Amanda Hocking (blog | Amazon Page) is from Minnesota, she is 26, self published and … sold 900,000 copies of her books (and no, she doesn’t have a reality TV show).
While I usually don’t read the paranormal genre I have to admire what Ms. Hocking has achieved and, what I believe to be, a big trend which I hope will continue. That trend is that us, book consumers, will decide who will be the next best seller, not some marketing guru sitting in an ivory tower high above Times Square negotiation for shelf space in a book store.
Is traditional publishing dead?
Not by a long shot but the way business is done certainly has to be looked at (hint: pricing eBooks the same as print books is not the way to go). Ms. Hocking’s books sell anywhere from $0.99 to $3 and her fans happily buy more and more. She isn’t trying to compete with the big guys who can alienate more readers, quite the opposite – Ms. Hocking sells the products her customers want to buy.
Innovative? Maybe for those executives who want customers to buy what they sell them.
While Ms. Hocking’s story certainly is the exception, not the rule, I certainly think it’s worthy of attention – even from some middle aged, boring, bald guy from New Jersey.
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Very cool story and it's great to read the alternative methods authors are utilizing to get their work out there. I don't mind the occasional paranormal book, so I may need to download one of her stories to my Nook. Just at an initial glance on Barnes & Noble, she has quite a number of positive reviews and an obvious loyal fan base, so I'm encouraged to see that, and hope she continues her success!
This is wonderful! I am so happy for her. Being self-published myself I know how hard it is to market and sell your own book.
I love this story - I have been trying to get my first novel written for years but never got there, this gives me hope that anybody can still do it.
I have a friend that has written a few journals and novels and he uses lulu.com who can provide eBook and print on order self publishing services.
I take my hat off to Amanda - well done
Wow! Very inspiring!
This proves that mainstream publishing houses definitely can't always tell talent and/or popularity. If you are a writer, and you have the dream, keep doing what you're doing.