One self-pub example

[Coragem]

Since I've been posting about self-pub lately, he's one example. A self-pub author I follow, and have chatted with a bit over DMs. He certainly gives the impression of having aced the process. Lots of reviews (including Kirkus) and online buzz.

Basically, he put in the initial investment. Or the way he describes it, he set up his own "publishing company". Professional covers, Audible narration, etc. He's giving his work the kind of love that it'd be unlikely to get from a big five publisher – even if the downside will, of course, be that he'll be missing trade/bookshop exposure. And handling it all himself will involve time and work.

Some of us may not see money as a priority, but regardless, whether T.A. Bruno is making any, I don't know. Maybe I'll ask?

DOWN BELOW BEYOND | Kirkus Reviews

Down Below Beyond, T.A. Bruno, Book Review, SFF, Science Fiction

 

[Brian G Turner]

The way I gauge an author's success is by looking at the number of reviews they get on Amazon.

Kirkus is just a paid-for-review service, a few hundred pounds at a time, last I looked. I'm not convinced they generate any interest or sales by themselves, or even by featuring this on your Amazon books page.

A lot of authors claim to be successful but seem to be following the mantra in marketing to "fake it until you make it".

Some authors have money to burn, and that's exactly what they do with little return for it. A proper business doesn't just invest, it generates profits, which are necessary for a business to be self-sustaining.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

My advice: don't look to others to define what success is. Look internally.

The big publishers give a lot of love to the books they want to promote. They invest a lot in titles and do larger print runs. The indie publishers give a lot of love to any books they take, and are passionate about their titles. The self publishers give love to their work and promote accordingly.

If you want mega sales and to be in book stores, you won't get that through self publishing. If you want control over the product and the choice of cover etc, the big publishers won't give you that. If you want to generate a good income, indie publishing is probably not your happy place.

If you want to look for successful authors, in all walks of life, first define what success looks like - to you.

I don't want to be a massive author with expectations on me from readers (apart from @nixie , of course, who keeps me focused in the direction of desired travel ), I don't want to spend hours building and managing a email list (which you will need to do, to make it as a self published author), but I do want the respect of *certain* peers. I get that through my model, with niche books, an established (small) readership, and a good reputation.

Define your own success. And then make it happen, if you can, and luck is with you. (it's all about luck)

 

[Coragem]

Define your own success. And then make it happen, if you can, and luck is with you. (it's all about luck)

Well that's the thing. We can define "success", but some of us may have to settle for whatever "success" happens to be available, or the success that luck and fate permit.

Honestly, I just love to write, and that's success. Beyond that, it would be pleasant to have few readers who really appreciated my work. But achieving that goal may well involve a trade off. Choose you poison. Marketing I'd honestly rather not be bothering with? Unwanted hassle with emailing lists? Keep rolling the dice with agents and publishers?

In my experience, there are people who will rave about every route to publishing, and people who will denegrate every route. Some claim to be bestsellers via self-pub, others are very cynical. I know one trad author who just loses it whenever anyone talks up self-pub and makes the slightest criticism of trad.

My feeling is that authors often want to justify their decisions and choices re. publishing to themselves. Part of the way they do that is by pushing their own route onto other people.