Hi Gary, Quote:
| Now I know some people will frown on me talking about the profit and I should be writing for the love of it so before you comment on someone you have never met here is my philosophy |
Well, I for one applaud you wholeheartedly. Publishing is (as publishers and agents make absolutely clear) a business. It can only be a good thing for writers to adopt a commercially minded attitude to their work (assuming they are looking for sales in a commercial environment) and part of that mindset is profit. Enjoying being a writer and enjoying turning a profit are
not mutually exclusive concepts!
There is a tendency for some to look down their noses at the self-published, as though they just weren't good enough to get a Proper Deal. But the Proper Deal is highly unlikely to keep anyone in ink for very long, let alone pay mortgages, leccy bills and fund Friday nights at the Lamb and Flag. What's more, the self published seem to be sharper when it comes to exploiting technology and the internet to maximize revenue.
If you have the time and the nous to market yourself, I suspect that you have every chance of making more money as a successful self-publisher than if you were working under a traditional deal. At least there are no agents, publishers and Uncle Tom Cobbleigh all taking their cut (and judging by their professional addresses, I'm guessing most of
them aren't living in draughty garrets, watching candle wax guttering onto the blotched page and fighting with rats for the last bit of three day old takeaway curry. Apart from Uncle Tom Cobbleigh, of course, who lives in the eighteenth century and is probably now standing in the square at the Widdecombe Hiring Fair with a straw up his nose).
Quote:
| If you publish yourself and do all the marketing and promoting yourself you could make £5-£7 per book and if your work sells 10,000 then that would net you £70,000 not bad eh! Certainly two years wages while you write book 2 and 3. |
10,000 looks a pretty high figure. Did I read somewhere that average sales per book are dropping, even though (or perhaps because) the number of published titles are increasing?
Best of luck, Gary!
Peter