Self-Publishing: A New Gateway to being a Successful Author

M. Louisa Locke (This is from a talk given in January 2012)

I.  Introduction:

M. Louisa Locke, author

Maids of Misfortune: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery

Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery

Author website: http://mlouisalocke.com/

Author Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/mlouisalockeauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/mlouisalocke

Historical Fiction eBooks: http://historicalfictionauthors.com/

II. Before the Self-Publishing Revolution:

Traditional Publishing in the 20^th Century:

http://www.idealog.com/blog/ebooks-are-making-me-recall-the-history-of-mass-market-publishing

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/49398-whither-the-midlist-publisher-.html

http://www.salon.com/2004/03/22/midlist/

Vanity or Subsidy Publishers:

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2011/11/26/the-skinny-on-self-publishing-companies-is-it-the-best-optio.html

III. Innovations that have changed self-publishing:

Ereaders and ebook growth:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/story/2012-01-09/ebooks-sales-surge/52458672/1

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/01/bisg-data-readers-embracing-ereading-angela-bole-toc.html

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/mass-market-paperback-sales-down-54_b43204

http://joan-druett.blogspot.com/2012/01/ebook-sales-rocket-in-uk.html

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/david-baldacci-amanda-hocking-and-stephenie-meyer-join-the-kindle-million-club-2011-11-09/

https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin

http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home

http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/

Print on Demand:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903703604576586801297883930.html

https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/

http://www.lulu.com/

Eretailers:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/booksale.htm

http://seekingalpha.com/article/250507-amazon-positioned-for-50-overall-market-share-by-end-of-2012

http://www.ehow.com/list_6138016_advantages-online-bookstore.html

IV. Advantages for self-publishers of ebook and POD publishing and eretailers:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/24/self-publishing

http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/are-publishing-gatekeepers-still-necessary/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2010/06/04/establishing-a-brand/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2011/05/21/ebook-publishing-and-the-great-price-debate-my-numbers-tell-an-interesting-story/

http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2011/12/10-reasons-why-i-am-self-publishing.html

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=6481

V. New Gateways to Success for self-published authors now include:

Opportunities to have your work read by others:

http://www.scribd.com/

http://www.authonomy.com/

http://bookcountry.com/

Ability to supplement your day job:

http://marianperera.blogspot.com/

http://www.megnorth.com/how-to-write-a-novel-in-three-months-with-a-full-time-job-and-without-killing-yourself/

http://ghostplanestory.blogspot.com/2012/01/indie-chick-suzanne-tyrpak.html

Achieving bestseller status:

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/0110/10-self-published-novelists-who-made-it-big-in-2011/Nancy-C.-Johnson

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/story/2011-12-14/self-published-authors-ebooks/51851058/1

http://www.idealog.com/blog/john-locke-and-ss-show-us-another-kind-of-deal-we-can-expect-to-see-again

http://kevinomclaughlin.com/2012/01/14/update-to-indie-bestsellers-and-kdp-select/

Getting a traditional contract:

http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2010/03/11/how-self-publishing-can-lead-to-a-real-book-deal/

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/digitization-new-technology/self-publishing-online-publishing-will-not-ruin-your-chances-at-a-traditional-deal

http://publishing.about.com/od/SelfPublishingAndVanityPresses/a/Self-Publishing-Success-Story-E-Book-Author-Amanda-Hocking.htm

http://www.idealog.com/blog/john-locke-and-ss-show-us-another-kind-of-deal-we-can-expect-to-see-again

Selling your backlist books:

http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/e-books-wag-the-long-backlist-tail/

http://www.backlistebooks.com/

http://patricia-ryan.com/

Combining traditional and self-publishing careers

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/07/hybrid-writer-balancing-traditional-self-publishing/

http://books.usatoday.com/happyeverafter/post/2011-10-19/best-selling-author-nina-bruhns-gets-frank-about-e-book-self-publishing/555300/1

Earning a living:

http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/06/self-published-ebook-authors-earn-living/

http://selfpubauthors.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/making-a-living-writing-fiction/

http://catherineryanhoward.com/2011/02/28/making-a-living-as-a-writer-in-the-21st-century/

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=6208

My success:

http://mlouisalocke.com/2011/03/16/getting-past-the-sally-field-moment-personal-reflections-on-selling-over-10000-copies-of-maids-of-misfortune/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2011/03/01/numbers-numbers-numbers-to-an-indie-author-what-do-they-mean/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2011/12/21/my-second-year-as-an-indie-author-even-sweeter-success/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2011/10/24/categories-key-words-and-tags-oh-my-why-should-an-author-care/

http://mlouisalocke.com/2012/01/08/kdp-select-free-promotion-discoverability-experiment-part-two/