She is the World’s Bestselling eBook Author

Amanda Hocking of Minnesota is the face of a brave new world, an overnight celebrity, suddenly and fabulously rich, and the literal embodiment of the decline and fall of the publishing world as we knew it, oh, six months ago.

The great news is that she is just like you and me. On her blogsite, she tells a familiar tale -- she always loved to write. But when she started to write in earnest, she was repeatedly turned away by editors and agents. So she published herself on Amazon.

Today, not only has her world turned upside down, she’s also up-ended the entire publishing industry. In less than six months. No small feat for a writer the mainstream industry shunned.

Today, February 27th, Britain’s The Observer newspaper named Amanda Hocking  “the world's bestselling ebook author, selling more than 450,000 titles last month alone.”

Yes, sit down for a moment and take that in. Nearly half a millon books IN ONE MONTH.

How did a 26-year-old in Minnesota single-handedly set major publishing houses shivering in their book-covers --  without even trying?

She published her first book, My Blood Approves, to the Kindle Store in April 2010, not even a year ago, according to her blog. A week later, she made the sequel available too. Here is what happened next:

  • In April 2010, she sold 45 ebooks in two weeks by word of mouth.
  • In May 2010, she sold 624 ebooks and made $362.
  • In June 2010, she sold 4,258 ebooks and made $3,180.
  • In July 2010, she sold 3,532 books and made $6,527.
Then suddenly she found herself at the epicenter of seismic shift in the book universe (to mix metaphors).

In August, a publishing house in Hungary asked to buy foreign rights. She approached five agents and got one. Here’s the real shocker, which in a nutshell summarizes how the old world has yet to catch up to the new world of bookselling: Of the five agents, only three even asked for a manuscript -- even though she had people asking to buy her foreign rights. Of the three agents that did ask for a manuscript, two never contacted her again (as of her account in August 2010). She signed with Steven Axelrod at The Axelrod Agency, Inc.

“I'd just sold over 10,000 books at the time,” she writes on her blog.

That same month, one of her books hit #25 on the Kindle sales list, and she made $1,200 IN ONE DAY from ebook sales.

“I just made more in a day than I used to make in a month,” she wrote on her blog.

In August, she sold just under 5,000 ebooks and made $10,000.

And in January, she sold nearly half a million books. If her $2 per book profit margin held true, she’s a wealthy woman. She has 4,000 Facebook followers and is now a USA Today bestselling author. And two weeks ago she announced that her Trylle Trilogy has been optioned for film by Terri Tatchell, the Oscar-nominated screenplay writer of District 9.

But these are not the reasons why I love Amanda Hocking. Clearly her writing is a hit with the public. Obviously her unprecedented success as a solo publishing phenom frightens traditional publishing houses. But I love her because she’s been honest and open with us, her public.

She made her sales record public, and her profits. She truly is an ebook pioneer, and outlining the details of her trajectory only serves to help educate the rest of us  about what is possible. For this reason alone, she deserves a lifetime of success in the storytelling profession. I’m betting she’ll have it. -Caleb

You can find Amanda Hocking and her books at AmandaHocking.blogspot.com.

E-book Bestsellers List

TThe New York Times has finally aligned with reality and made a major shift in the way it reports books sales. The Times is now the one and only place to keep up with the digital age of books. That’s right, people, I’m talking about the debut of the New York Times ebook bestseller list.


Actually, there are two lists. The new, improved bestsellers list is a combo of ebook sales and print sales. 
And now there is also a list for ebook sales only. Both of these lists are weekly, and both cover fiction and nonfiction separately.

Welcome to the digital age, everyone. Now we are just waiting to see who will be the first indie writer to hit the NYTimes list.
Of particular fun is comparing the print/ebook combo list against the ebook-only list. Notice a trend? The ebook-only list is strong in backlist books, as I predicted here in my blog on Publishing Trends 2011. As of exactly now, the days of a book being “out of print” are gone forever. Interesting new world, and good for the pocketbook of writers.

If you want more love for writers, visit me at CalebWarnock.blogspot.com. -Caleb

Winter Gardening Class This Week

CLASS ON THURSDAY Feb. 17 2011 will be held at the American Fork Fitness Center, 454 North Center Street in American Fork. We will meet in Room #3. Sorry for the inconvenience, but the arts council building was accidentally double-scheduled for both last Thursday and this Thursday. Questions? calebwarnock@yahoo.com

Starting Exactly Now, the "Out of Print" Book is Extinct

Last week, the NYTimes finally aligned itself with reality and made a major shift in the way it reports books sales. The new, improved bestsellers list is a combo of ebook sales and print sales, and now there is also a list for ebook sales only. Both of these lists are weekly, and both cover fiction and nonfiction separately.

Welcome to a new world, everyone.
Of particular fun is comparing the print/ebook combo list against the ebook-only list. Notice a trend? The ebook-only list is strong in backlisted books, as I predicted here. As of exactly now, the days of a book being “out of print” are gone forever. Interesting new world, and good for the pocketbook of writers.


- Caleb

Borders Bookstore woes



Here is a news story about the financial troubles of Borders bookstore.

"Critics said the company botched its move into the digital age and instead saw sales drop and earnings plummet.
"The company reported a net loss of $74.4 million for the quarter ended Oct. 30 and has had financial losses every quarter for the last three years. Borders' chief bricks-and-mortar rival, Barnes & Noble, also has been struggling financially."

What does this mean for writers? It means 2011 is going to be a year of change. For most of us, the rise of the ebook is going to be good news. But not for Borders and B&N.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2014166181_borders09.html

Publishing Trends For Savvy Writers (Feb. 2011):



The publishing world is morphing faster than the Egyptian political landscape. In 2011, writers must be clever at marketing as well as wordsmithing. Here are five cutting-edge publishing trends happening right now.

1. Social Smart Monitoring:
Social networking is so 2010. Blog give-aways and Twitter updates are no longer enough. Thoughtful writers have begun to use social network monitoring to not only judge, but tweak, the impact of their networking.

2. The 6% Conundrum:
Traditional publishers, even the big names, will give a first-time author a cut of only 6-8 percent of the profit from a book (typically). But Amazon will give 66 percent. Both will ask the author to deliver a marketing campaign. Do traditional houses have enough marketing muscle to make them worthwhile in 2011? Is it better to invest years in learning to market yourself, or years trying to catch the eye of a publisher? Answer: In 2011, smart writers are learning to do both.

3. Concrete Digital:
Until now, writers dipping a toe into the watery world of online self-promotion have been able to dabble and experiment. In 2011, writers looking to woo agents and publishers (& readers) will increasingly need to spell out a marketing campaign strategy in concrete terms. More agents are demanding evidence that you can bring a built-in audience to your work. And indie writers are getting serious about how to define success, and build on small wins. Indie writers making money in 2011 will be adept at both writing and hawking their words.

4. Micro Narrative Voice:
Long gone are the days when a great plot sold a book. Now even great writing counts for little. In the new frontier of ebooks, you get a single sentence to win readers. The indie writers who are winning readers and agents have realized that this one sentence -- the click-through summary on the ebook lists -- must demonstrate you have both a great story, and a great storytelling voice.

5. The Crush of Friendly:
For the past several years, amateur writers have been told that blogs are like charm school -- show the world your graces and the world will pay attention. And maybe there was a time when being charming was enough. But now the crush of bloggers trying to win readers by being friendly and entertaining has reached a tipping point. 2011 brings a new focus on being useful. If you have something helpful to say, say it. Otherwise, readers will want you out of the way.  

I’ll take you through an in-depth look at each of these trends, and how you can get in front of them, in the days ahead. -Caleb