OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
Today I interview David Gaughran, author and outspoken commentator on all things indie.
This book is one of the reasons I decided NOT to write my own book about how to self-publish. When it is done so well by a fantastic author, why reinvent the wheel! I highly recommend grabbing a copy and even if you know what you're doing as an indie, you'll certainly learn something from the interviews in the last section.
What are some of the big changes in the publishing industry between the two editions of your book?
That was probably the most interesting part of writing this new edition, charting all the changes. It’s only when you take a step back that you realize how much has happened in the last three years. A lot of what was theory in 2011 has become fact.
Self-publishing has gone mainstream, with indies grabbing around 25% of the US e-book market – from scratch! Borders has gone out of business, taking its 600+ stores out of existence (and costing 12,000 people their jobs). Publishers are merging to try to weather the storm, but they still haven’t become that much smarter about how they approach e-books, digital marketing, or this thing the kids are calling “the internet.”
For self-publishers, the amount of change has been equally breathtaking.
When I wrote the first edition, selling 1,000 books in a month was a big deal. A really big deal actually. But now you can sell that much in a day with a BookBub ad. Authors tend to focus on how much competition has increased (there are 3 million books in the Kindle Store today versus maybe 1 million in 2011), but they forget to factor in how much the digital market has swelled and that we now have much more sophisticated tools to reach readers.
On top of that, self-publishers are constantly innovating and sharing. While I’m glad I started when I did, I wouldn’t be afraid of starting today or thinking that I’d missed the boat. Not at all. I think we’re still at the beginning of this revolution that’s reshaping our industry.
How has the public perception of self-publishing changed, and are we past the ‘stigma' label?
I’m skeptical about how much that stigma ever existed among the people that really count: readers. It definitely existed in the industry – among agents, editors, and traditionally published authors – and still does in certain quarters. But, really, that’s their problem. It doesn’t affect me reaching readers, building an audience, and selling books.
I think most agents and publishers are very open to signing indie authors. Out of those that aren’t, ask yourself this: do you really want to do business with someone with such an outdated view of the marketplace?
The market does feel like shark-infested waters these days with so many companies out to take money from authors.
How can people tell the difference between good and bad services? What should they definitely NOT spend their money on?
It's pretty tough because a lot of these scammers are so slick. What I would say to authors, especially those starting out, is that there are no shortcuts, and that goes for publishing books as well as selling them.
If someone is offering you an easy way to publish, or simple trick for selling more books, you should be automatically skeptical. Lottery winners aside, success usually requires hard work. If someone claims to be an expert who can put together a social media campaign that will lead to hundreds or thousands of sales, be automatically skeptical.
If a company offers you a hassle-free way of publishing your book, where they will take care of everything, be automatically skeptical. And if the company is owned by a traditional publisher, be very skeptical.
The biggest predator out there is a company called Author Solutions, which is currently subject to a major class action in the US for deceptive business practices. I've been campaigning against the company for a few years now, but this post is a good place to start if you don't know much about them.
The saddest thing is that Author Solutions is owned by Penguin Random House – which has done nothing to clean up those predatory practices since buying the company for $116m in July 2012. So when I hear publishers talking about re-imagining the industry, placing the author at the center, and treating writers as true partners, I always think to myself: talk is cheap.
Scammers aside, I go into some depth in Let’s Get Digital about what authors should do and not do in terms of marketing (and that goes for the time you spend, as well as money), but you can get the basics of the approach I suggest in this post.
You have a load of success stories in the book and what's encouraging is that it includes people who are NOT ‘big indie names.'
What are some of the common threads you see between these authors & how can people model their success?
I’m glad you liked that because I was doing something very deliberate with that section. The media tends to focus on the very biggest sellers: Bella Andre, Hugh Howey, HM Ward etc.
But this revolution is far deeper and wider than that. I think the real story is the hundreds and thousands of authors who maybe aren’t selling millions of books, but are making a living off this for the very first time, or paying their mortgage with royalties for the first time, all thanks to self-publishing.
I tried to select a range of authors from different backgrounds and genres, and with different paths to success. You have people like Bob Mayer who had millions of books in print when he was traditionally published, but his experience turned sour and he decided to self-publish and became a huge success (again) – with those very same books that publishers said were finished.
At the other end of the scale you have someone like UK author Mel Comley who never had a traditional deal, decided to self-publish in 2010, and took six months to make her first $100 on Amazon. Today, Mel has sold hundreds of thousands of books and is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, and she did that all on her own. I wanted to show there are multiple paths to success and each story is quite different, and I hope the overall effect is inspiring.
Authors are always looking for magic bullets, but here’s the real secret.
All of these writers decided to pick themselves instead of waiting to be picked.
They were all determined enough to keep at it until they were a success. And they all worked bloody hard at it too. You need a bit of luck, but you need to put yourself in a position to get lucky by honing your craft, putting your work out there, and being smart about how you reach readers. And you need to hang in there and keep at it. Again: there are no shortcuts, but success truly is attainable.
It’s not easy, but it is much more of a possibility than it ever was before. In other words, it’s down to you.
To celebrate the launch, he’s also running a sale on the companion book Let’s Get Visible: How To Get Noticed And Sell More Books which you can grab for the reduced price of 99c/79p.
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1 2 Next »Thank you for interviewing me, Joanna.
One thing I should have mentioned: If you have bought the old edition of Let's Get Digital, you can get the new, updated and expanded edition FREE, by following these instructions: http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/lets-get-digital-2-is-out/
If you bought the old version from Amazon you won't actually be able to buy the new one, but need to follow those instructions (everything explained in that post!).
This article was helpful. I'm sure things are different from a 16yr old perspective since self publishing seems the first route to go when you are my age! I will say there is plenty to learn!
Thanks Becca - and yes, I think the industry would look very different coming into it now at aged 16 - you don't have the hangups that many of us oldies have :) I think your generation will see the biggest change - so please make the most of it and express your creativity to the full :)
David,
Thanks for your strength and insight as one of the natural leaders of today’s self-publishing movement--evidenced by your making the 2nd edition of this great book free for those who bought the first.
You made the first edition FREE from the start as a .pdf download from your own web site, if I recall. And you sold the book with algorithmic price changes on Amazon. Is there any history on whether Amazon thought the “free from another site” was a violation of their pricing policy (which would imply them cutting your Amazon price to zero)? Is it clear other authors can follow in your footsteps in doing that? Would you recommend it? And are there any pitfalls? Any recommendations on how to deal with Amazon correctly if trying to pursue this?
THANKS!
Hi Ryan -- Yep, I made the 1st edition of Digital available as a free PDF on launch day, back in July 2011, and it's still there on my site actually.
I was conscious of the fact that I didn't have a huge amount of experience at the time, nor had I sold many books. But I had spent time studying the business and the bestsellers and felt people would get something out of the book... if I could get them to try it. So in the spirit of turning my greatest weakness into a strength, I got lots of contributions from various bestselling indies.
Then I uploaded the free PDF edition and made that part of the marketing - i.e. stuff like "Try the free PDF edition, and if you find it useful, shell out the $3 for the Kindle edition." Or buy it for a friend etc. And that seemed to work quite nicely.
As for Amazon, the PDF has been out there (on various sites too) for over three years and the Kindle edition was never once price-matced to it. Amazon (I think anyway) knows that I've done this and never expressed any issue with it at all. Technically, it's a different edition - the Free PDF Edition, and I registered that with a Creative Commons License. Don't know if that made a difference, but don't think it matters really. People have all sorts of freebies on their site. Amazon only seems to care about direct competitors (i.e. B&N, Apple, Kobo, Google).
Regarding whether it's a good strategy for YOU, that's trickier because I don't know enough about your situation - and I was in a very particular one. Generally though, I think there are better ways to use free that will give you knock-on benefits, and doing it outside the Amazon system has drawbacks. It worked for my particular situation, but I'm not sure how transferable it is.
I think, though, the general approach of taking a step back and trying to build something bigger - not grabbing the short-term cash and plowing that back into reader karma instead - is always a good approach.
"taking a step back and trying to build something bigger" - this will differentiate the people who are in this for the long run - the "Kindle gold rush" people will fall away, but those of us building for a lifetime of writing will be sticking around!
"I think, though, the general approach of taking a step back and trying to build something bigger – not grabbing the short-term cash and plowing that back into reader karma instead – is always a good approach."
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As a fan of yours, I witness that you live (or at least do business as a writer) by the creed expressed in your last paragraph, above. As one who has surely benefited from this, I thank you. Keep up your good work as a voice of fundamental fairness and cogent strategy in the gentle art of writerly business.
:o)
David. Just what I needed in your reply.
Thanks David - I really do value honesty, generosity and authenticity over short term financial gain!
"do you really want to do business with someone with such an outdated view of the marketplace?"...are we seeing any kind of shift at all yet? How are the players (agents, publishers, etc) in the traditional world of publishing adjusting? And are they doing it quickly enough?
It's a fascinating moment of history because everyone in the (old) chain between the author and the reader now has to prove themselves... to both parties. It's quite obvious that the ones making that argument most successfully are retailers. Indies are happy to give 30% to Amazon to have them handle transactions and to access their customer base and (crucially) recommendation engine.
Publishers and agents are making the case less successfully, and will (IMO) have to innovate to avoid being cut out altogether. Some agents are doing that, others are responding in not-so-smart ways (like setting up questionable publishing arms, or signing their clients up to sub-optimal self-publishing services like Argo Navis).
Change is happening even slower among publishers. Imagine if Penguin had taken the $116m it spent on a crappy exploitative company like Author Solutions (whose time will surely be up in a few years), and instead invested it in Goodreads (which cost less!) or just hired an army of coders and hackers and marketers.
It's a different mindset and I'm not sure if publishers, in particular, will be successful at adapting. I can see many withering away, kept alive only by the mountain of content they are sitting on.
I'm seeing Konrath's "shadow industry" more and more in the indie movement, and increasingly, I don't even pay attention to what trad pub is doing. We don't need to anymore - we can do it all ourselves with pro freelancers.
Thanks for this, David and Joanna. The last few years have certainly seen some major changes in publishing, and David's summary was a clear and concise way of seeing the big picture.
What do you think the updates would be two years from now?
I'm bullish on the global market, Laura :) I was in Sweden earlier this week, and ebooks have not gone mainstream yet, authors don't even know about KDP, about print on demand, about audiobooks, about authors making a living at this. I think the revolution is only just beginning on the global scale - so the next few years will be about an explosion of creativity across the globe.
As i continue to expand my own translations with entrepreneurial translator/publishers, I think this will happen more too. Creatives will work more in collaboration and we'll be able to do much bigger things that we ever dreamed before. I want to collaborate with 3D printing designers, biohackers, Oculus Rift and gaming programmers ... we live in exciting times!
In two years, Germany will probably have caught up with the UK in terms of market penetration of e-books, with growth in France, Italy and Spain too. And yes, this is only the beginning globally.
In the UK/US, I think we'll continue to see huge changes. I don't think things will settle down any time soon.
I can't imagine Barnes & Noble existing in its current form in two years' time. I imagine they will have sold off the Nook side of the business to someone with deeper pockets (Microsoft? Google?), and I think they will end up closing a lot more physical stores than currently planned (which is already a lot), and be part-way into some kind of retreat to focus on college bookstores.
I'm also betting Daunt's reorganization of Waterstones will only postpone the inevitable, that more and more big names will begin to self-publish, that subscription models will become a big chunk of the market (maybe 10-15%), that publishers will double down on investing in various ways to exploit authors, and that Amazon will keep innovating while the rest play catch-up (or fall further behind).
re: B&N - maybe. Samsung is making their Nook products now, which is going to help if they can get the word out.
Thank you David and Joanna. Love the idea of choosing yourself first than waiting around to be picked. Yes, there is much more independent author competition out there than ever before, but that is a good sign to new authors skeptical or not sure if indie publishing is the right way for them (that means people are having success with it).
Also, it means more tools and resources to help create, write, and market your book. As you said, there are many scams and borderline scam services out there like the Author Solutions, but there are many tools and services which can really help you out. Make sure to do your research on each one and use common sense before giving them money.
I think some new authors are reluctant to self-publish because of the (perceived) level of competition. What they don't realize is that they are going into the exact same marketplace, however they decide to publish (if they have a choice, of course, most don't). In other words, the level of competition is the same whether you self-publisher or go via a publisher.
But I also think the level of competition is overstated. Out of the 3m books in the Kindle Store, a third of them don't even have a rank - meaning they have *never* sold a copy (and they are both tradpubbed and self-pubbed). That's 1m books you can discount right away which aren't posing any competition at all.
And we shouldn't forget that the market has swelled considerably in the time all those new books were being published.
"All of these writers decided to pick themselves instead of waiting to be picked."
Yep! That sums up how I decided to go indie right out of the gate, and I've never looked back. Well, except to say, "That was the best decision I ever made!"
Great interview!
David,
You mentioned that people are making a living off of there self published books. I've only ever heard the opposite, that it's impossible to live off of self-publishing unless your one of the few who do really well. How do they do it and how would someone like me, a young writer with nothing out and no platform make it to that point with their writing?
Tycie
Hi Tycie, that's what this whole blog is about!!
I gave up my job 3 years ago to do this fulltime - so you can check out my last post on being an author-entrepreneur here: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/09/12/lessons-learned-from-3-years-as-an-author-entrepreneur/
You can also get my Author 2.0 Blueprint which outlines the whole thing : http://www.thecreativepenn.com/blueprint/
Great post!
Thanks David, for this post as well as your books. I have chose to "pick myself" (love that!) and publish my debut next month and continue to marvel at the generosity of the indie community. I am glad to hear you say that you wouldn't worry about starting now as opposed to three years ago. I definitely have felt like I've started too late many times. Super excited to be taking back control.
Hi Joanna,
I thought this was an audio interview? Can't seem to find the link.
Hi Sophie - no, this one is just written :)
Truly a great post!
This pretty much sums up the changes that took place in publishing.
BTW, I am a new fan of your blog :)