I like to highlight success stories and interview authors doing well with e-publishing, but I’ll be the first to admit this isn’t a road to riches for most folks. It’s easy to get dazzled by the fortunate folks doing well and start thinking, “Hey, maybe this could be my road to fame and fortune (or at least quitting the day job),” but it’s worth staying grounded. Today’s guest post, by indie author Steve Richer, points out some of the realities of the business.
Who’s REALLY Making Money with E-books?
When I wrote my historical thriller/Western The Gilded Treachery, I went a little overboard with the research. I must have spent three or four hours looking into the history of Nebraska, specifically the town of Florence. I made a startling discovery. One of the place’s founders, James C. Mitchell, had made his fortune during the Gold Rush in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Wait a minute, you say! Iowa wasn’t where the Gold Rush took place. You’re right but Mitchell saw something few people had. The village was the starting point of the Mormon Trail and it was a route favored by immigrants going west to Oregon and California. He figured out something few people had at the time.
Why play the lottery when you can be the one selling tickets?
What he actually did was open up a store to outfit the adventurous settlers heading out West to seek their fortune. Everyone believed they would be striking gold and getting rich. The reality was that most prospectors ended up losing money. Aside from a few who did strike gold, those who became the wealthiest from the ordeal were the businessmen who catered to them. There was Levi Strauss whose blue jeans became bestsellers with settlers or Samuel Brannan, shopkeeper and a newspaper man, who became the first Gold Rush millionaire.
You see where I’m going with this, don’t you? It seems like the e-book craze is in fact a publishing revolution. The numbers back this up, books are increasingly downloaded and paper copies are in a downward spiral. Self-publishing, thanks to easy-to-use services such as Smashwords and Amazon KDP, is thriving. Everybody’s a writer these days, the short story you wrote in 10th grade is now put on the market for $0.99.
Smart people are taking advantage of this. You have the cover designers and you have proofreaders. There are those who specialize in e-book formatting and others who’ll try to sell you advertising. And I won’t even mention the thousands of blogs on the subject. Don’t be surprised if new companies spring up offering to package your books, from formatting to marketing, for a small fee. [Lindsay comments: lots of them out there already!] Don’t be surprised if some people start calling themselves e-book agents, charging money for something you could do yourself. Ever heard of estributors? There is a lot of money at stake, a lot of people trying to cash in on this new phenomenon.
Of course, the people I mention provide valuable services but I believe it’s useful and timely to consider where you stand in all this. The bloggers and the service providers have a stake in continuing to promote this revolution, in making everyone believe that you too can become the next successful independent author.
What you have to ask yourself is whether you’re a fly-by-night prospector hopping on the Oregon Trail on a whim or if you really know of a great piece of land where gold is buried. And this finally boils down to one basic fact: if you’ve written a great book you’ll have a great publishing career. There’s money to be made everywhere, just make sure you’re on the right side of the counter.
Steve Richer is the author of two novels, The Gilded Treachery and The Kennedy Secret. You can visit him at SteveRicherBooks.com.
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I think this is something a lot of people are already falling prey to. I have noticed, in my own research, there is a subtle climb in artwork pricing and indie editors.
Good article, focus on what is important – your story. The rest is just there to facilitate your words.
It’s called “Selling Shovels”. =)
As in, the only people who got rich from the various gold rushes were the ones selling shovels.
At least with ebooks, learning how to make your own shovels isn’t that hard…
-David
Interesting stuff. I have to admit, I am already jumping into the fray. Just designed a cover for a friend’s book. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words!
I think hiring pros does make a difference but you always have to weigh your cost/benefit ratio. And the good thing about e-books, as Konrath keeps saying, is that they’re forever. You can come back to it later — add a new cover, jazz up the formatting — when you have the funds and if there’s a real need. Nothing is set in stone.
I made my own shovel – did the lot myself for my books…
*unbearably smug smile*
And I recently put together a cover for a cyber friend. I’m no expert, but like playing around with Adobe Photoshop if I have the time.
Luckily, I have artists I can call on / beg to for help. I’d still pay them, but they’d cut me a break to start. The biggest expense I see, is getting an editor. I think that’s really important. I’m not sure I could afford one to edit a whole novel, which is why I’ll probably begin with something smaller.
Good post! It makes a lot of sense. My thought is that the people who will eventually “strike it rich” will be in it for the long haul, and it will take a lot of work and effort. Whether learning new software or crafting your words or any of the other myriad things involved, it’s a step by step process where you do the best you can at the time, then make it even better at the next step.
Usually, it seems the overnight success stories happen to people who have been toiling away for a very long time before they are “discovered.”
Anyway, I think it’s a lot more fun to be the hard working prospector than the shovel seller 😉 But I’m still grateful when I can get a good deal on a shovel!
Great read! I guess I hadn’t really thought about it in that way before, but Steve’s right in that many people stand to make a lot of money via eBooks. Many of these people don’t write eBooks themselves, but help others get their stuff out to the masses. It’s going to be interesting to watch this business mature.
Scott