- Joined
- Jun 12, 2009
- Messages
- 388
- Reaction score
- 33
Am a self-pubber, not one of the people you mentioned, however, I thought I'd answer your questions:
1. How long have you been self-publishing?
About two years
2. Do you think self-publishing is right for every unpublished writer?
Nope. I think that's a decision writers should make for themselves.
2. What company do you use?
I have used Createspace for print books, but I am all ebook now. So only four of my books are also in print. The others are only available electronically. For me, print was not cost-effective. It cost too much money and time and made me very little. The books are still up, and occasionally I get a little money from them, but it's rare.
3. Do you use an ouside source to do your initial editing, and if so, how much do you pay for same? If you have illiustraions, how do handle same?
Honestly, I crowdsource editing. I'm lucky enough now to have some pretty talented fans and some other fellow indie authors. So I have a convoy of beta readers.
However, I'm starting to make a bit of money these days, so I may actually be able to afford an editor.
4. Besides being listed on Amazon, what else have you successfully done to promte and help maket your book?
Reviews, facebook, twitter, blogging, etc. Also, writing more books.
5. To date how many orders have you received (over how many months?)
I really don't know. I don't keep track, exactly. Judging from my Smashwords numbers, and adding up my Kindle totals for a blog post for another indie author, I'm guessing it's around 700-800.
6. To date how much money have you made or lost?
I've never lost money. My first year sucked because I only made $182. (I actually grossed more my first year, but the cost of putting out print books sucked up all my profits.) My second year was better, but I grossed less. My profit was $432. This year is the awesome year. Thus far, I've made $1050...but that's all gross. (Still it's more gross than I've made any other year, and it's only April!) I haven't figured out my costs for this year. My April sales on Kindle are on track to top my March sales. Every month I'm making more, so I hope it continues.
I also haven't ruled out trad publishing. Every time I finish a book, I run it through the query go round for about six months before I self-pub it. (The exceptions are books in a series, or books that clearly have no trad market, like 65,000 word books about 20-year-olds.) I'm not dumb enough to think that a trad deal wouldn't help increase my exposure, if I could get them to publish it under the same name I self-publish.
Additionally, I write erotic romance under another name. I have one novella out, which makes me less than $10 a month. I figure that name needs more books before it will be very lucrative, but I'm torn between pursuing an ebook publisher (like Samhain or Loose ID) for my romantic erotica and self-publishing it. EDIT: To be clear, the novella is published by Cobblestone Press, not me.
Honestly, I feel like everyone keeps treating self-publishing and traditionally publishing like they are mutually exclusive. You really only have to freak about it so much if you only plan on writing one book. I don't see any reason why you can't self-publish some books and not self-publish others. (You, of course, might have to do it under different names if your self-pubbing numbers are abysmal and the publisher doesn't want to associate the work they're publishing with the self-publishing name.)
1. How long have you been self-publishing?
About two years
2. Do you think self-publishing is right for every unpublished writer?
Nope. I think that's a decision writers should make for themselves.
2. What company do you use?
I have used Createspace for print books, but I am all ebook now. So only four of my books are also in print. The others are only available electronically. For me, print was not cost-effective. It cost too much money and time and made me very little. The books are still up, and occasionally I get a little money from them, but it's rare.
3. Do you use an ouside source to do your initial editing, and if so, how much do you pay for same? If you have illiustraions, how do handle same?
Honestly, I crowdsource editing. I'm lucky enough now to have some pretty talented fans and some other fellow indie authors. So I have a convoy of beta readers.
However, I'm starting to make a bit of money these days, so I may actually be able to afford an editor.
4. Besides being listed on Amazon, what else have you successfully done to promte and help maket your book?
Reviews, facebook, twitter, blogging, etc. Also, writing more books.
5. To date how many orders have you received (over how many months?)
I really don't know. I don't keep track, exactly. Judging from my Smashwords numbers, and adding up my Kindle totals for a blog post for another indie author, I'm guessing it's around 700-800.
6. To date how much money have you made or lost?
I've never lost money. My first year sucked because I only made $182. (I actually grossed more my first year, but the cost of putting out print books sucked up all my profits.) My second year was better, but I grossed less. My profit was $432. This year is the awesome year. Thus far, I've made $1050...but that's all gross. (Still it's more gross than I've made any other year, and it's only April!) I haven't figured out my costs for this year. My April sales on Kindle are on track to top my March sales. Every month I'm making more, so I hope it continues.
I also haven't ruled out trad publishing. Every time I finish a book, I run it through the query go round for about six months before I self-pub it. (The exceptions are books in a series, or books that clearly have no trad market, like 65,000 word books about 20-year-olds.) I'm not dumb enough to think that a trad deal wouldn't help increase my exposure, if I could get them to publish it under the same name I self-publish.
Additionally, I write erotic romance under another name. I have one novella out, which makes me less than $10 a month. I figure that name needs more books before it will be very lucrative, but I'm torn between pursuing an ebook publisher (like Samhain or Loose ID) for my romantic erotica and self-publishing it. EDIT: To be clear, the novella is published by Cobblestone Press, not me.
Honestly, I feel like everyone keeps treating self-publishing and traditionally publishing like they are mutually exclusive. You really only have to freak about it so much if you only plan on writing one book. I don't see any reason why you can't self-publish some books and not self-publish others. (You, of course, might have to do it under different names if your self-pubbing numbers are abysmal and the publisher doesn't want to associate the work they're publishing with the self-publishing name.)
Last edited: