Self-publisher Sells 1 Million Kindle Books–Now What?
Posted On June 30, 2011
Follow the link below to Mike Shatzkin’s blog about John Locke’s options after being the first self-publisher to sell one million Kindle books. The debate in the commentary between Shatzkin and Joe Konrath, another astonishingly successful self-publisher of fiction, is worth a read by anyone interested in the future of the publishing industry.
About The Author
Larry Kahn
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Do you remember when I worked in the sales department at BDD? It was the remainder sales part of the sales dept…I saw what happened to lesser known authors (everyone other than John Grisham and Danielle Steele) most inventory remained, and they were all remaindered, selling for $1.00 or so per copy, some for $.50. This article does the math in the best scenario possible. But reality is the "inconvenience" of the print book for those who are Kindling, and the price, are all factors of why he might not be better off with a print publisher. I had many MANY authors calling me complaining that the publisher did nothing to sell their books, of course not, when they were putting 90% of their efforts, and marketing dollars, into John Grisham and Danielle Steele….I am not so sure I agree with this article. My friend who worked at HC just got laid off, that sinking ship is sinking faster and more furious than one could even imagine.
We'll mark you down as in the Konrath camp then. One of my main concerns about self-publishing has been that without the legacy publishers as gatekeepers, it will be difficult for readers to find quality material. But as I research the market, I'm discovering that a new set of gatekeepers is emerging. There are dozens of new book blogs that are eager to review indie books. I'm still learning how to find them, but a good start is the Book Blogger Directory. http://bookbloggerdirectory.wordpress.com/
With the market creating new opportunities for authors, and the legacy publishers refusing to compete on price, you may be right–the ship may sink faster than the captains think.