than what lies ahead.
Contrary to a lot of indie authors looking for quick hits, I earn far more from Kindle Unlimited than from sales, but that’s because I bucked a lot of “accepted” trends in ebooks such as chopping books into shorter, fifty page novella’s (opting instead for a single, stronger product). The market is still turbulent, and what a lot of people accept as the “only way” forward is pretty adaptable and not close to set in stone
I look forward to the coming decade. I’ve worked my way up over six years, and all indications point upwards, storms and turbulent waters regardless.
Max–Congrats on building a strong career through steady hard work. That’s the way to do it. Be aware of changes, but don’t jump on every bandwagon. As I say, the self-publishing revolution is here to stay!
For writers who have an entrepreneurial spirit, it can be more lucrative than publishing with the Big 5 (who yes, may soon be the Big 4.)
Thanks! It’s a long, arduous road, that’s for sure … but then again, what isn’t that’s really worth working for? Measured, careful charting of a course, with precision and a dedicated will to work hard. That’s what makes a career for something like writing.
The gold rush is over, but that doesn’t mean the gold is gone. Just that one has to dig more for it.
Thanks for this post, and Merry Christmas!
Hey Anne! Girl! We started at the right time back in the day. Yes! I’m still self publishing and this year was my best so far and I don’t see it slowing down.
Tonya–I’m so glad to hear it! *waves* You always were a good marketer. You zeroed in on the right audience early. Now you keep delivering the books they want. That’s how to do it!
It helps that we got started early, when we could develop a readership. I think it’s harder for newbie writers to get traction right now, because there’s so much more competition, and Amazon doesn’t push indies the way they did “in our day.” But I still think a newbie can make it if they have a great product and they’re good at marketing.
You forgot to mention how indies have a ruined reputation in addition to shrinking incomes. The list goes on: responding to bad reviews, hard selling/spam, sloppy writing, one indie author tried to trademark a common word, etc. A lot of review blogs no longer accept indies because of their broken reputation. It isn’t fair because of a few bad apples but that’s the way it is. Readers have it enough and no longer trust indie authors. Readers would rather stick to their favorite (trad pub) authors than suffer reading yet another “unedited” indie book.
I was a starry eyed indie author with dreams of grandeur but I got messed up by the most meanest, nastiest writers out there. Now I’m slowly crawling back to self-publishing but as a secondary job.
Anon–Alas, it’s all true. Some really scammy, nasty people jumped on the self-publishing bandwagon and made things harder for everybody. Some of those people were sociopaths.
I actually wrote a book about a murder sparked by fights over Amazon reviews: So Much for Buckingham. I don’t know of any murders that actually happened, but there sure were death threats. I got some of them. Scary times.
That’s one part of the “Kindle Gold Rush” I will not miss one bit!
When I talk to people working on their first book and lay out some of the points you made above, I often find they get very discouraged. So I make sure to point out that in my opinion there are far more opportunities now than there were twenty years ago, but it really does require serious effort. The daunting thing for many I think is discovering that writing the book is only half the story: marketing it is at least as much effort, and the learning curve is about the same too.
I suppose one good thing is that passionate people will stay committed, and hopefully the people who just see it as a get rich scheme will give up.
I also feel like we’re now about half way through a massive change to the book publishing ecosystem, that there are large parts of the future healthy ecosystem that aren’t in place yet (haven’t been invented or even thought of), and that the traditional publishing industry is astonishingly resistant to changing their business model.
Luke–I agree with all of this. Yes, self-publishing is damned hard work. But it is rewarding–and you have control over your career. If you want to get rich quick, buy lottery tickets, Writing for a living is hard.
But the fact that so many of the get-rich-quick scammers are gone is GOOD thing. You’re right that we’re still on this journey and we have no idea what’s ahead. But I guarantee it isn’t a return to the bad old days before the self-publishing revolution!
A good honest write up about being a self publisher. I’m on my third book and write because I love it. My book sales have gone from a trickle to selling around 35-40 a month. I’m just happy people are reading my words. My next book will be out in February 2020 which is written and designed by me, however, I pay for an editor. I’m calling the book – Love poems from the universe. I can feel in my bones people will love it and will fill the reader with emotions. I say… Write and self publish because you can… If your work is any good, you will be found. Sending love from the stars.
David–Sales going up and not down is success. Keep at it! Doing what you love is worth more than just a paycheck.
BOTS, that reminds me. Not too long ago someone on a chat list told me how book searches now on Amazon do not go by title…they go by search words. So I looked up one of my books. Titles started showing up that didn’t have even one word of my title. Someone said publishers pay to have their books show up in searches. So I decided to act like a reader and search for books under my author name. They should all show up, right? I searched S.D. Tooley. It came back “did you mean toilet?” I’m sure Bezos is getting a good chuckle while he counts his billions. I contacted via email and it has been fixed. Course, doesn’t mean the BOT hasn’t gone back to its old ways. I haven’t checked recently.
Sandra–“Did you mean toilet?” is a great punchline. You just gave me a good laugh. I know it couldn’t have been at all funny at the time, but it does show the limits of robots.
In fact, you could imagine a robot that responds to everything with that line. Starts out funny, but then gets increasingly menacing. Could be a rousing Dr. Who episode!
Seriously, though, it’s a real problem. Amazon is run by incompetent robots. I’m glad you got that response fixed, but I’m sure there are millions that are just as bad.
Anne: Nice examination of an historic phenomenon in publishing, Thanks. I have many friends who have either self-published or gone with the indies. Sometime could you please do an article on the rise of predators in the publishing spectrum? It is getting harder and harder to differentiate them from the trad. press.
Mark–Actually, I write about the subject of publishing scammers often. But there are always new ones coming along, so I’ll be talking about them again next year. Here’s one on how to tell legit publishers from the bad guys. https://selfpublishingsites.com/2018/10/legitimate-publishers-or-bad-guys/
Thanks for another great, timely post Anne. I have been watching this roller coaster from the beginning and decided some years ago that self publishing was the way to go for me. I finally took the plunge in November, publishing a short story and a collection of short stories, so I’m doing things gradually. Of-course, it’s still early days, and I know it’s not going to be easy and a lot of hard work is involved, but I do it for the love of it. Wishing both you and Ruth a very Merry Christmas! 🙂
Debbie–Best of luck with your self-publishing journey! When you love what you do and don’t have unrealistic expectations, the indie path can be a very good one.
Thanks, Anne. My books have been traditionally published, but now that one is out of print and I have the rights back, I’m thinking of revising and self-publishing it. I appreciate your thoughtful review as I explore the possibilities.
April–You’re one of the writers who can benefit the most from the self-publishing revolution–established authors with backlists to re-issue. Everything’s in place for you to find self-publishing success. Best of luck with it!!
Great posting again, Anne. I don’t consider myself a “hobby” writer nor am I aiming for the best seller list. Slow and steady has been my motto and trying those suggestions that work with my schedule and behaviors. The best advice I give writers is to write and to remember you are only as good as your last book. Dj Adamson
DJ–You’re right. In the end, it’s all about the book, and the quality of that book. Marketing matters, but the book matters more.
I had been in the habit of reading a post and not going past that to the comments. You taught me to comment in your previous post. I’m glad I remembered to scroll down. Such good info here. Feel like I just took a mini-college course.
I have learned so much from your post and the comments. I especially like what CS Perryess wrote on Dec. 22.
Thank you, Anne, for sharing your vast knowledge with us. Very generous of you.
Marlene–I learn so much from our commenters! I’m so pleased people have continued to comment here in spite of the waning popularity of comments on blogs. CS Perryess always has something wise to say. He’s a good friend. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I have to mention my book here, Anne, because it’s so on-topic with all you’re saying:
“Surviving Self-Publishing; or Why Ernest Hemingway Committed Suicide” by Ava Greene (pen-name).
To my surprise and chagrin, though, the only way Amazon displays this book (April 2019, released on Kindle and in paperback) is if you type in the entire title. Any searches for self-pub, self-help, entrepreneur, or business will not include this book. Even when I did KU (first and last time), it wouldn’t come up in searches, And even typing in the full title usually shows a bunch of other books before mine—books with no connection to my subject matter. The ONLY way I made Amazon sales was by sending my OWN email list to Amazon. Guess that’s another piece of their strategy.
Anyway, for a lot of the people commenting here, there’s valuable (hard-fought) info in this inexpensive book I wrote as a labor (vent) of love.
Ava–Your book sure has an intriguing title. Have you tried changing your keywords? You can ask Author Central to give you a special keyword like “blogging” if you find a comp book with that keyword. But I hear you about Amazon putting the wrong books in a search. Mostly sponsored ones, of course. That’s been a new wrinkle this year.
Next week I’m going to be writing about a new book discovery site: Bookbub. It’s not just for pricey ads anymore. People are increasingly going there for book recommendations and reviews. And their entries have links to all retailers, not just Amazon.
Thanks! I can’t wait to read your BookBub piece. And I can’t wait to see what evolves beyond Amazon. I bet a decade from now it’s a way different picture….
Happy 2020, Anne,
Really appreciate people telling it like it is. It’s been a rigorous decade.
I’m in the category with a few others here who are in for the long haul, have a few good books out with more on the way, and understand how personal it is defining one’s unique author journey. I doubt anyone anywhere ever said that being an author is easy, lucrative, or a laugh riot. I feel it’s more a calling. And following one’s calling, the rewards come in due time and in unexpected ways. There’s a lot to be said for stature as an author, for credibility, for excellent reviews, for tenacity, for accomplishment, and for keepin’ the books comin’. But it’s not a walk of life for dreamers, wealth-seekers, or those who like their free time. : )
W. M. I hear you about the free time. 🙂 Indies who have been able to establish themselves over the past 5 – 10 years, and have worked hard will continue to sell. But it’s harder for the ones starting out right now.
Yes, self-publishing is changing and we have to change if we want to be successful at this game. I published a new book called “The Joy of Being Retired: 365 Reasons Why Retirement Rocks – and Work Sucks!” in January 2019. I thought that it would do well (at least 5,000 copies in the first year) given my previous success. As it turned out it sold only around 1,725 copies for the year and I had to use Amazon ads to get 565 of those sales. I don’t particularly like having to resort to ads because my profit for each sale went down to around $4.30 CAN a copy with the Amazon Ads versus $8.68 CAN for the organic sales.
For 2019, my overall books sales are down but will still have sold just a touch over 30,000 copies as compared to 35,000 copies in 2018. This breaks down to 25,000 print copies, 4,000 ebooks, and 1,000 audio books. I first self-published in 1989 (before Amazon existed) and have made a decent living from self-publishing since 1991 when I self-published “The Joy of Not Working.”
Here is the problem with the publishing industry: There are way too many ebooks and way too many print books. On October 15 “Publishers Weekly” reported that the total number of print and e-books that were self-published in 2018 was 1.68 million, up from 1.19 million in 2017. Unfortunately, today practically anyone can afford to preach in the desert. Near as I can tell, the majority of self-published writers have a sense of entitlement and suffer from the world-owes-me-a-living syndrome.
Fact is, there is no easy way to being successful at the game of writing and self-publishing. One does not have to work hard but one must work smart. It takes superb critical thinking skills, superb creative thinking skills, and common sense, which most people don’t have. I offer these words of wisdom from other knowledgeable people who have inspired me to attain the personal freedom and financial independence that I enjoy today because of my self-publishing:
“Very Good Is Bad — It’s Not Good Enough!”
— Seth Godin (My favorite Marketing Guru)
“Even the most careful and expensive marketing plans cannot sell people a book they don’t want to read.”
— Michael Korda, former Editor-in-Chief at Simon & Schuster
“The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interests to promote yours.”
— Jean de La Bruyére
“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.”
— Aristotle
“Books work as an art form (and an economic one) because they are primarily the work of an individual.”
— Seth Godin
“Writing is the hardest way to earn a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.”
— Olin Miller
“Your success and prosperity are too valuable to depend on crowd funding or lottery tickets.”
— Seth Godin
“When starting out, don’t worry about not having enough money. Limited funds are a blessing, not a curse. Nothing encourages creative thinking in quite the same way.”
— H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.”
— Christopher Morley
“Low price is the refuge for the marketer who doesn’t have anything more meaningful to offer.”
— Seth Godin
“The amount of money you make will always be in direct proportion to the demand for what you do, your ability to do it, and the difficulty of replacing you.”
— Earl Nightingale
If these words of wisdom don’t resonate with you big time, I doubt very much if you can ever be truly successful as a self-published author.
Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Unconventional Career Coach
Author of the Bestseller “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”
(Over 400,000 copies sold and published in 11 languages)
and the International Bestseller “The Joy of Not Working”
(Over 310,000 copies sold and published in 17 foreign languages)
Ernie–My goodness! That’s a whole blogpost. Thanks for all the info and the stats!
The huge increase in self-published books has certainly been one of the reasons for decreased sales. I didn’t know the exact numbers though. Going from 1.19 million to 1.68 million is a big increase. And I’ll bet it was similar in 2016-2017.
And the problems escalate for novelists, who need to market in a very different way from marketing nonfiction.
People who started earlier and have good strong platforms and an avid readership have a much better chance of good sales than indies starting out now.
I joined the self-published revolution in 2012. I have 13 titles, and I’ve never made money on any of them. I used professional cover art, editing, lots of proof-reading and editing, got good legitimate reviews, but it didn’t make a difference. The biggest issue has always been building a platform. I joined social media, blogged, and all that good stuff, but never got an audience. I’ve spent money on marketing, but I only get a few pennies for all the dollars I’ve wasted.
What’s worse is that, if you are a self-published writer, the traditional and indie industry won’t acknowledge you because of the tainted rep (as another comment pointed out). I can’t even unpublish my titles and submit it to publishers – once it’s out in the world, publishers won’t look at it. All the comments about Amazon are spot on. (Even the banking stuff- I went to my bank and had someone type in my account information, and Amazon bots still act like it’s wrong!) It all seems hopeless, but I guess we’re doomed anyway with global warming, Brexit, and Trump’s wars.
Sad Writer– I’m so sorry things haven’t worked for you. It’s so hard to know what will sell and what won’t. A lot of the world’s greatest geniuses were not recognized in their lifetimes.
It’s true that we live in “interesting times” as the Chinese saying puts it. It’s easy to lose hope. But I figure that all we can do is be glad that we’re alive and able to create and just say “wheeeee” as we slide on down.