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We have all heard the stories of the mega-successful indie authors who earn hundreds of thousands per month and who get most of the mainstream press on self-publishing.
But there are also a lot of indies quietly making a very good living at this game and today I am really excited to introduce you to one of them.
Lindsay Buroker is the author of The Emperor's Edge fantasy series as well as the Flashgold series and a number of stand alone books in the fantasy and steam-punk genres.
Lindsay is also a full-time indie author as well as a prolific blogger.
- Lindsay wrote for a number of years before she decided to get serious about it. She dreaded the agent process and indeed many agents had on their sites: don't send that fantasy novel/ George RR Martin book-a-like. Then Lindsay found Joe Konrath's blog and bought her first Kindle. She decided to self-publish and started in Dec 2010.
On writing and marketing
- After a number of books published in the Emperor's Edge series, Lindsay was contacted by an editor from Amazon's 47North publishing arm. They loved the books but also noticed Lindsay's platform. Her books were in the Top 100 in epic fantasy so they were selling consistently. She decided against going with Amazon because the books would have been exclusive to Amazon in ebook. That was a deal-killer as she wanted to ensure readers on all platforms could get the books. She is open to a traditional publishing deal but she is really happy with how it's going.
- Lindsay is writing full-time and making a decent living from her novels and there is a risk in moving to traditional publishing and losing some of that income. [I know that feeling as I have signed with an agent, so am holding back my third ARKANE novel to see if I get a publishing deal – although it could be out there earning money for me right now. I'm still conflicted about this!]
- On the change in fantasy and how it has become more mainstream. George RR Martin made the Forbes richest author list this year, as well as JK Rowling and Stephenie Meyer (urban fantasy).
- Becoming a full-time author has been a slow and steady process for Lindsay. She was a full-time blogger and affiliate marketer before so she knows the importance of the mailing list and growing that over time. If you don't have your own mailing list, you MUST start one! When Lindsay has a new book out, she sends an email out and that will send you up the charts if all your fans buy at once. This is a must-have secret weapon that many serious authors use. Lindsay also connects with people on her blog, twitter etc and builds her community from the back of her books. So make sure you invite people to sign up for your newsletter at the back of your book.
- The first book will always be hard to sell. You have to hustle and hand-sell to the first 1000 people. At that point, the Amazon algorithms start to pick you up. Then if the readers have enjoyed the book and signed up for your list, the numbers will improve. You can build a career if you keep putting out stories that people enjoy and slowly build a fanbase.
Amazon algorithms and pricing
- Going back 18 months, the 99c price point differentiated indies and it was how John Locke, Amanda Hocking, Joe Konrath etc started. But now it seems that Amazon are weighting the algorithm so 99c books are somehow worth less than books over $2.99 and those are in turn less than books at $7.99. You can still do well with a 99c book but you need to sell a lot more books than the original indie authors did. Nothing is certain but it seems the 99c price point might be over. [I certainly changed my prices to $2.99 after the algorithm change.] Indies have had this pricing advantage but now it seems that is over, although low prices are still important for selling in markets outside the US and UK.
- Lindsay now uses free and higher prices, so the first book in the Emperor's Edge book is free and the rest are $4.95. This makes it easier to promote as it's not a push marketing technique. You can do this by loading the book on Smashwords and setting it to free there and Amazon will price match at some point. Fantasy authors with lots in the series can definitely benefit from this pricing mechanism. This still leaves Lindsay making over $3 per book sold on multiple books selling hundreds of copies each, hence a full-time income, but it is still value to the reader. It adds up to $5000 – $10,000 per month. This is not rocket science!
The secret to making a full-time living as an indie author
- This is the secret. Put out great books and build your audience slowly and you can make it. Patience is required though! I mention my interview with Donald Maass a while back and he talked about an author needing 3-5 books before making a good living and the same is true for indies. Lindsay tries to write a book every 6 months but also puts out a shorter work in between to keep the income boosted. I congratulate Lindsay as there is now a fan-fic site for her books, twitter accounts started for her characters and a real community around them. I think this is a huge mark of success for any author!
International ebook sales
- Amazon recently announced their expansion into India for Kindle opening up the KDP back end to Indian authors as well as our books to the Indian market. Smashwords is popular with international readers because of the lower prices. Indie authors have an advantage here as we can move faster into these new markets and keep our prices low, therefore affordable in those markets.
- We talk about the other platforms and how sales compare across them all. Lindsay, like most indies, makes most money from Amazon. Her sales did jump after the first one in the series was free. There are new companies springing up every day now, but we still advocate going as direct as possible. Amazon KDP, Nook, Kobo and then Smashwords/BookBaby. Watch out for prices at these new companies as they are springing up everywhere. You can still do it yourself! Be wary in this crazy, fast-moving market.
- Lindsay mentions Podiobooks which is a place to download serialized ebooks. It seems to work if the first in a series is podcast this way. Lindsay did pay for a narrator. She has also tried a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs. Lindsay mentions Nathan Lowell who built his fanbase entirely on Podiobooks. It's another way to stand out and there is less competition in the audio market. Check out the interviews with Scott Sigler, Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine re podcasting fiction if you want more. We also mention ACX, an audio production company that is currently only for Americans.
Check out Lindsay's books starting with the free Emperor's Edge Book 1, the A-team of steam – on LindsayBuroker.com and on twitter @GoblinWriter
Very helpful and encouraging! Writing is only the beginning, then the real work begins. Just because ROOM FOUR is my baby doesn’t mean the world will open their wallet to read about my favorite grumpy old man and his neurotic begrudging friend. Thank you for the concrete advice and a great blog.
Thanks for listening, AJ! Good luck with the book! 🙂
I am not near to the publishing point, however this gives me great food for thought on going forward and a process/plan to follow when I do. The advice and glimpse of the behind-the-scene works are so helpful!
I’m the same as Amy, no where near there yet, but I really appreciate this post and the length of time it took. I’m also curious about the series, but very interested in her process. Thanks for the encouraging post.
Thanks for listening, Heather! I think the hardest book to finish (and love) is the first. 🙂
Linsday Buroker AND Joanna Penn in one post? Doesn’t get better than that. Love the realistic, yet positive perspective. I’m tired of folks putting down indie authors, accusing us of trying to “get rick quick.” But many of us are in it for the long haul. Thanks for showing us that–and how–it can be done!
Get rich quick–you only have to write ten books first! 😛 Thanks for listening and commenting, Ilana. I think the “in it for the long haul” attitude is really the best one, and then if you have a big hit along the way, it’s just icing on the cake. 🙂
Thanks to both of you for doing the interview! I’ve followed Lindsay awhile but I still learned some new things.
🙂 this video gives me such encourage to get my own books out every six months or less ! I’m in college right now, work part time and a full time blogger so I know how precise time can be but I still want to work hard and build up a good list of novels.
Thanks for the post, ladies.
Good luck, Shaquanda! It’s definitely tough to find time to write sometimes, but I do have friends who manage to be fairly prolific despite having kids and full-time jobs. There’s a secret out there somewhere, I’m sure. 😉
Another Lindsay follower here. I’m currently getting a book on podiobooks because of Lindsay’s encouragement and example. A whole new learning experience. Great post, ladies!
Great interview with Lindsay. I follow her blog religiously, and she’s given many gems over the months as to how to reach my own indie author goals 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Geoff
Great interview. I stumbled across Lindsay’s books on Amazon while looking for steampunk titles. I’m reading the Flash Gold series now. I featured the first book in the series on my blog and highly recommend them.
Thanks for popping over to listen, Jeff! And I definitely appreciate the book-reviewing support. 🙂
Thanks for the great advice. I’m still not sure whether or not to e-publish when I finish my book, but this was really helpful.
Another inspirational post Joanna. As someone about to go Indie for the first time I have the same feeling about managing all the marketing and promotional stuff I need to do – that you make sound so easy – as I would about swimming the Atlantic Ocean with my arms tied! 🙂
Very inspirational stuff. It is so easy to get pulled into the marketing and forget to write but I think the key is to keep writing. I found that my third book was the most succesful and since then every book has been a little more so. You build a brand by having titles out there and the more you have the easier you are to find.
M. W. Rowe
Great post! Inspiring and useful, thank you both. I’ve just started drafting the first episode of a serial fiction project, and I’m wondering how often I should plan to publish. I’d thought of doing an episode a quarter, but worry that that’s too slow. (Someone publishing thriller fiction had recommended 16,000 words per episode, if that makes a difference.) I don’t want to be lazy, but also don’t want to rush the work. Any input appreciated!
This goes back to every author being in a different position and having to make different choices. No one path is the “right” path. The one thing that I think is an absolute is you need content, and more of it. I plan on putting out 6 new titles this year, but I also work with my wife who is a story pusher, so that helps a lot.
As far as “free” I think it’s losing its allure as the market becomes saturated. Amazon has definitely changed its algorithms on it also.
I’ve tried higher and lower prices, then I decided to mimic the people who know the market best: Amazon’s imprints. So all books are between $2.99 and $4.99. I run .99 specials sometimes.
I went with 47North with some books, but with over 50 titles, I can afford to diversify. I view it as a long term investment. After 20 years in trad publishing I can definitely say that the attitude at Amazon is refreshing. They actually seem to care about selling books.
One area I think will grow is serials, so I’m looking into that now.
I wish I could write full-time, but I can’t yet. Everything is going faster now, and the game keeps changing, so you need to try different things to stay in the game. I’ve tried different pricing, but with Amazon being the big dog, that’s the game to play.
I had some great success with KDP in 2012 and have seen the sales diminish with changing algorithms. But, it is still the game. I just came off a 3 day Free run and reached #1 Free Kindle ebook for almost 2 days. Part of it is about what sales it will drive, part of it is about increasing visibility. Getting my book on more readers’ shelves will help me in the future.
2012 was my year of expanding my one title from ebook to paper, audio and Spanish. Like Bob Mayer’s post before me, I believe that content is key. It’s easier to sell a second book to a fan than it is to sell the first book to a new reader.
2013 is my year of writing with a second book in a series coming out, a couple of spin-off novellas planned, and as Bob noted, I think serials will grow too, so I’m pursuing that as well.
Thanks for your platform Joanna and all the great info you and your guests share!