Self-publishing is 7% of book sales worldwide

Wow!

From Publisher's Weekly: BEA 2011: New Kobo and Other Points Rise Up at IDPF

Barry Eisler says no to 500,000 book deal

Barry Eisler is a NYT bestselling author who was offered a 500,000 book deal. Eisler decided that he could make more money publishing the book himself and so turned the offer down. Wow! I don't think many people could do that, say no to half a million dollars.

Links:
- Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler discuss Eisler's decision

Canadian Heritage and the Legal Deposit

Usually I blog about issues related, however tangentially, to writing and keep my personal life out of it but, today, the two have combined. 

"What is so special about today?" you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Today I got an ISBN number for my book, The Sandman. What I didn't know when I applied for the ISBN number is that every publication in Canada—I guess any publication that's assigned an ISBN number—has to be submitted to Archives Canada for inclusion in a vast archive to "collect and preserve the nation's published heritage."

I think it is incredibly cool that my book—which is a retelling of a story my father told to me—is considered part of Canada's heritage.  I know, I know, it really isn't that big of a deal, but for some reason I'm thrilled by it.

So, there it is, that's my blog for the day. :)

Amanda Hocking's Story

Amanda writes:

Switched - the book that was last rejected in February because there wasn't a market for it - has sold 13,555 copies at Amazon, 9929 copies at Barnes & Noble, and 314 paperbacks in December alone. 

For anyone unfamiliar with Amanda Hocking's story -- or anyone who is -- this is a great blog post.

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Brian S. Pratt: The Energizer Bunny of Self Publishing

Brian Pratt is projected to earn over 100,000 dollars next year at Smashwords and, when his Amazon sales are included, over 200,000 dollars overall. Here's a link to the blog post.

Almost as interesting as his amazing financial success is the story of his adventures in self-publishing.

[MC] You joined Smashwords March 27, 2009 10:26pm (I checked!). Can you take us back to that moment in time, and recall what was going through your mind

[BSP] Let's see. I was a single dad living with three kids and boy, was I poor (under the poverty level). Up until then, I hadn't really thought much about eBooks. I tried Mobipocket for a while and had great sales for three months, then it died off. Sales for my paperbacks, which I had published through iUniverse had fallen off dramatically. Where I had been breaking 4 figures a quarter, I was now less than 600 per quarter and bleeding red. I typed in "self publishing" and saw a quirky little site called Smashwords. It said, Your eBook, Your way. Didn't cost a thing so what did I have to lose? First quarter sales at Smashwords were dismal, 2009-04-07 — $7.92 As it happened, April 7th is my birthday. That was cool. But I wasn't deterred. Books were selling. Sometimes, one or two a week, but they sold. I stayed with it and refused to allow all the naysayers (and there were those by the droves) to stifle my dream. Sales gradually improved and, well, here we are. Can't give up on your dream, EVER!

Below are a few helpful links Brian listed.  For a complete list: Helpful Info for the Self-Publisher.

obooko: Free ebooks and free publishing.
Project Wonderful: Advertising for even a small budget.
FanStory: Share your writing and get helpful feedback.

Also, can't forget Brian's website which has a lot of useful info.

Picture of the day:

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