tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43905348168571177.post2569334292907515700..comments2023-08-20T17:36:35.914+10:00Comments on Soooz Says Stuff: What Just Might Get You Published and What Probably Won'tSoooz Burkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02390489724415063410noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43905348168571177.post-77594462586571271072010-07-31T14:52:50.767+10:002010-07-31T14:52:50.767+10:00This statement jumped out at me,
"The most d...This statement jumped out at me, <br />"The most dismal failure of a published book exceeds the sales volume of the highest reasonable expectation of a self-published book by a factor of about ten."<br />That might have been the case even a few years ago, but not at present, when e-book sales are taken into consideration.<br />'The most dismal failure' might be any of several recent books which garnered hundreds of thousands as advances, and sold from 1,000 to 2,000 copies. Never mind the less prominent failures, where advances and expectations were less. <br />Some 70% (at an optimistic estimate) <br />of conventionally published books fail to reach their break-even point.<br />I know, from authors on Amazon Kindle discussion boards, that self-published authors are making good sales, with 500 to 1,000 copies a month readily attainable. E-book sales make up the majority of those sales; many have print & e-books available. Several well-known authors - eg J. Konrath) have self-published on Amazon recently, and seen their incomes rise. <br />Notice that conventional publishing relies on a narrow time frame to sell any given book, perhaps six months or so, after which it is remaindered. With e-books the time frame is greatly extended, so that 500 sales a month may continue for several years, as opposed to the old model which aims to sell perhaps 5,000 in six months and then drop out of sight.<br />Even more telling is the income of self-published authors as compared to others with equal sales numbers -instead of the median income of around $6,000 per year for authors in the UK at a probable 10% royalty on sales, the same income can come from far fewer sales at the higher royalties of self-publishers. Obviously if the sales numbers are close, a higher royalty is going to put you way ahead.<br /> So then, 'by a factor of ten'. No, false.Philip van Wulvenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08982189741313001495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43905348168571177.post-79507547084190996752010-07-31T10:23:55.507+10:002010-07-31T10:23:55.507+10:00All of the above it true. I've always written...All of the above it true. I've always written; all my life. However, I never really thought about getting published (even though I've had loads of stuff snapped up in the past by magazines and newspapers). I've been very lucky and been picked up by an ebook publisher for a truly crappy novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo last year. I am not expecting to earn a fortune out of it -- in fact, I'm not really expecting to earn anything out of it if I'm honest.<br /><br />For those like me who write just because -- well ... because they can and they enjoy it and have nothing better to do, being published is probably not something they think about all that much. For myself, this new 'self-publishing' lark is pretty cool. You can rattle out your words, edit it all up yourself, turn it into a pdf and the next thing you know, you're holding your own book in your hand. Very satisfying in its own way. Mine just gets shoved on the bookshelf. I'm far too busy writing more and more crap to sit and read any of my own stuff!<br /><br />All I can say is 'good luck' to any soul who is trying to get published. It IS hard work and can be soul-destroying. You need a thick skin but the ability to take constructive criticism and act upon it as well as an iron will to keep going despite impossible odds.<br /><br />Good luck to you, Toby. I really hope you make it. If you do, I'll add you to my reading list! :)Kat Wardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07195911307532026782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43905348168571177.post-35135898864776925632010-07-31T09:04:47.326+10:002010-07-31T09:04:47.326+10:00Sooz, I'm committed to getting published. For ...Sooz, I'm committed to getting published. For real. The traditional route. And I'm finding it to be the most challenging, humiliating, hard work, slogging, learning, trying, more slogging, more learning thing I've ever done including raising a son with special needs and putting myself through 12 years of college while working. Finishing my first novel was a big deal, it too a year and half and it was a marathon. Getting it published..an ultramarathon. But I never consider quitting because I see myself getting BETTER AND BETTER, and everything I do now will affect the books to come. It's a long term investment in my career to come (see the hubris! I think you gotta have that)<br />Still, it's a good thing I have a day job, becuase did I mention how difficult this is?Toby Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14245810488645852955noreply@blogger.com