So I know that any serious young, aspiring author understands the cards are stacked against them to be "published" especially with the current industry conditions. I was just wondering if anyone had any stories of success to share with each other regarding being published or even being read for that matter? I have one about myself, its not much but its something. I had my story The Tale of Two published in an honest to goodness book "Grandpas Story Book Collection - And the Winner Is" by StoriesThatLift.com/Potential Heights LLC. Granted I was paid was a single digit sum(yes thats right, less than $10US) but I am still proud to have my story in print, read by potentially anyone anywhere. Any other success stories?
About five months ago I signed a contract with the Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency (SBPRA) for my book Legacy of Krazatan: A Hero's Birth. It's still going through the publishing stages, and as a published author you know how long that can take, EmmVeePi. It's more of a self publishing service than a traditional publisher, and already my book is costing me a few thousand dollars to produce out of my own pocket. But as a tool for first time authors who can't find a traditional publishing house it's at least a good way of getting your name out. Plus, in the long run these guys have a lot of benefits for the author. You retain every single one of your book rights, you have 100% control over the look and layout of your book, and the royalties are phenomenal. At 1-100 book sales your royalties are 10%, at 101-1000 they're 34%, and at 1001+ they're 50% PLUS a $1000 bonus on the thousandth sale. Most famous authors are lucky to see at least 15% of the money their books make, so this is crazy. Of course, you'll have to do a lot of the book's marketing yourself, but they have a lot of services you can use, plus international book fairs you can sign your book up for each year.
I've still got a long way to go until I can start turning a profit on this book, but for those of you looking to turn a career from your writing I feel these guys are a sound investment.
Chicken <-- Egg <-- Rocket Powered Fist Take that, science!
Dynamo... play around, see all how all these things you mentioned work, but don't let all this sap your energy. Next time, knowing everything you've learned from marketing this book, either just self-publish (bigger flexibility in price-setting and manuscript-updating), or sign up with small guys who never charge anything (which is what for many people counts as the only legitimate way), or (what I recommend), just keep working with whoever gives most and takes least, until you reach the level for a lit agent who will fix you up with a big publisher. I hope I'll get there too soon, haha.
Last edited by pettybage on Fri Nov 23, 2012 4:23 pm, edited 3 times in total.
