The rise of the self-publishing phenomenon

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Self-publishing is becoming an acceptable alternative to mainstream publishing:

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Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

And, as always, I ask: acceptable to whom? Smile

Subject: Re: The rise of the self-publishing phenomenon Tue May 11, 2010 7:09 am

I can only see one answer to that one.

People who buy books.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

Ba-dum-bump!

Except that most folks will never FIND a self-pubbed book unless they bump into the author.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Quote :: There are writers out there making a decent “hobby income” on their fiction. Ron Clooney, a 54-year-old English teacher from Southampton, has sold thousands of copies of his two self-published thrillers and made around £15,000 by “giving it some welly” at bookshop signings and selling via his website. “It started as a bit of a joke,” he says. “But now I’m thinking of writing full time.”

Maybe you should ask Ron how readers found his books.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

First I'd like the paper to authenticate this guy's claims. I don't believe him. And I've seen too many newspaper stories with really bad, weird, misleading info about the subject, like the one about the lady who "published" her marketing materials for her company.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Would the son of an army officer lie?

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Subject: Re: The rise of the self-publishing phenomenon Tue May 11, 2010 9:45 am

They used to say you could trust a priest but I'm not sure you can say that now.

Quote :: Except that most folks will never FIND a self-pubbed book unless they bump into the author.

A hell of a lot of people buy my books without meeting me.

I know several people who make big money selling SP books online.

The whole "Sp authors don't have a chance" thing is the opposite pole of the whole "get on twitter and sell a million bucks worth of you book with my guidance" thing.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

... and the self-publishing service Ron uses is Matador:

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Hell, I'm the son of an army officer and I lie my ass off.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

I didn't say the self-pubbed don't have a chance. But I'd at least like to know what his marketing efforts cost in time and money before admiring his paycheck.

And that said, I admit to a prejudice -we've been round this before- against the self-pubbed and the e-pubbed. I don't consider someone whose book only exists as electrons or POD as truly published, either. At least not the kind of published most authors aspire to. So, consider the source and might as well not argue with me. Smile

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

lin wrote:: Hell, I'm the son of an army officer and I lie my ass off.

Just part of your charm, lin. Smile

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Did you check out Troubador's self-publishing imprint?

Quote :: Just part of your charm, lin.

Oh, not in forums.

Just job applications and dating services.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

Shelagh wrote:: Did you check out Troubador's self-publishing imprint?

What about it? Might as well be printed, I mean, "published," by "Weaving Dreams," for all I GAS.

lin -I hear those online dating sites are rough, nobody who doesn't lie actually gets a date. At least not the ones left after everyone's filtered for "beautiful, thin" and "handsome, rich." Smile

Subject: Re: The rise of the self-publishing phenomenon Tue May 11, 2010 3:57 pm

Actually, I AM beautiful, thin, rich, well-hung, talented, and ISO LTR with WSF who is HWP

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

I knew that.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

lin wrote:: Actually, I AM beautiful, thin, rich, well-hung, talented, and ISO LTR with WSF who is HWP

haha, well, you probably won't find her on a dating site. If she's < 30 the profile is fake, if she's > 30, she's damaged, desperate or fat. Of course, something similar applies to the men.

Number of posts : 5 Registration date : 2010-05-14 Location : U.S.

Quote :: I'd at least like to know what his marketing efforts cost in time and
money before admiring his paycheck.

I've never understood this angle and hear it quite a lot. If writing is your hobby, be happy with spending 15 minutes a week and selling a book a month to those you run into. But, if it's your business, and you're passionate enough about your message, why wouldn't you want to eat, sleep, and work your "business" 24 hours a day to get it selling? It's that level of commitment and persistence that sells books, whether hardback, paperbak, or ebook.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

SpeakerSeeker wrote:: I've never understood this angle and hear it quite a lot. If writing is your hobby, be happy with spending 15 minutes a week and selling a book a month to those you run into. But, if it's your business, and you're passionate enough about your message, why wouldn't you want to eat, sleep, and work your "business" 24 hours a day to get it selling? It's that level of commitment and persistence that sells books, whether hardback, paperbak, or ebook.

1. I do nothing to sell my books and sell thousands a year.
2. Selling books is not my business.
3. I have no message.

Ah, you poor thing. Check your messages: I sent you some.

Five Star Member Number of posts : 5044 Registration date : 2009-03-28

Well, they ended up in someone else's box, lol.

That's kind of a theme of my life, actually.

Admin Number of posts : 12662 Registration date : 2008-01-11 Location : UK

Maybe your Inbox is full, LC.

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