Self-Publishing Resources

For writers who are thinking about self-publishing, I would recommend these blogs/sites



http://www.thecreativepenn.com/publishing/
http://www.lindsayburoker.com/
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/
http://kriswrites.com/
http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/
http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/

and this guess post: Michael Sullivan on Self-publishing (highly recommended!)

There is also this post back in 2009 that all writers will find both interesting and informative.  A New York Times Bestseller shared her royalties statement.  It's a treasure trove of information.  Required reading for all writers in my opinion.

The Reality of a Times Bestseller
http://www.genreality.net/the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller

More on The Reality of a Times Bestseller
http://www.genreality.net/more-on-the-reality-of-a-times-bestseller


As I said before, it's hard to make a living as a fiction author whether you are self-published or traditional published (unless you hit the big time).  Do a thorough research before deciding which route will be best for you.  This blog is about self-publishing success stories, but there are a lot of self-published authors out there who barely sell at all.  For example

Successful Indies Only, Please (note, tongue-in-cheek...)
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,82422.0.html


Other useful information about author advance.

Author Advance Survey 
Author Advances: Survey Results
What’s the Average Advance?
This NY Times article (back in 2009):  "though most publishers I talked to cited $30,000 as a rough average."

http://brendahiatt.com/show-me-the-money/

What do the various romance (and YA) publishers pay? Here’s the best info I’ve gleaned from a dozen years of surveying authors who were generous enough to volunteer their figures. 

I'm currently working on a third project.  I hope it will up in a few days.  

What is it about?  It's a list of Amazon Publishing authors under these imprints.

47North
Thomas & Mercer
Montlake Romance
AmazonEncore
AmazonCrossing
Amazon Publishing New York

http://amazonpublishingauthors.blogspot.com/

Authors who are likely to surpass the 50,000 self-published ebooks sold in the near future.  An asterisk indicates an author who is/was traditionally published.  This is a partial list.  

1. *Donna Ball / Donna Boyd
2. Russell Blake - sold about 13,000 for the month of March 2012
3. Jason Andrew Bond - averaging more than 100 a day over the last several months
4. Cheryl Bradshaw
5. Robert Gregory Browne
6. Kay Bratt
7. *Lori Brighton
8. Christopher Bunn
9. Sarah Burleton 
10. Stephanie Campbell
11. *Diane Capri - sold more than 15,000 of her novel in 3 months at $5.99 price
12. Elle Casey
13. V. J. Chambers
14. T.B. Christensen - April 2012 sales:  more than 8,000 books sold
15. Jaycee Clark - very close to 50,000 sold
16. Judith Coopey - 'Redfield Farm' has sold more than 25,000 copies as an e-book
17. Julia Crane 
18. *Jana DeLeon
19. Jillian Dodd
20. Dee Ernst
21. Bronwen Evans - I've almost made your $20k off one novella I've self-published on Amazon in four months
22. Doug Farren
23. Patrice Fitzgerald - made almost three times a typical Harlequin advance in about four months on my self-pubbed novel
24. *Joseph Flynn - over the past 15 months, my titles have sold more than 40,000 copies
25. Lizzy Ford - the author sold 6,134 books in the month of April 2012
26. Catherine Gayle
27. Alexa Grace
28. Lars Guignard - "author Lars Guignard makes good money on ebooks"
29. Susan Hatler
30. T.R. Harris
31. John G. Hartness - 25,000+ books sold last year (2011) - $40,000 made last year
32. Steena Holmes - April 2012 Sales – 5,319
33. Joan Hall Hovey - over 5,000 books sold for the month of April 2012
34. *Sharon Ihle
35. Aiden James
36. Jinx Jamison
37. Virginia Jewel
38. Beverley Kendall
39. Rex Kusler
40. Joseph Lallo - sold more than 7,000 books for the month of April 2012
41. Randolph Lalonde 
42. Anthea Lawson
43. M. Louisa Locke - made $50,000 since Dec 1 - source
44. *Kathleen Long
45. *C.S. Mark
46. Patricia Mason
47. Kallypso Masters - sold 15,000 of my 1st book; 14,000 of my 2nd; and 12,500 of my 3rd
48. M.P. McDonald 
49. Murray McDonald
50. Scott McElhaney
51. *Patricia McLinn
52. M.R. Merrick
53. MeiLin Miranda
54. D.J. Molles
55. *Joseph Nassise
56. Amber Lynn Natusch - sold more than 7,000 books for the month of April 2012
57. H.T. Night
58. Kait Nolan
59. Ann Voss Peterson
60. John O’Brien
61. Lisa Olsen
62. Sean Platt and David Wright
63. Brian S. Pratt - have sold over 17,000 copies
64. *Laura Resnick 
65. *Lauren Royal  - the author sold 6,523 books for the month of April 2012
66. Anthony Ryan
67. *Barbara Samuel - April 2012 Sales – 13,000
68. Deb Sanders
69. *Jeff Sherratt
70. Michael Siemsen
71. James Somers
72. Suzan Tisdale
73. A.R. Wise 
74. Lacey Weatherford
75. Norah Wilson