Kindle, a way in to publishing?

[Scott R. Forshaw]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]An acquaintance of mine has published books through Kindle; 6, I think, and seems to be doing reasonably well for himself using this method. He's even managed to pick up an agent through his releases on Kindle, which I found mightily impressive.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]My question is this: Has anyone else heard of this happening? And does anyone feel that it could act as a back door into the publishing world?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]His name is Bill Rogers, for anyone that's interested; he writes crime novels based in Manchester, and he's within the top 2000 Kindle book sales.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Thanks in advance.[/FONT]

 

[chrispenycate]

Try reading http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/533003-kindle-good-idea-for-self-publishing.html

I nearly merged you into it rather than have two such similar threads so close.

I must admit that I don't have a Kindle (yet, although as my bookshelves complain about overloading I'm seriously investigating), and my talents seem to place me more in the "aspiring proofreader" class, rather than the writing one, plus this thread came in while I was on my UK convalescence kick, so I didn't follow it as well as I might have.

 

[Scarfy]

I'm not sure it is a way into it, to be honest. You'll hear about people like Amanda Hocking, etc., who got deals from their books.

But they are the exception to the rule. There are many, many people who have found great sales and reception from their Kindle books, but publishers and agents are still not convinced that they are right for the market. Sure, it's a way to build a name for yourself, but as publishing is such a tricky game, a publisher must be absolutely certain that the book will be loved by the public as much as themselves.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Scott,

I'm a self pubbed author on the kindle, (coincidentally six books at present), and my thought would be that it is a way to get your work out there, get some sales and review, but I don't see it as a way of getting a professional publishing deal, for me at least. Having said that, it makes me a bit of money which is always welcome, and I can see myself in a few years, with or without a publisher, making a living at it. The reason I went kindle and self publishing was that I couldn't get a publisher in the first place, so after years of trying it was the best option I had left.

Good on your friend, and if you want another kindle publishing success, google Joe Konrath for a how to guide on how to sell books on kindle etc. There are also a number of others out there, now on kindle who claim that even if a publisher / agent came to them, they'd turn him down. They're now doing too well to want to split their royalties.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Varangian]

Greg, what are your books about and are they a series or all stand alone novels?

I think the Kindle is a brilliant way to go, easy and fast to access for the customer and best of all a lot cheaper than your average paper back.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Varangian,

They're all fantasy and sci fi and only the last is set to be part of a series, Wizard at Law. You can check out the covers on my album.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[indiewordsmith]

Hi Scott,

I'm a self pubbed author on the kindle, (coincidentally six books at present), and my thought would be that it is a way to get your work out there, get some sales and review, but I don't see it as a way of getting a professional publishing deal, for me at least. Having said that, it makes me a bit of money which is always welcome, and I can see myself in a few years, with or without a publisher, making a living at it. The reason I went kindle and self publishing was that I couldn't get a publisher in the first place, so after years of trying it was the best option I had left.

Good on your friend, and if you want another kindle publishing success, google Joe Konrath for a how to guide on how to sell books on kindle etc. There are also a number of others out there, now on kindle who claim that even if a publisher / agent came to them, they'd turn him down. They're now doing too well to want to split their royalties.

Cheers, Greg.

Yeah, I agree. I think Kindle is a promising promotional platfrom self-published authors can consider. It's a great place to put your publication in.

 

[deepspacedrew]

There seems to be a stark contract between several of the views on here and the world I live in. I am in Southern California and know many authors (no big names) and am a hobby publisher myself. The communities I exist in are assuming that the existing publishing industry is disintegrating, and the roles of the middle men/women will go along with it. Direct/self publishing is here and now. One of the big problems of course is the massive amount of material out there that has low technical quality (poor editing etc.). I should not be giving advice, but here goes anyway. If you love to write, for the love of god do it; keep writing and publishing, don't wait for somebody to say "yes" and don't ask for permission. Do keep the quality high, don't compromise on quality and do whatever it takes to make this happen. In my case this means getting groups of people to provide objective feedback (and occasionally "murder my darlings").

 

[Glen]

For me, putting the book on Kindle was a load off my mind. I found the whole, dreadful process of trying to find a publisher draining and dispiriting. Rule after rule after rule about submissions, and then the slackest lack of any kind of feedback when the ms is returned. I never submitted to a single publisher or lit. agent that I felt was professional in their approach.

Aaargh! Well that's got that off my chest.

However, good as Kindle is, I don't believe anything's going to happen unless I market. And I've not been successful at that to date. The fact that the 1st book is out there, at least gives me the ability to move on and write the 2nd. But it isn't allowing me to quit my day job.

 

[TL Rese]

this is definitely the hot topic in the publishing industry nowadays, and i'd luv to hear more success/horror stories.

self-publishing is a big taboo in the mainstream publishing world, mainly because of the high volume of low-quality, grammar/spelling error-ridden stuff that gets churned out, as was mentioned. but personally, i'm having a Hell of a hard time getting published. even so, the idea of self-publishing freaks me out because so many are against it (check out rob sawyer's website). - granted, his blog post dates to about 2-3yrs ago (ancient times, when it comes to technology nowadays), but the last thing i want is to wind up in some self-publishing nitemare just because i didn't want to do the hard work, so i'm holding out! arrrghhh...

 

[Montero]

Just a paper book reader at present. Asking both as a reader and an unpublished writer:

Kindle
1. When you download a book to a Kindle reader, is it locked to that reader or can it be copied to other readers?
2. Do you have any form of hard copy of a Kindle book? If not, what happens regarding getting copies of books if your Kindle reader dies?
3. How do you guard your copyright?
4. Is there one global format on Kindle, or UK and US versions like PAL and NTSC?

eBooks.
Have looked at a couple of free eBooks (David Webers) but don't know much more about them than Kindle.
1. What is the eBook book market like compared to Kindle?
2. Can you control free copying and copyright?

 

[Scarfy]

Kindle
1. From what I understand, when you buy a Kindle book, you can read it on as many other Kindle devices as you own. Although, I think Amazon might be starting to impose a limit of some sort. It might be something like up to 5 devices or something.
2. Kindle books are electronic and are tied to your account. If your Kindle dies, you can just re-download all your books onto the new Kindle, for nothing.
3. What do you mean? How do you prevent piracy? You can use DRM (which is universally hated); attempt DMCA take down notices against websites illegally sharing your work; price your work accordingly, to encourage people to buy it rather than copy it for nothing; or just accept that some people will simply refuse to pay for something if there is a way of getting it for free (the music and video game markets have suffered this for well over 10 years).
4. It's global.

Ebook
1. Kindle books are eBooks, it's the same thing. If you're wondering how other stores' sales compare to Amazon, then Amazon pretty much outsells everyone else by a factor of about 10 to 1, if not more..!
2. See #3 above...

 

[TL Rese]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]An acquaintance of mine has published books through Kindle; 6, I think, and seems to be doing reasonably well for himself using this method. He's even managed to pick up an agent through his releases on Kindle, which I found mightily impressive[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif].[/FONT]

also, i was wondering, if you don't mind my asking - do you know if your acquaintance/friend did any marketing or promotional stuff to achieve his high sales?

 

[Gareth Lewis]

Kindle
1. Kindle books are eBooks, it's the same thing. If you're wondering how other stores' sales compare to Amazon, then Amazon pretty much outsells everyone else by a factor of about 10 to 1, if not more..!

While it might be true for overall numbers, on a case by case basis it'll vary, so anyone considering self-publishing eBooks shouldn't limit themselves to Amazon.

I've only had mine on Amazon for a couple of quarters, but the sales there have been about equal to those via Smashwords' distributors (Sony, Apple, B&N, etc.). Sales are only around three to four dozen a quarter in total, though, so it could be different for bestsellers.

 

[Montero]

Thanks very much for all the information Scarfy.
Thanks too Gareth.

Kindle

Ebook
1. Kindle books are eBooks, it's the same thing. If you're wondering how other stores' sales compare to Amazon, then Amazon pretty much outsells everyone else by a factor of about 10 to 1, if not more..!

It was several years ago, but the free download David Weber eBooks were something you could read on your PC, rather than needing a dedicated eBook reader like Kindle. Can't remember what the file format was specifically, as I didn't keep them. Didn't get on with reading a book on a PC screen.

 

[Montero]

While it might be true for overall numbers, on a case by case basis it'll vary, so anyone considering self-publishing eBooks shouldn't limit themselves to Amazon.

I've only had mine on Amazon for a couple of quarters, but the sales there have been about equal to those via Smashwords' distributors (Sony, Apple, B&N, etc.). Sales are only around three to four dozen a quarter in total, though, so it could be different for bestsellers.

Just been reading (some of) the Smashwords website (thank you for mentioning that). They say that they are in all formats including Kindle. Is it best to do Kindle exclusively through Amazon, or is through Smashwords as effective?
I am wondering both about the quality of the end result, and whether Amazon give any sort of rating preference to Kindle published through them, as against a more general eBook?

 

[Gareth Lewis]

Just been reading (some of) the Smashwords website (thank you for mentioning that). They say that they are in all formats including Kindle. Is it best to do Kindle exclusively through Amazon, or is through Smashwords as effective?

It's difficult to tell how many sales through Smashwords directly are read on Kindles since they have access to it in all formats once they've bought it (one of the strengths of Smashwords if you happen to have a couple of different kinds of e-readers). There's really no reason not to make them available on both (it's a little extra formatting work, but not much).

I am wondering both about the quality of the end result, and whether Amazon give any sort of rating preference to Kindle published through them, as against a more general eBook?

In terms of quality, I haven't noticed any significant differences in the two version. It's possible there are minor variation, and it's always a good idea to go through the final version of each, but I haven't encountered any serious differences. I only read them on the Kindle for PC, though, and don't know if they look different on a proper Kindle.

Not sure if there's a rating preference, although at the moment the Amazon sites only list a test sampling of Smashwords published books, with the full integration always getting put off (I waited for it for going on a year before just putting them directly on KDP).

 

[TheTomG]

I am about to look into Smashwords now, having got the book on Kindle already, some folks are asking about getting it on Nook and other such devices and Smashwords seems to be the way to go.

Ebooks remove the hurdle and difficulty of making a book available. Used to take time, money and expertise to assemble a book when it needed a physical copy, and that's all that self publishing changes.

The real challenge hasn't altered a bit, which is marketing. However you address making it possible for people to read your work, paper or electronic, the trick is getting them to hear about it and choose it from among the thousands of choices they have to spend their precious cash on. Big name publishers still offer that kind of leverage and by focusing on that as their service, they have no need to fear for the future! Most of us just aren't that good as marketers

 

[TL Rese]

i'm also looking into smashwords. i came across this blog post by a former curtis brown lit agent, and thought i'd share. it's pretty informative, and has given me hope that if i can't break into traditional publishing, my novels won't just rot in my bottom drawer!