tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post8286402805557698212..comments2024-03-28T02:00:11.260-05:00Comments on A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Guest Post by Joshua GuessJA Konrathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-71775096395691570242014-02-18T03:26:24.703-06:002014-02-18T03:26:24.703-06:00"I never even considered querying. I never fo..."I never even considered querying. I never for a moment thought it was a good idea to submit a book" And that basically sums it up for so many of us. Why in the world would we NOT self publish? <br /><br />Thanks Josh, for this post, that basically says it all. And to Joe, who is by far the staunchest advocate for writers, and an inspiration to all of us. Andreashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12270408270077447744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-9963620739625776592014-02-17T09:46:53.892-06:002014-02-17T09:46:53.892-06:00Thanks so much Susan! I appreciate the advice, ve...Thanks so much Susan! I appreciate the advice, very helpful. Yes, I will pick up a few Sparks books at the library.<br /><br />Interesting point about SF books. I had never thought of that as an option. Some of my most favorite books are Sci-Fi. Good luck to you with your SF manuscripts.Mario Jannatpourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995215694457237845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-13787794515750827852014-02-17T09:29:16.189-06:002014-02-17T09:29:16.189-06:00Mario, you are right that it is easier to self-pub...Mario, you are right that it is easier to self-publish a book in a high-selling genre for eBooks. Romance is one genre that sells well and indie authors do well in it. <br /><br />SF appears to be good as well. I always thought SF wouldn't do well, because it's a very niche market, but Hugh has shown that not to be the case. His success shows there is a hunger for well-written SF books and short stories. <br /><br />I am going to dust off and publish a few of my SF manuscripts that I didn't publish because I thought legacy was the way to go with them. We shall see how easy or hard it is to sell them. :) Of course, it helps if you write a book that people can't put down, and that describes Hugh's books, so keep that in mind. <br /><br />If you are considering it, why not pick up a copy of one of Nicholas Sparks's romance novels, read it and see if you could write a novel with the same kind of themes and feel. As long as you understand what romance readers want, the basics, I think romance is a genre that both men and woman can write well and succeed.<br /><br />Good luck!<br /><br />SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-78802314839500840542014-02-17T06:11:27.065-06:002014-02-17T06:11:27.065-06:00Good post, thanks for sharing your numbers. Livin...Good post, thanks for sharing your numbers. Living on $11 an hour is tough and I'm glad you're doing something you like now, which nursing didn't sound to be.<br /><br />I'm always thrilled when I get an email or a comment on one of my posts, and it sounds like you're the same way. I hope that never goes away!gpstberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388470847179787109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-56032247223424507232014-02-16T23:51:15.491-06:002014-02-16T23:51:15.491-06:00Very cool Josh!! Congratulations! I think it'...Very cool Josh!! Congratulations! I think it's great what you've been able to build with your writing career.<br /><br />One thing I have noticed is the successful self published writers are doing well in certain niches.<br /><br />I have a full time job and I wrote a non-fiction career book a couple of years ago for Real Estate. It has been selling well. My royalties for paperback and Kindle in 2013 are $14,000. My book fits in well in its niche.<br /><br />I wrote and self published a second book last year. A very personal book I have been working on awhile now. A motivational/inspirational book. Sales are very slow to start, I am ok with it. Zero sales in Jan/Feb this year. This book does not fit a specific niche so now I am paying the price on the back-end. <br /><br />One of the commenters above talks about the Romance niche and how sales are so strong in that category. <br /><br />It would be helpful to identify good niches for aspiring writers. I remember Joe wrote before how Nicholas Sparks researched categories on Amazon and then he wrote his style of books to fit into that category.<br /><br />I wonder if that is how some of us need to start off to get sales going. I have a work in progress now and again it does not fit a specific niche but it is important to me and I will write it through to the end and self publish.<br /><br />Once I am through writing books that are important and meaningful to me I am wondering if I should start writing books in the Romance niche to make some money.<br /><br />Thanks for listening.Mario Jannatpourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995215694457237845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-74629535767840655642014-02-16T19:33:50.340-06:002014-02-16T19:33:50.340-06:00T.R.--It's the same approach I take with my fa...T.R.--It's the same approach I take with my fans on my author page. In all honesty, the tradition of being aloof seems pretentious to me. It's another holdover of the legacy publishing system. I'd rather be myself and talk to people than try to write something about me. Joshua Guesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757886577340365451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-55728133713514944162014-02-16T18:47:45.474-06:002014-02-16T18:47:45.474-06:00Just wanted to mention that it is refreshing the w...Just wanted to mention that it is refreshing the way you wrote your bio on Amazon. Staying away from the 3rd person was a smart move.T.R.Roachhttp://trroach.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-69644861898544138052014-02-16T18:10:20.551-06:002014-02-16T18:10:20.551-06:00Thanks, Chris, and everyone congratulating me on m...Thanks, Chris, and everyone congratulating me on my success so far. While I sincerely appreciate it, back-patting wasn't my goal. I have wanted to tell my own story for a while, because it serves as an example. Average people with no experience who have the drive to write and a willingness to be self-critical and improve CAN have success the ways Joe has preached. <br /><br />As for humility, my wife would probably argue the point :DJoshua Guesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757886577340365451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-49294398935922212252014-02-16T18:01:57.526-06:002014-02-16T18:01:57.526-06:00Add me to the chorus of congratulations for your s...Add me to the chorus of congratulations for your success, Josh. As a super-new author (self-pubbed my first novel just a month ago), it's really inspiring to read about these successes, but especially ones like yours that are relatively new and growing.<br /><br />I also really appreciate the humility with which you tell your personal story and talk about your writing. That's an admirable (and occasionally rare) attribute.<br /><br />All the best to you.Chris W. Martinezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15074346459445714336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-1098759932659756172014-02-16T18:00:49.457-06:002014-02-16T18:00:49.457-06:00I self-published my first novel (here's a link...I self-published my first novel (here's a link to a <a href="http://bit.ly/17UFoMm" rel="nofollow">free sample</a>) a little over a year ago. I have made enough from it to buy a pizza or two. It is apparently not in a high-dollar genre (western historical fiction), but I wrote it because I had to write it, not because I expected to make much money from it. I consider it a great success, though, just because of the unexpectedly glowing responses I have gotten from almost everyone who has read it -- ranging from people in their early 20s to people creeping up on 90. That kind of response is worth a lot -- and it is inspiring me to write at least one new novel per year until my brain wears out. And, maybe I will end up making some money along the way.John Erwinhttp://bit.ly/17UFoMmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-86084802141871978542014-02-16T17:39:54.247-06:002014-02-16T17:39:54.247-06:00I just imagined Joe with a Bane mask on:
"I ...I just imagined Joe with a Bane mask on:<br /><br />"I am publishing's reckoning."<br /><br />"After you watch the big 5 collapse, then you have my permission to die."Joshua Guesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757886577340365451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-39039652759702478372014-02-16T17:34:43.213-06:002014-02-16T17:34:43.213-06:00Joe, I'm curious why you care so much about wh...<i>Joe, I'm curious why you care so much about what Traditional publishing is doing.</i><br /><br />Because all evil needs to triumph is for good people to do nothing.JA Konrathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778324558755151986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-5007353156446040302014-02-16T17:16:35.223-06:002014-02-16T17:16:35.223-06:00BTW, Joshua, congratulations. i meant to say it in...BTW, Joshua, congratulations. i meant to say it in my previous post, but I was distracted.<br /><br />You're joining a merry band of indies, some happy to drop their chains and others, like you, who never had to wear those chains in the first place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-52283908217711533542014-02-16T17:15:22.873-06:002014-02-16T17:15:22.873-06:00Quit trolling, Trevor. Joe has gone over this issu...Quit trolling, Trevor. Joe has gone over this issue many, many times. You clearly didn't bother to read the blog you're commenting on.Lizzienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-37395415615091306012014-02-16T17:11:23.958-06:002014-02-16T17:11:23.958-06:00Trevor, It's not a meaningless fight.
Joe spe...Trevor, It's not a meaningless fight.<br /><br />Joe speaks up because so many authors are still getting taken for a ride, financially, and every other way.<br /><br />Perhaps if organisation that are meant to support authors actually did their job, Joe and others wouldn't need to.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-19093488844203051892014-02-16T17:11:14.630-06:002014-02-16T17:11:14.630-06:00Josh, I'm lucky that I write in romance, a gen...Josh, I'm lucky that I write in romance, a genre with a large group of hardcore readers, who read several books a week, some of them a book a day most days. EGAD. They are hungry for more all the time, and are always looking for new reads. That helps a lot. Indie eBooks provide them with that supply of good reads at a decent price, easy to download and read fast. <br /><br />While I have done pretty darn well, the audience for my genre is HUGE compared to how many books I've sold. The potential audience is 100 to 1,000x what I have sold so I am small potatoes. But I can live off the small bag of spuds I've been lucky to collect. :)<br /><br />And that's the thing, right? You don't have to be a blockbuster to make a living as a writer. Midlist as an indie eBook writer is nice in itself, primarily because I get to write for a living which has always been my dream.<br /><br />SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-90553654594024059102014-02-16T17:00:28.391-06:002014-02-16T17:00:28.391-06:00Hi, Steven -- I agree with Josh -- keep writing be...Hi, Steven -- I agree with Josh -- keep writing because you love it and WHEN you get a hit, people will go back and look at what else you have written. Then that backlist will be welcome.<br /><br />My first three books, which did not take off, keep selling every month enough to pay the mortgage so I am happy I published them. They are in a different genre and transgress genre norms a bit and as a result, the series is not a big seller. <br /><br />Was it worth it to write the series, even if it doesn't sell well? I think so. I have a small group of dedicated fans of the series, nagging me to write another book in the series. That feels good.<br /><br />You can always revise your books, swap out covers, and change price - try different promotional tactics that don't cost much, like reaching out to book bloggers in your genre. That's the beauty of eBooks. They don't get pulped after 3 - 6 months and can become more popular later.<br /><br />Everyone should write because they love it and will do it even if they don't earn a cent. Life is too short to give up doing creative work because you don't meet some financial goal. If I hadn't made as much money off my series, I would have kept writing because writing is necessary for my well-being. <br /><br />That I am making a living doing it now blows my mind every day. <br /><br />Keep up the good fight!<br /><br />SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-34151582902191425942014-02-16T16:55:09.077-06:002014-02-16T16:55:09.077-06:00Joe, I'm curious why you care so much about wh...Joe, I'm curious why you care so much about what Traditional publishing is doing. I mean, I get it, you don't like them, you feel as though you were mistreated, blah blah blah, but really, who cares? You've made a bunch of money self publishing. Why not just move on? I'm sure you'll tell me it has to do with saving other people from having to go through what you went through, but it seems more like you have a personal vendetta. <br /><br />For instance, look at what Hugh Howey is doing. This guy is the undisputed leader of the self publishing movement (if there is such a thing), and he seems to be having fun posting his cute little articles on what authors make, and he bases it on incorrect, or at least incomplete data, and he knows it. He's just throwing some guess based numbers around to start a conversation. He's having fun, and I'm sure it's because he realizes, on some level, how little any of this matters.<br /><br />So, why so angry, Joe? You don't want a traditional publisher, and they don't want you. Why keep such a meaningless fight going?Trevornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-2989388787792845272014-02-16T16:36:25.349-06:002014-02-16T16:36:25.349-06:00Steven, I'm the first person to say that half ...Steven, I'm the first person to say that half the reason I write is because I love it. I don't think you get past your first book otherwise. The other reason is because I wanted to make a career out of writing, and I got *very* lucky. I'm aware of that. <br /><br />I'm sure you'll recoup your costs and more in the long run. The thing about having a backlist is that the one lucky break where one book sells tends to create interest for the others. That has been my experience, at any rate. Joshua Guesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757886577340365451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-70859965753747574012014-02-16T16:33:59.937-06:002014-02-16T16:33:59.937-06:00Thank you for posting this!! It was incredibly hel...Thank you for posting this!! It was incredibly helpful and inspiring, as I remind myself that self-published can be just as good as "traditionally published" if well done. <br />I linked to this post in my blog today, hope you don't mind: http://authorjess.blogspot.com/2014/02/snooping-around-sunday-blog-lovin.htmlJessica L Buike (AuthorJess and Operation Relax)https://www.blogger.com/profile/06975884899298324993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-52358938868519153812014-02-16T16:31:30.192-06:002014-02-16T16:31:30.192-06:00Hi Joshua et al,
Well, I'm not making money. ...Hi Joshua et al,<br />Well, I'm not making money. My costs are minimum (website, ebook formatting, cover art, and editing and proofreading), but I haven't even recovered that. But I love to write (14 books and counting), so what the hell?<br />I consider myself lucky. I don't have to make a living off my writing. I'd like to recover costs, but I'm not greedy when I have so much fun writing. I suppose some people would consider it intellectual masturbation, but I have a long list of what-ifs my banshee-muses want me to exhaust (the Irish storyteller in me?).<br />I started out trying to find agents. I think my number of rejections beats Joe's plus agents just sitting on manuscripts, wasting my time. Along with Joe, I've learned that Maass and his ilk really aren't interested in entertaining the reading public--they're interested in control.<br />Hmm, this a wee bit of ramblin'--must be all the winter storms! So sorry, folks.<br />r/Steve<br />Steven M. Moorehttp://stevenmmoore.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-55393879901618073632014-02-16T16:18:21.972-06:002014-02-16T16:18:21.972-06:00I'm excited to see so many indies making so mu...I'm excited to see so many indies making so much money. That's pretty crazy, Susan! You've made more money this year than I did last year. I'm hoping to approach that level of success by hitting some new genres. Joshua Guesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09757886577340365451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-43361042952572133512014-02-16T15:44:38.373-06:002014-02-16T15:44:38.373-06:00*raises fist*
YEAH!
Congrats, Josh! So nice to s...*raises fist*<br /><br />YEAH!<br /><br />Congrats, Josh! So nice to see you were able to quit that job and write for a living. Great to read your success story. :)<br /><br />Since we're sharing info, here are my stats: (I'm not revealing my pen name until I'm big enough so that internet trolls can't bother me)<br /><br />Year One (2012): Published 3 books. Sold 1,000+ copies. Gave away 10,000 through KDP select promos. Before tax income: $3,000. Off to a slow start and not yet ready to quit my day job, but I'm building a readership and learning how to do this self-publishing thing. Getting checks from Amazon every month ROCKS! <br /><br />Year Two (2013): Published 2 books. Sold 60,000+ copies. Did not give any away as freebies, but held two 99c sales. Before tax Income: $130,000. Holy COW! Totally shocked... Both books reaching top 10 in their category and top 20 in Kindle Store during sales, and top 100 outside of sales, rank fluctuating between 1200 - 3500 in Kindle store. Did a lot of promotional work with book bloggers in the genre. That is key, in my view, to getting your book in front of new readers. A few 99c sales to get new readers. Amazon's algorithms help as well.<br /><br />I quit my day job in November 2013.<br /><br />Year Three (2014): Published 1 book. Before tax income to date: $36,000.<br /><br />I have two books and 1 novella on the schedule to publish this year. What will the year end balance sheet look like? If I maintain current sales, maybe close to $200,000.<br /><br />I'm not nearly as successful as Joe or Barry or Hugh but I'm a happy camper and it was all done as an indie, with the help of my beta readers, editor and graphic designer.<br /><br />Reading Joe's blog is a MUST for all aspiring and established authors.<br /><br />Write on, fellow indies! <br /><br />SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-68112072239933702062014-02-16T15:34:59.585-06:002014-02-16T15:34:59.585-06:00Congratulations Joshua!
I self-published my first...Congratulations Joshua!<br /><br />I self-published my first book in June 2013, and by the end of the year I had made more than $10,000 in royalties. Like you, I never considered submitting to agents.<br /> <br />The funny thing is, I always knew I wanted to be a writer, and had been writing since I was a teen, but for a long time, I didn't write seriously enough to finish anything because the idea of facing the jungle of agents and submissions was discouraging to me. <br /><br />It's a new world, one in which we have so many tools to get our work out there, and the best part is the readers don't care how a book is published, only that it is good.Serena Greyhttp://www.serenagrey.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11291165.post-15845243196136368882014-02-16T15:27:04.565-06:002014-02-16T15:27:04.565-06:00Josh, congrats and i wish you heaps of continued s...Josh, congrats and i wish you heaps of continued success! Great story and thank you for sharing it with us!Alan Tuckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06003811594552160836noreply@blogger.com