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The Gold Rush Of Self-Publishing: 2011-2015

In 2011, Amanda Hocking made international headlines as a multimillionaire self-publishing success story. She was a 27-year-old working at a group home in Minnesota, and in her spare time, she wrote a series of love stories starring vampires, trolls, and faeries. These were short novels, more like novella length, and she sold each ebook for $0.99, $1.99, or $2.99 on Amazon.

It turned out there was an underserved niche of readers hungry for such stories. Most of the similar ebooks offered by Big Six publishers were more expensive, and maybe not quite so gripping. In any case, Hocking sold millions of copies. She quit her job to write full time, signed a movie deal, and signed a contract with an imprint of MacMillan.

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I'm not sure if Hocking was the first multimillionaire indie author, but she was the first to be heavily publicized. I read the news stories about her and thought, "I would love to try what she's doing. Why don't I do that?"

My justification for holding back was the same reason shared by many writers: A legal precedent set by the traditional publishing industry. Traditional publishers want original fiction. They specifically buy First World English Rights and First World Electronic Rights. That is what the contract entails. Few publishers are open to buying reprints.  

According to their reasoning, fiction which was previously available to the public is like a gift with the wrapping ripped open. If it failed to sell a whole lot of copies, then it flopped. It Is damaged goods. No one wants it, except perhaps a few niche, small press publishers. A best-selling indie author sensation will be granted an exception, but in almost all cases, self-published novels get rejected by literary agents and major publishers.  

First Rights remain a stumbling block for many authors who are unsure whether to go indie or trad pub. If you want your novel to have the benefits of being with the Big Five, then it is often a fatal mistake to self-publish that novel.  

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In 2012, I had four completed novels. That sounds like a lot, but two were sequels, and one was a trunk story, which, in industry lingo, means it was figuratively in a trunk. I had given up on trying to sell it. I felt it needed a full rewrite. So really, I had one novel to sell. One precious novel. I had a ton of beta readers who loved it, and I felt confident that it was fresh and innovative. Surely the Big Six would want it, right?

While I queried literary agents and attended writing conventions, trying to push my hopes and dreams through towering slush piles, there were other authors who were more adventurous, or who had given up on traditional publishing. They wrote in all genres. Some wrote terrible novels. Some wrote original, innovative fiction that struck a chord with readers. Some self-published one short story anthology, or a poetry collection, and then quit. They were done. Others wrote many novels, and began to cultivate an income stream.

The financially successful ones quit their day jobs. They posted on social media and in writing groups about how much money they were raking in on a monthly basis, in part because they could hardly believe it themselves. Most chronic authors dream of writing full-time. These new indie authors were living the dream.

I saw one paranormal romance author candidly reveal, in a private forum, that she was netting over $100,000 per month. That's right. You read that right. More than $100,000 USD per month. She had revenue stream break-downs and spreadsheets to show which of her books were earning the most, and from which retailers (Amazon was the major one, of course). She was so gleeful. So very, very happy.

I met a historical fiction author who had gotten rejected by the Big Six, and was now earning more than $80,000 per year on Amazon and Audible. I enjoyed his books. I met someone who self-published superhero fiction, and was showing up in all sorts of fan lists on Goodreads, alongside Big Six authors. I enjoyed a hard sci-fi book about A.I. that went viral throughout Silicon Valley, landing that self-published author major speaking gigs in the tech industry.