As you may know if you read one of my absolute favorite blogs, Joe Konrath who writes A Newbie's Guide to Publishing (and writes under the name J.A. Konrath) has made an absolute killing selling his backlist and never-before-published work as ebooks for Kindle. He's encouraged others to follow his lead -- sort of.
He's cautioned those who would rush to publish their work as ebooks to stop and consider a few things. Fair enough and I agree. You shouldn't rush to self-publish anything -- print or ebook.
In fact, Joe (for the most part) has emphasized the importance of running the traditional gauntlet of queries and rejections (he's gotten more than 500 of them, I believe), as a necessary rite of passage before getting published.
However, lately Joe's views seem to be changing -- in fact, he recently blogged about his "crisis of faith." As in, he wasn't sure what advice to give newbie writers today. Like, maybe that gauntlet he had to run doesn't apply so much, anymore? (Imagine that.)
It's interesting that Joe feels so conflicted, yet (and I quote) "I never wanted to be the poster boy for self-promotion, even though my efforts (chronicled on this blog) have made folks think of me that way. And I certainly don't want to be the new poster boy for self-publishing."
Well, God forbid! (And, hey, I'll accept the title, once I earn my stripes -- assuming that happens.)
And what's really interesting is that Joe takes issue with the notion being spread about that (quoting again) "Konrath is selling well because he has a name and a fan base." He goes (in great detail) into the reasons why he doesn't believe this is so. (So, about that query-and-reject gauntlet -- still necessary?)
Okay, you say, it's Joe Konrath. He's been kicking around the publishing world for years now, promoting like crazy, traveling around the country, visiting bookstores and libraries, blogging it up, querying and submitting, on and on and on and on, etc. Surely, his great success is attributable to all these efforts.
Well, the answer, at best, is maybe. Okay, I'm being kind here. The answer is clearly NO, when you consider the story of Karen McQuestion, who's outselling Joe and who's interviewed on his blog. McQuestion has NO traditional publisher. NO name recognition. NO backlist. None of that traditional publishing route stuff. Yet, she's selling more ebooks than Joe Konrath. (Again, imagine!)
Joe even says that ebook success isn't so much about making print sales the traditional way, but (more quotes here) "price, quality, and professionalism."
He also says:
"Many years ago, I was arguing with someone who said the secret to selling a books is simple: just write a good one.
"I disagreed. First of all, there is no set definition of what 'good' is. Second, many 'good' books go out of print, and many 'mediocre' books become bestsellers (at least in my subjective opinion.)
"The success of as [sic] book, I posited, depended on how much money a publisher threw at it, how big the coop was, how large the print run and distribution.
"In the age of ebooks, where print runs and publisher dollars don't mean anything, there is still an unknown Factor X that determines why some books sell well and others don't.
"But I'm also changing my thinking a bit. Writing a good book, with an interesting premise, a professional, eye-catching cover, a decent description, a low price, and a hooky preview, does help sell ebooks. Perhaps even more than it ever helped sell print books." [Italics added.]
Okay, NOW do you people believe me when I say ebooks are changing all the rules?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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4 comments:
Ebooks do seem to be changing the rules, Debbi. And the ability for someone to change their mind when presented with new information is a lot less common than it should be--most folks dig their heels in and refuse.
That said, I believe self-pubbing in print always has been, and always will be, a bad idea.
There is a difference between print books and ebooks. Self-pubbed print books are usually expensive, poorly edited, and often non-returnable, plus they constitute a (oftne large) investment on the part of the author.
Ebooks have none of these problems. While it is almost impossible to self-publish a print book and hit the bestseller lists, Amazon has made it possible to do this with ebooks.
This wasn't the case, even just a year ago.
Still, while 40,000 ebooks sold is a lot, it pales next to the 500,000 books I have in print worldwide.
I'm starting to beleive it's possible to make a living on ebooks. But if you want a wide readership, print is still the way to go. And if you want to truly know if you're good enough, finding a good agent to rep you is a good indicator.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments, Joe. You're right about the ability to change one's mind when presented with new information. People should do this much more often. I know I have. :)
I was a true believer in the traditional publishing route once. I self-published my (formerly out-of-print) novel with the intent to get a traditional publisher. But I've seen what self-published authors are capable of doing. (You'd be surprised, if you looked into it.)
I know there's plenty of self-published crap out there. But there's also a whole lot of traditionally published crap (not to mention the lousy editing these days).
I won't say it's easy to make a living as a self-published print author. Clearly, it's much easier to sell in big numbers through ebooks.
Having said that, I don't think it's impossible to succeed as a self-published print author. (Difficult, maybe, but not impossible.)
Now, much of this depends on your definition of success. Mine is to turn a profit and build a readership, a goal I think is do-able.
I'm not talking about hitting the NY Times bestseller list (who cares?) or making a million dollars (ditto). I'm just talking about turning a profit and building a readership.
Clearly, that goal is more easily achieved through ebook sales. So guess where I'm focusing a lot of my efforts these days? I think they call it a no-brainer. :)
And, I'm sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree about agents being the ultimate arbiters of taste. I think if the latest ebook success stories prove anything, it's that readers get to make the call on these matters.
I think Joe's self-promo for 8 years DOES factor into his success. I do think at some point Amazon's algorithms sort of take over, but you have to have enough initial people knowing who you are and buying to put that into effect. Otherwise EVERYBODY with a good and reasonably priced book would be selling as well as Joe (or me).
I've done a ton of self-promo though nowhere near as much as Joe. I write under two diff pen names and my other name isn't as "known". Unsurprisingly my other pen name doesn't sell nearly as well. Despite the fact that people have found the book "moving" and I believe it's the best thing I've ever written. (The very few people who know about both names believe the same.)
You just can't cut marketing out of the equation. If Joe hadn't built the platform he had, he would have had to build it. We scream platform platform platform, and those rules haven't changed.
Marketing is god in such a competitive industry. If you build it, they won't come.
Joe is where he is because of his hard work. Period. But part of that was the 8 years (or more?) he spent building the platform he's got.
I think believing anything else diminishes the work he's done up til this point.
Um, I think what we have here is a failure to e-communicate.
I would have answered sooner, but I had to run off to a dental appointment.
While my gums were being gouged and probed, your thoughts hummed through the back of my mind. I hope this response will help clarify what I was saying.
First, I'd be the last person to minimize Joe's efforts and his awesome achievements. To say he's been a tireless marketer would be more than an understatement. In that regard, he's almost superhuman. (And I'm tempted to take out the "almost".)
Second, I'd be the last person (as well as a total hypocrite) to say that authors can "cut marketing out of the equation." I'd never take that position. (And, um, you have read my Mid-List Life blog, right? :))
Third, when it comes to building a platform, everything helps. It goes without saying (I thought :)) that Joe's efforts have helped him. The question I was addressing (and which Joe himself has raised -- check this post for links back to his thoughts on this) was whether these heroic efforts are necessary today. Building a platform under the industry's old rules was far more costly and labor-intensive than doing so under today's new rules.
None of this is intended to diminish or criticize Joe. He came up through the ranks the hard way. He deserves nothing but respect for doing so.
This brings me to the fourth point: the purpose of my post and why I put the link in the comments on Joe's blog (I assume that's where you found it).
Joe's maintained that self-pubbing in print isn't a good idea. Fair enough. He's entitled to his opinion. But this post is about the evolution in Joe's views about how to start a fiction writing career. (Please note the headline.)
So, is it not evidence of his further evolution that he's embracing the notion of publishing original work in POD?
Honestly, that was my only point. Joe's evolved and changed with today's new rules. (Rules, I might add, that have made it possible for you--and, to a lesser extent, myself--to enjoy great ebook sales without having to tour the entire country.)
Oh, BTW, while I was at the dentist, I left a sample first chapter of my novel with their office (so people waiting to see the dentist could read it). This led to a discussion with the dental hygienist, who bought a copy of my book. And my dentist took a few extra copies of the sample to give to some of her colleagues.
So, you see, I do believe in marketing. Non-stop.
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