Welcome to December!
And now for the news.
Highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing:
While December is usually a slow news month in the world of publishing (both traditional and indie) as attention shifts to yearly book lists and awards nominations–as well as to busy personal lives as the holiday season reaches its frantic peak–we bring you this excellent article by way of ArtsHub, an Australia-based website dedicated to boosting the stories and voices of those in the arts, including the literary arts. The article, originally written for New Zealand’s The Big Idea by bestselling self-published author Steff Green under the title “Doing it for yourself,” might just be the most compelling rallying cry or self-publishing manifesto we’ve read this year. “In the beginning …” Green begins, “If you were an author who’d exhausted the options for having your book traditionally published, you only really had a few options left.” There were always a few small-scale operations that managed to just scrape by, but self-publishing only really took off as something attainable and sustainable with the rise of ebooks and dedicated e-readers (although we’ve largely moved beyond those, now, to reading on smartphones and regular tablets). And Green herself has benefited from those new opportunities. She writes:
I’ve been self-publishing my fiction since 2014. My first few fantasy books sold only a handful of copies every month, mainly because I didn’t know what I was doing. It wasn’t until I switched genres to paranormal romance and learned how to write for my readers that I started moving serious units. Now, I’m a bestselling author who gets to make up stories for a living, and it’s an amazing and humbling career.
With numerous books in her personal backlist and a more refined sense of what she wants to do next, Green’s experience serves as both a demonstration of what’s possible and an encouragement to keep choosing self-publishing over the traditional model; she crunches some of the numbers in this article, reminding readers that the royalties really are significantly better in the indie model. She also reminds readers that the world has changed, and for the better. “Self-publishing is no longer a dirty term,” she notes. “It’s a viable career option that’s giving back creative control to authors. To be successful, you have to know who your readers are, and give them more of what they want.” If you can do that more effectively through self-publishing, why not give it a try?
Green’s final words are also an invitation, and we can’t think of a better way to sign off today’s post than to repeat her words:
“Are you ready to join the self-publishing revolution?”
As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog each month to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.
Self Publishing Advisor 