With the ever-rising costs of book printing and distribution, traditional publishers have
increasingly played it safe and opted for strategies of mostly publishing books from
either established authors or people who already possess name recognition with the
public. The famous name on the cover of a novel— often ghost-written— would ensure
a profitable level of sales.
Hence the difficulty that unknown authors have had trying to get published by one of the
traditional publishing houses; however, over the past few years, the tables have begun
to turn.
Now it is the traditional publishers’ turns to eat crow.
Amanda Hocking is the author I mentioned earlier, and now she is worth over
$2,000,000. She wasted a lot of time trying to gain the notice of traditional publishers,
and now they are regretting not taking her serious then.
Between April 2010 and March 2011, Amanda made TWO MILLION DOLLARS in
eBook sales via Amazon.com. By early 2011 she was selling an average of NINE
THOUSAND Books a day.
There is more good news. Amazon pays up to 70% royalties compared to the rather
miserly royalties paid by traditional publishers. Even if she had enjoyed the same
level of success with a traditional publisher, Amanda would not have seen as much of
the money!
Additionally, publishing as an eBook on Kindle offers the following additional benefits:
Near-immediate publication coupled with incredibly low publishing costs, all on a system
so simple a child could use it.
A variety of apps allowing your book to be viewed on virtually any device.
Amazon’s seamless distribution system.
Amazon’s website itself, which is an extraordinary marketing platform for authors.
Amazon’s well-deserved reputation as a trusted brand, along with the prestige of being
associated with Amazon.