Self Publishing

Formula Capital managing director and author James Altucher wrote a TechCrunch post this weekend explaining “Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book.”

In the article, Altucher bashed the Penguin publicity team that worked on one of his earlier books and urged entrepreneurs to abandon traditional publishing. What do you think of his provocative article?

Check it out: “You’re an entrepreneur because you feel you have a product or an idea or a vision that stands out among your competitors (if you don’t stand out, pack it in and come up with a new idea). You know how to do something better than anyone else in the world. How do let the world know that you are better? A business card won’t cut it. People will throw it away. And everyone’s got a website with an ‘About’ button. Give away part (or all) of your ideas in a book.” (Link via Publishers Weekly; Image via Google Plus)

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Author J.A. Konrath bragged on his blog that he had earned $100,000 in the last three weeks from his self-published titles on Amazon. (This doesn’t include any of his legacy sales or legacy titles).

Here is more from his post: “Currently, my novel The List is #71 on the Top 100. It’s been in the Top 100 for 66 days. It’s the same one all those publishers rejected. I am soooo glad I had so many books rejected.”

eBookNewser has more: “Despite the fact that the holiday retail season is over, Konrath is still doing well this month. In fact, the author says he has is averaging ‘well over $3,500 a day’ for January.”

The Wall Street Journal ran a long feature about self published literary author Darcie Chan this week.

Rather than just focusing on Chan’s unexpected success with The Mill River Recluse, the article actually explained the costs of Chan’s marketing efforts–some valuable intelligence for all the self published authors in the audience.

Check it out: “She spent about $1,000 on marketing, buying banner ads on websites and blogs devoted to Kindle readers and a promotional spot on goodreads.com, a book-recommendation site with more than six million members. After learning that self-published authors can pay to have their books reviewed by some sites, she paid $35 for a review from IndieReader.com (IndieReader no longer offers paid reviews). She paid $575 for an expedited review from Kirkus Reviews, a respected book-review journal and website.”

The Millions just published an essay by Edan Lepucki called “Reasons Not To Self Publish in 2011-2012,” collecting eight unexpected reasons why literary writers should give traditional publishing another chance.

What do you think? One of the best reasons reminded literary authors to consider working with the growing number of independent publishers in the literary market.

Check it out: “The conversation about self-publishing too often ignores the role of independent publishing houses in this shifting reading landscape. Whether it be larger independents like Algonquin and Graywolf, or small gems like Featherproof and Two Dollar Radio, or university presses like Lookout Books, the imprint at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, which recently published Edith Pearlman’s Binocular Vision (nominated for this year’s National Book Award), independent presses offer diversity to readers, and provide yet another professional option for authors.” (Via Sarah Weinman)

It seems like not a day goes by that another Oscar winner, business guru or reality star is offered a six or seven-figure publishing deal. So, when billionaire, Dallas Mavericks’ owner, Mark Cuban turned down all offers in lieu of self-publishing his book, ‘How to Win at the Sport of Business‘,  tongues were wagging.

Are the advantages of independently publishing becoming so strong that the allure of a lucrative contract just isn’t cutting it any more?

GalleyCat caught up with Cuban, asking why he chose this route and getting his thoughts on the future of publishing…

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Novelist and digital publishing evangelist JA Konrath will take a break from blogging about what he calls the publishing “indiestry.” At the same time, he has put out an open call for guest bloggers.

Here are more details on how to submit: “If you’d like to write a guest blog, email me your piece. It has to be about sharing what you’ve learned about publishing. Blatant self-promotion won’t win you a spot. Neither will praising me, shameless sycophantic behavior, or posts focusing on you and your books. Describing your writing journey, whether you’re experiencing success or failure, is what will be helpful to readers of this blog. That’s what I’m looking for. Sure, you can slip in some links to your book. But I want you to show what you’re doing, and explain if it is working. Shoot for under 1200 words … I’ll read everything emailed to me, but I’ll only respond if I’m interested in running your piece.”

In February, Amazon’s new Thomas & Mercer imprint will released Stirred, a book co-written by Konrath and Blake Crouch. (Via Publishers Lunch)

The Perseus Books Group has launched a new self-publishing eBook division called Argo Navis Author Services.

The platform lets authors self-publish, distribute and market their work. The service will only be available only to authors who are represented by an agency that has signed a deal with Perseus.

According to The New York Times, the new service has a favorable royalty share for authors with authors getting 70 percent and distributors taking 30 percent of revenue. The eBooks will be sold through book retailers including: Amazon, BN.com, Google, Kobo, Sony and Apple.

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Some publishing experts predict that the digital publishing revolution will destroy the livelihood of literary agents. Smashwords founder Mark Coker has helped thousands of indie authors self-publish, but he still thinks literary agents can flourish in this new publishing environment.

In the slideshow embedded above (“The Literary Agent’s Indie Ebook Roadmap“), Coker outlined how literary agents can work with this new generation of authors.

Check it out: “As I mentioned in my prior post on agents, literary agents can add a lot of value to the publishing process. They’re the trusted author advocates charged with helping authors maximize the commercial potential of their works. A great agent brings passion, smarts and relationships that can multiply an author’s success several-fold. Literary agents represent some of the most commercially successful authors and author estates. In the presentation below, I share my ideas for how literary agents can better serve their clients by adding e-publishing services to their clients services mix.”

British writer Louise Voss had a hard time selling her novel Catch Your Death to literary agents, so she decided to self publish her book in the Kindle UK Store. Hoping to attract readers to an unknown author, Voss priced the eBook at the low price of £0.95.

The low price helped Voss’s book climb the Amazon charts. eBookNewser has more: “The eBook is currently No. 4 in the ‘Suspense’ category of the Kindle UK Store. According to the London Standard the book held the No. 1 position in the Kindle UK Store for the month of June where it sold 50,000 copies.”

These sales soon caught the eye of a major publisher. The London Evening Standard has more: “It attracted the attention of publishers HarperFiction, which offered her a six-figure, four-book deal. As a result, her ebook Catch Your Death will also be printed and stocked in bookshops in the traditional way.”

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Journalist and author Neal Pollack wrote an essay in The New York Times Magazine over the weekend, explaining why it makes sense for midlist authors to self-publish–pointing to a dramatic shift in publishing tactics for authors with a medium-sized and loyal audience.

Here’s an excerpt: “[F]or a writer like me, which is to say, most working writers — midcareer, midlist, middle-aged, more or less middlebrow, and somewhat Internet savvy — self-publishing seems to make a lot of sense at this point. Early in my career, because of some lucky breaks and a kinder economy, I was able to get advances that helped me support my family over the months it took to write a book … Now that the advances are smaller and the technology is available, why not start appealing directly to those readers?”

Pollack will self-publish his new novel, Jewball. He has already posted a free preview of the book, focused on the adventures of an American-Jewish basketball team in 1937. (Via Ed Champion)