Posted on 08/05/2013 9:42:58 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
It's been called a "cure for rejection-letter fatigue."
Amazon on Thursday released new details about the success of its program for authors who want to self-publish on its Kindle e-reader devices. The company, which unveiled a suite of new e-readers and tablets at a press conference in Southern California on Thursday, says 27 of the top 100 Kindle books were created using a system called Kindle Direct Publishing.
That system allows authors to bypass traditional publishers and instead deal directly with Amazon, which claims to be able to publish their books digitally "in hours."
The authors receive 70% of the royalties from the sale of these books. And some of them are doing quite well.
"Most of my months are six-figure months," said Hugh Howey, a 37-year-old Florida author whose "Wool" series of digital books was highlighted by Amazon. "It's more than I ever hoped to make in a year."
The company says some authors, including Theresa Ragen, who appeared in a promotional video during the Amazon event, have sold hundreds of thousands of books.
During the event Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos displayed a quote from Kathryn Stockett, author of best-selling novel "The Help," in which she lamented being rejected dozens of times before a publisher accepted her.
"What if I had given up at 15? Or 40? Or even 60?" she was quoted as saying......
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Bump
Howey’s “Wool” is a fantastic read!
Indeed it is a wonderful thing as opportunity abounds!
I’m just reminding people that having opportunity is zero guarantee of winning.
The Apple App Store is the same: for $99 and a 30% cut Apple will publish your app to hundreds of millions of devices...and the reality is while a few make millions from this, most make next to nothing. It’s working in my favor, but not without a huge marketing push.
Not just font size, but it has its own light!! I do want a screen that is easier to read in sunlight, though.
My husband and I just exchange Kindles. I have no guilt over telling someone about a great ebook when all they have to spend is $1-$4. I never have to worry if they’ll read it or return it. When folks spend their own money and are *invested*, they will read the book. Borrowed ones, not so much.
Paper for me is for pool, beach or hot tub. When/if they make an eReader that is waterproof and a decent price, I will switch completely. And I was someone who was resistant to digital vs. paper.
I really love that I can preview something right on the Kindle, read reviews and then just download. I live out in the boonies. Bookstore runs have always been something I had to plan in advance and I would always spend way too much each trip. Instead of $12-$30/book, I now spend $0-$5.
I try to check often and have picked up freebies and $.99 specials quite often. Amazon paperbacks are affordable, but I had to wait for something to reach the 4-for-the-price-of-3 level in order to reach the $25/free shipping point.
My day job has been busy lately, but hopefully this winter I can return to my own work. I tend to write myself out on a ledge, plot-wise, and have this 30k-50k word sticking point I need to get through.
LOL!
Years ago, I knew someone who refused to buy a computer. She spent 5 years writing a fantasy novel, by hand, that went thru 3-4 re-writes. By the time she finished and was ready to submit it, the agent told her there was a 10 year backlog of fantasy novels accepted but still unpublished.
ooooooooooh! I remember the original threads!!
I have bookmarked it.
Can you take several versions of a work in progress and paste them in, easily?
True, the more people doing it, the less likely a specific book can be “discovered” enough to have a decent income from it.
Still better odds than waiting for a publisher that never will happen though.
.
True, the more people publish, the less likely a specific book can be “discovered” enough to have a decent income from it.
Still better odds than waiting for a publisher that never will happen though.
where? editors-r-us?
How do unknown authors prevent an editor stealing their idea?
You have to find a professional editor who has integrity.
If you don't know where to find one be inventive and call a writer or a university English department and ask where you could find a good editor. Also, any writer's association will have editors who will hire out their services.
The difference a real editor can make can be tremendous.
When you have your writing edited then you can hire someone to do all your graphics for you. Again it can make a huge difference. And it will be worth the price.
I have 4 self-published books. It has been a learning experience.
But from what I've gathered it's the devil in the details (and I want a pro for an editor - I have three pre-editors now and they are terrific - but not one in the business itself!)
I had a long career in the publishing business, both as inhouse editor and as an author -- published by HarperCollins and Simon&Schuster.
At this point, I struggle with the whole idea of e-publishing, because I'm not a techie, and because ebooks say to me they were rejected first by publishing houses. Why? They are almost always in need of a professional edit.
I know someone with good ideas and talent who published thru the Amazon program. They "edited" for him, charged him $1200. I don't have the heart to tell him how terrible his book is. But I'll say it here.
Professional editing starts with manuscript evaluation. Is your concept interesting? Does your idea have commercial appeal? Have you thought it through? Can it hold a reader's attention? What might you add or omit to bring the story to life? Do you know how to weave it correctly? Or are you dropping stitches, leaving loopholes, losing the readers' interest? Evaluation is basically a lengthy discussion between author and editor before a final or semifinal draft is written. You are not going to get anything like that from the Amazon Anaconda, that wraps itself around your work and your heart and grinds it to nothing. They really do not care about writing and writers. They care about grabbing market share and putting legit publishing houses out of business.
Bezos hired Larry Kirshbaum, former prez of TimeWarner, to supervise their takeover of the publishing world. I had breakfast with Larry at Rockefeller Center years ago, nice fellow very smart, very money driven. He is doing a great job for them. But for authors? And for books? I have my doubts.
In my experience, self-published books are ALWAYS overwritten. Amateur and wannabe authors think editing is moving commas around. They rush to publication with perfect comma use but little concept of shaping and weaving their manuscripts into tightly written. well crafted stories that readers cannot put down. Instead, we read a few pages and forget to read the rest. Nothing to compel our interest.
Sad, because some of these books would be good reads if they were edited by professionals. And I don't mean your neighbor who teaches writing in college. I mean professionals.
I've heard that some ebooks are very good. Could be. But how did they get that way?
LOL. yeah, sure! Pull the other one. :-)
You mean "hurling," didn't you?
Good results? Sure, thanks to the title, even though it is not about real cougars. Sex sells!
Thank you. I stole it and sent it to my friend who’s about to self-publish his great stories with countless grammar and spelling errors, that he’s not asking anyone to correct.
No. Newspaper presses are totally different from book presses. And Bezos has enough money to buy every printing company in the US.
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