Craig Martelle
I submit that there has never been a better time to be a writer. We have to highlight the change in the publishing landscape and the advances in opportunity between 2009 and 2017—most notably the windfalls that came with public acceptance of e-books and the viability of self-publishing thanks to Amazon.
Traditional publishers had their methodologies for selecting authors to reward with contracts and advance royalties. Many good authors were pushed aside because their stories didn’t fit with what a publisher was selling. That makes sense. Who wants a product they don’t think they can sell? But that barrier to entry has been removed. Some may contend that bad books predominate on Amazon, as there is no gatekeeper to keep them out.
Is that what the twelve publishers are saying who rejected Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone?
I suggest that the greatest arbiter of a good book is the reader. Bad books will fall by the wayside. Good books will see the light of day, but only if the readers consider them good. The challenge is how to find those readers, and self-published authors are exploring innovative ways to contact and expand their readership.
Who am I to make these claims? I run a group with over 75,000 self-published authors. We share best business practices. We share successes. We don’t promote to one another; our fellow authors are not our target audience. Readers are. They are varied and sometimes elusive, but they’re out there. I wouldn’t have been able to sell a million books without the knowledge I’ve learned in that group. And I’m still learning something new every day. This business isn’t static. It’s constantly evolving.
What we have now are ways for authors to improve: to get feedback, rewrite, and try again. We have extensive market experience to advertise to a narrower audience, specifically those who could like our books. You’ll find that some of us have reader numbers that any traditional publisher would envy. Self-published authors—“indies,” as we call ourselves—are shoulder to shoulder as we learn how to sell to the reading public.
The self-publication model is far different and more appealing to today’s audience. Our e-books aren’t priced to make physical books more attractive. Self-published authors can price an e-book at $5, and pocket $3.75 from the sale.
Marketing is more challenging now than it was just two years ago, but groups like 20BooksTo50k® and Successful Indie Author break down the walls to understanding. It is easier now than ever before to learn what you need to know when you need to know it. Being an author is a lonely business, but we don’t have to be alone. It is not a zero-sum game. One reader can read more books than we can write, and they will read the books they like, no matter who published them.
Most of the full-time authors I know, including me, are making a full-time living, many reaching seven figures a year. There’s never been a better time.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Craig Martelle