In his keynote speech Saturday at uPublishU, former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki talked about his personal journey from traditionally published writer to indie author. He also provided 10 great self-publishing tips to the packed house (although, personally, I believe #10 – “Never give up” – should be #1!). Kawasaki is a prolific author of 12 book, including APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book.
In the Publishers Weekly article, he talks about the pros and cons of self-publishing:
On the pro side, Kawasaki cited editorial, sales, and marketing control, quicker time to market, and increased royalties. “APE sells for $9.99 as a Kindle e-book and we make $7,” he said. “And that is remarkable. That is like four times traditionally published…These are good numbers.” The drawbacks, Kawasaki said, include no advance, increased responsibility for all aspects of the publishing process, and loneliness.
You can read the whole article HERE.
You can pick up a copy of APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur from Amazon HERE.
Michael Crichton, who passed away in 2008 at the age of 66, wrote a number of books under pen names while studying at Harvard Medical School back in the sixties. While a student, he wrote eight books as “John Lange,” one as “Jeffery Hudson,” and he co-wrote another with his brother Michael as “Michael Douglas.” The guy had the enviable ability to write 10,000 words a day, and because of that, he needed multiple pen names.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Stephen King’s new novel won’t be released as an ebook.
I’ve read a press release for a new Memphis, TN based self-publishing service with a unique ‘crowd-driven’ pricing model, and read through all of the information on their website. I have not, as yet, used this service. It sounds interesting, and it is a sales model that could be beneficial to both authors AND readers.
According to Digital Book World, eBooks pushed the total net book sales over $27.1 billion for 2012. eBooks were 20% of trade publishing net sales for 2012, beating the 2011 eBooks sales figure (15%) handsomely.