To the reader who submitted this Q: I think there are a LOT of young adults who read via e-reader (phones, kindles, whatever). Publishing it in e-book form and doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.
As Kate says, nothing is guaranteed, and the writing i…
To the reader who submitted this Q: I think there are a LOT of young adults who read via e-reader (phones, kindles, whatever). Publishing it in e-book form and doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.
As Kate says, nothing is guaranteed, and the writing itself (and sense of accomplishment) needs to be enough, but still... you want to get it into the hands of readers. And you CAN. It all comes down to your marketing campaign, and that is even more doable than finishing the book! Sounds like you've REALLY had it vetted by lots of professionals, which makes me think it's good to publish on your own.
In addition to this brilliant newsletter, people interested in self-publishing might get some inspiration from Joanna Penn https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
She makes me want to self-publish and I haven't even written a book! :)
>doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.<
Worth tacking on a "your results may vary!" I self-published a book that was a hit with my beta readers but I just could not figure out how to market it. Banner ads didn't drive sales and the "book influencers" that I approached turned out to be swamped with paying requests from Big Publishers, no time left for indie people. (I would have thought indie reviewers would prioritize indie writers -- like who the hell needs your two cents on the books that already made the NYT list??) I also found that my self-pubbed friends who lured me in by telling me they had thousands of readers... later revealed, once I was in the club, that they had fudged those numbers. All part of the hustle.
Self-publishing CAN work! Best of luck! I found it to be more complicated than expected. Still, I do feel happy when I see my book sitting on my shelf, even if it didn't set the world on fire. It's a pretty good book, and in a parallel universe, no doubt it outsold Twilight.
To the reader who submitted this Q: I think there are a LOT of young adults who read via e-reader (phones, kindles, whatever). Publishing it in e-book form and doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.
As Kate says, nothing is guaranteed, and the writing itself (and sense of accomplishment) needs to be enough, but still... you want to get it into the hands of readers. And you CAN. It all comes down to your marketing campaign, and that is even more doable than finishing the book! Sounds like you've REALLY had it vetted by lots of professionals, which makes me think it's good to publish on your own.
In addition to this brilliant newsletter, people interested in self-publishing might get some inspiration from Joanna Penn https://www.thecreativepenn.com/
She makes me want to self-publish and I haven't even written a book! :)
Love Joanna Penn! I wrote a piece for her in 2018 about fiction techniques when writing memoir: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2018/03/09/fiction-techniques-writing-memoir/amp/
>doing a truly kick-ass marketing campaign could be a big success! I know of writers who do this regularly and have big sales.<
Worth tacking on a "your results may vary!" I self-published a book that was a hit with my beta readers but I just could not figure out how to market it. Banner ads didn't drive sales and the "book influencers" that I approached turned out to be swamped with paying requests from Big Publishers, no time left for indie people. (I would have thought indie reviewers would prioritize indie writers -- like who the hell needs your two cents on the books that already made the NYT list??) I also found that my self-pubbed friends who lured me in by telling me they had thousands of readers... later revealed, once I was in the club, that they had fudged those numbers. All part of the hustle.
Self-publishing CAN work! Best of luck! I found it to be more complicated than expected. Still, I do feel happy when I see my book sitting on my shelf, even if it didn't set the world on fire. It's a pretty good book, and in a parallel universe, no doubt it outsold Twilight.
For sure. Hit or miss. Just like traditional publishing.