In December of 2010 my wife gave me a Kindle for Christmas and I've been tracking the rising tide of self-publishing ever since. It happened fast and no one saw it coming, but with the dawning of digital a new medium was birthed.
Now dream has become reality for several authors who never gave up. Their work has found an audience in a world that until recently didn't even exist.
The following list represents a few names I've been tracking since I began my own personal journey. Their success and willingness to help others have proved inspirational.
First I stumbled on Joe Konrath's Blog shortly after getting my Kindle and found him to be a plethora of knowledge in the field of publishing. With a firm handle on the how to of marketing and promotion Joe quickly became one of Amazons top producers.
When I began reading his blog A Newbies Guide to Publishing he had already become somewhat of a prophetic voice for Indie writers. Like no one else he has an ability to read the landscape and identify the trends of whats happening in the industry.
Then I found John Hartness from Charlotte N.C. His his book, Returning the favor and other slices of life was the first book I downloaded to my Kindle. Follow this link to his Amazon page then scroll down and you will find he published over twenty titles in just over two years. His Bubba The Monster Killer stories are packed with southern humor and have a little redneck thrown in for good measure.
His Black Night series delves into the darker side with two Vampires who've partnered with a priest and go about trying to rid the world of evil. John took a year off from his day job and committed to the writing gig. Today he continues to write and offers writing services such as editing, formatting and proof reading. I took a class he offered in Charlotte,N.C. and am looking forward to the next one. I've found him to be a great guy who has a heart for people and connects with his followers.
I soon leaned Amanda Hocking was the first to earn over a million dollars with her Paranormal Romance series when she caught the eye of a main street publisher and signed a deal worth over seven figures.
Then John Locke dialed things up a notch when he sold over a million digital books with Amazon in less than six months and turned down a few offers form the Big 6. He preferred to retain control of his work and opted to remain independent.
With the success of Wool I'm beginning to wonder if we've now entered into a second generation of Indie authors who are ringing the bell and inviting others to the dance.
I recently stated on my website that Hugh has pushed the possibilities through the stratosphere. He published WOOL just over a year ago and is knocking down over $100.000.00 dollars a month in personal income off combined sells.
His deal with Simon and Schuster seems to have been a serious game changer. When a card carrying member of the Big 6 allows an author to retain the digital rights it becomes obvious that a major shake up has taken place.
In just two short years I've watched the tide of Self-Publishing continually rise as new voices come to the table and more readers adopt to digital. We're still early in the game and so much has morphed it leaves me wondering whats coming next. No one knows...but two things are for sure: digital is here to stay and Indies are in a good position.
www.camdockery.com
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