Superstars of Self-Publishing Meet with Good e-Reader at BookExpo

GoodEReader had meetings with a number of well-known authors at last week’s BookExpo America event, such as CJ Lyons and Stephanie Bone, but one thing about these authors makes them standouts: their success. By standard definitions from the traditional publishing model, these authors would by all rights be considered bestselling, successful authors. But by the age-old preconceived notions about self-publishing, the audience reach and book sales from authors Hugh Howey, Bella Andre, Barbara Freethy would be considered nothing short of amazing. Both Andre and Howey were the first of what will hopefully be a long line of authors who made the semi-transition to traditional publishing. Other authors, like Amanda Hocking, gained notoriety for leaving a lucrative self-publishing career to become a traditionally published author, but Andre was the first to receive a substantial advance from a well-known major publisher for her existing titles; Howey was quickly able to follow suit. Both of these authors will retain the ebook and foreign language rights to their work, but were given an advance on the print-only rights to books that they had already published. Howey talked about the clamoring of the readers for new content, where fans will reach out to these authors immediately asking for updates. “We have this rapport between reader and writer, which is one of the best things to come out of this revolution. They know they can say, ‘When’s the next one coming out?’” Howey said. “We can write fast enough for these readers, so I recommend other reads from the authors that I love. I’ve just never felt like it’s a competition.” Howey mentioned that the real competition in the publishing industry is not between authors or genres, but with other forms of entertainment. Reading has to become an integral part of the audiences’ lives in order to hold their interest when there are so many other sources of entertainment vying for their attention. Freethy, who just passed the three million paid sales mark for her romance titles, is about to release the next title in series next month. Andre has sold more than 1.5 million paid downloads of her ebooks and her print titles have already been released, but her newest title will be released later this month and will be released simultaneously as ebook and print. All three of the authors had an interesting take on how their publishing journey has not forced them into a genre. Howey has a young adult title coming and has been working on a romance novel, while Freethy has incorporated elements of paranormal into her work. “I know my readers and I know what they want,” explained Freethy. “My fan base is still going to like it because it’s still my voice and it’s still my story. My readers are going to come along with me and I don’t have to be pigeon-holed into any kind of category, or what’s hot, or what’s selling now. It’s just going to be the latest Barbara Freethy book.” “I agree,” said Andre. “The amazing thing about indie publishing or self-publishing is you can connect with your readers and you can definitely write the kind of books that they want, but you can also branch out and try something new. Give it a whirl. You have to prioritize, but it’s exciting to know that I can reach readers directly.” Superstars of Self-Publishing Meet with Good e-Reader at BookExpo is a post from: E-Reader News

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