self-published YA authors....

Amanda Hocking made a fortune.

I have a friend who has done it and blogged about her experiences.

http://www.careycorp.com/index.php/my-journey-to-date-my-blog-version-of-a-clip-show/

She also wrote 17 books. From what I understand that's the best way to go about epublishing. Put out a lot in a short period of time.

Yes, before you follow in Amanda's footsteps do read the blogs she's written on the subject:

http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog.html

http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/2011/03/some-things-that-need-to-be-said.html


Nothing wrong with self publishing, but make sure you know what you're getting into.

Also ask yourself WHY you want to do it. If the answer has anything to do with it being easier, or that publishing houses are evil and destroy the words of authors, then that's not so good because neither of those reasons are actually true.

It's definitely growing, and if that's the road you want to take, it's perfectly acceptable. But again, the question is WHY that's the road your husband wants to take. Self publishing is a lot of work. Well. If you want to try to be successful and make money at it. (and admittedly that isn't everyone's goal)

McMich said:

I'm not actually for it, but my husband is. I don't think there is quite a big market for YA in the epub, but I figured I might be wrong.

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The epub YA market is growing. But epub does not mean self-pub. It was a slower market in the past, but I think one of the reasons it's growing is that YA is getting a bigger readership...and adults who may have been a bit embarrassed to be caught reading YA in the past can now read it on their ereaders or smart phones without anyone knowing what they're reading. Between my kindle app/kobo app/kobo ereader, I have about 200 YA ebooks. And my list is growing every week.

Someone made a great comment to me about why teens aren't reading books. Unlike adults (as stated above), teens want people to see what they're reading. It can be considered a status symbol. Look at me! I'm reading this book!

ghost said:

Someone made a great comment to me about why teens aren't reading books. Unlike adults (as stated above), teens want people to see what they're reading. It can be considered a status symbol. Look at me! I'm reading this book!

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I haven't ever seen that before, but that's just me.

No one I know even owns an ereader except me. I find more adults reading YA epublished books than teens, actually. But it still seems that the YA epublishing market is about to explode (in a good way).

I will say that a lot of my students(8th graders) have Kindles and Kindle Fires. I used to think it was harder for actual teens to read ebooks, but the times are changing. As kindle prices come down, more and more teens will be reading them.

Not to mention all the iPad's.

I do kind of wonder how many of those teens will actually read e-books, as opposed to carrying around a Kindle to show their friends that they've got one. Now, a tablet, as opposed to a dedicated e-reader, will get used, but will it be for 'reading'? Much as all those teens and kids who begged for cell phones for 'emergencies'. Just because you start a call or text with 'OMG!' or 'I'll just die!' does not mean it's an emergency.

My teen daughter only has an ipod and she got a free kindle app for it. She used it to read one of the required reading books for school (plus what ever else.) So at least if they are not readers but have to read for school, it comes in handy.

I self published one YA book...and sold about 20 copies. Granted, it was awful (I've since deleted it), and I didn't do that much publicity for it (which is really important for any book, but meh) - but don't forget that for every Amanda Hocking-style success story, there will also be a lot of failures.

I say, rev up the publicity machine if you want to make lots of $$$ from e-publishing.

If you're looking for some places to find books, try FaceBook. A couple of groups I know of are "Share and Promote your books through Black Rose", "Best Books", "The YA Reader", "Books 4 Tomorrow" and "YA Book Addict". They're the ones I follow, I'm sure there's a half a million more on there.

... And check out the AW library, right here, too!

A blogger-friend of mine named Susan Kaye Quinn just released the first book in a YA series she's self-publishing, and I can honestly say it's one of the better self-published books I've ever read. Not perfect, but it's obvious she really took her time and did it right. The book is called OPEN MINDS.

I friend of mine, M.R. Merrick self-published his first YA novel a few months ago, and now is about to self publish the second in the sequel.
It's going good for him, but he is on the computer 27 hours a day promoting it like crazy.
A big friend of the self - pubber is blog tours and the like.

But I agree, make sure you're reasoning for self-pubbing is a valid one. And if you do go that route, make sure you enlist some help ie. editor, cover artist, reviewers, and what not.
There is nothing worse than spending time and money on a novel, that is in need of a huge edit, the cover artist doesn't draw people in and you don't promote it.

But... Goodluck! It can be done, and people can be successful.

McMich said:

Hi everyone- I have several questions.....
I was wondering if anyone has done the self-publish route with their YA novel? How did it turn out?
Do you think there is enough of a market with YA to online publish with amazon?
Also I am looking to read a few self-published books- I am into YA fantasy/science fiction- any recommendations?

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YA is one genre that is doing very well in terms of self publishing. The market is huge and the readers tend to be hungry for more material.

Hey McMich, small world

I've recently self-published a YA/horror, and the sales haven't been too shabby. Better than I expected. It's not a bestseller or anything, but people are reading it.
If you're husband wants to write YA, I don't think the market on Amazon is over-saturated. Teens just want a good cover and a good story. I'd love to help support your book and spread the word. As of next week, I'll be starting a YA indie group if you're interested.
Good luck!

Hey all, I'm not self pubbed, but I am Indie and my book is available in the epub market. I have no idea on sales records since my publisher does that but you know, I'm having fun on the flip side promoting it in both bookstores and online. It's been a journey!

I'll update my signature in a bit so you can all see the book I'm talking about . . .

Namaste,
Rhi

I teach high school Language Arts, and I'd say about 10 kids per class have e-readers. We also have 30 in our library that the kids can borrow. It's getting pretty big and with the ability to "check out" books from local libraries, a lot of my kids are reading on there. We read for 15 minutes a day at the start of class, and I can attest that they are reading.

There's a new group of some pretty solid self-published authors called The Indelibles. A few authors I know started it, and I've read some of their bog postings. They seem to provide some good info on the topic. You can check them out here.

I too self published last year. I did next to no marketing and as a result didn't sell very many books. I'm a fairly quiet person both in real life and on the internet, so I found it hard to get noticed.

However, I'm actually really glad that I self published. I learned a lot and although I didn't sell a ton of books, the ones I sold were enjoyed by people who would otherwise have never read my work. That's something I wouldn't be able to say if I kept the story as a file on my computer.

Self publishing does not equal instant fame and fortune, but neither does publishing through traditional means. Both take hard work, dedication and a lot of research.

Good luck whichever route you take!

www.ChristinaGGaudet.com

I also think that if you put out an interesting and well written book (regardless of who publishes it), people will buy it. My mom has a Kindle Fire and will download any book that sounds good. She's always buying self-published books. She doesn't care about the publisher, she just wants to read a good story.

If you don't mind reading lesbian stories, Sarah Diemer published The Dark Wife (a YA retelling of the Persephone/Hades myth) and has had a pretty good sucess. She also uses the pen name Elora Bishop and has put out a few stories there! Her website is www.oceanid.org if you want more detail on her stuff

I'm self-published and my book is doing very well. I do, however, have an agent so that may help a bit. As for the YA market being receptive to eBooks - have you heard of Wattpad? It's almost all YA and has a huge audience. The market is definitely there.

I also run a website called The YA Curator where we review YA self-pubbed and indie books. Might be a good place to start if you're looking for recs.