Thanks so much for being here! Do you have any misconceptions you’ve heard about self-published? I’d love to hear them! Any questions? Post them below! ❤️
Thanks for the video. I am doing self publish book of my poems. I am stating the publisher is my full name not made up company. Not sure how that will look. I did hire a graphic designer to design the cover and I had people edit and proof my manuscript. Any thoughts about how to list oneself as publisher?
So refreshing to hear this take from someone that is successfully self published. I also love that you offered some behind the scenes context. Thank you! Please consider doing a video on marketing, and all the other ways authors can make money with their books such as audio, foreign rights, movie deals.
This was helpful as a person trying to get started. Sometimes it seems so wide open and so extreme that even thinking about publishing stops me from writing.
Yes! Agree so much with this and the people who have sworn off of indies because of one error they found in a book years ago. People listen to indie music, they watch indie films, why not read indie books. All I can say is: "Girl, PREACH!!"
MK Williams yes! 100%!! I’m always like but... some of my favorite books are self-published and don’t have errors and have beautiful covers. MISSING OUT!!! LOL. ❤️❤️
@@TheCourtneyProject So true, and I do still catch errors in traditionally published books. I loved EVERY second of this video. So glad I found your channel. :)
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! I am working hard to become a successful self-published author, and fighting the stigmas and stereotypes can be frustrating. I love that this video is so balanced - there are extremist opinioms on all sides. Thanks for providing a balanced view!
I'm just a fanfic writer nowadays but the title interested me and I stayed. Must say your pronunciation and the way you talk is incredibly clear! My bilingual self thanks you wholeheartly 🤣💕 Great video, darling! Thanks a lot.
Loved this video! I have spent way too much time discussing this and I now usually respond with an eye-roll. I think the second misconception (the make more money when you self-publish bit) comes from very symplistic math. The most royalty you can get is 50% with indie publishers and about 25% with bigger trad publishers. And that's after Amazon's cut, for example. So you'd typically have to sell a lot more books than if self-publishing to make the same amount of money. Which is true, but then there's the initial cost in self-publishing, plus all the other factors you mentioned. I think that aspect is why people think you can make more, less so than the fact you get paid quarterly or every six months. There are smaller publishers who pay monthly, btw, but all the ones I know of are indie. The quantity over quality stuff annoys the crap out of me. But hey... I don't really see an end to it. I'm like four or five books ahead right now and it's still tight lol. I can't wait to get to 10 books ahead :D Also, preach on the read aloud edit! It's the best thing ever, especially for catching typos and stuff that just doesn't sound right.
Alina Popescu totally agree with you! The second point is a hard one because yes, if your book skyrockets the same as if you had a trad publisher if you self-published, you’d absolutely make more. But who’s to say it would do great being trad pubbed? Or even self-pubbed? LOL. It’s the risk we take when publishing. There’s no definitive answer, but I see people arguing until their brains explode over it in FB groups. There are too many scenarios with both routes, which goes back to doing your research and producing the best book possible! Yessssssss....listening to the book is SO helpful. Omg. It’s helped me catch so many repetitive phrases or thoughts that I didn’t see reading. It forces you to view it differently which only makes your work stronger. Highly recommend it to everyone!! ❤️❤️
“Direct it yourself,” is perfect! I think more people are taking their work seriously and hiring editors, taking more time with craft. Some of them are those who realized the weren’t ready back when the self publishing boom first began. Going to be self publishing myself and would love to hear more about your process, specifically how long between books. Are you staying with the four novels per year minimum model, more than four, less?
StoryDTechtive I think you hit the nail on the head! Oh man, this year was a tad crazy with 6 full-length and 2 novellas. But, some of those were written last year. Typically, under Kennedy Fox, we release 5-6 books per year, but start writing the current year for the next year, if that makes sense. So at the end of 2019, we’ll be working on 2020 books. I do plan to release under my LP name next year and my goal is to release 3-4 books. But I’m trying to get ahead of schedule now. This might be a good topic for a video. :)
It would definitely boo a good topic. I touched on this very method in my own self publishing vids-working ahead, creating arcs. It’s what we did in the comic book field and its what traditional publishers do. I’m working to be at least a year ahead in my own WIPs. And since I feel the best arcs are 4 books, I’ll actually be a year and a half by the time I finish getting my second arc in draft...which will give me a good buffer.
I love the vid. There were some things I really needed to hear as I continue the self publishing journey. Question: where does one go to find editors and cover designers for indie writers?
I’ve found most of my designers by checking out books in my genre that I know are written by indie authors. Also Facebook has been extremely helpful. Dunno if you’re in the Alessandra Torre Inkers group or not but it’s a great resource!
Great video, and so true with all of these conceptions. What does your timeline look like? I draft fast enough, but for me the bottleneck is always feedback and edits. When I send it out to critique partners, they only do one chapter a week. And with 30+ chapters, it will take a while. And then comes beta feedback and edits, and prof editors and edits. Same process as you use, but it feels like it takes forever when you want to write and publish several books a year. Any advice on how to speed up the process while still keeping quality?
Hi! I’d get paid critique partners who can finish your entire book in a week. It costs around $50-$75 to pay someone and with the monetary exchange, it’s not longer a favor but a job. 1 chapter per week is too slow.
I had to edit my first book on my own because the editors I paid to "fix" my book ended up making more errors than corrections (one just put it through a computer program that messed up the grammar even more). Unless you want to pay around $1,000 for a freelance editor, its hard to find a good one.
As someone who worked in trad as an editor, it isn’t that it’s harder to get an agent, it is harder to get the book you self published picked up for trad in the USA for reprint
Absolutely. If you self-publish it, lol, it’s pretty much dead in the water unless you sell a million copies as an indie. I’ve found that when you pitch for subrights agents, if you can’t sell your English titles in a competitive market, they don’t want you. Our agent wanted our sales records to date before she offered us a contact and even now, she requires them monthly.
@@TheCourtneyProject I’m not surprised since typically agents only get paid when you do. It’s also super analytical being an agent when pitching to presses. But as far as online discourse goes you’re one of the few agented indies who talks about the process, which I find fascinating as an editor.
The big thing about self-publish compared to traditional published is a self published book can give you a drip of income and while trad published books will give you some money at some point. If you write fast you can have several books on the market when you self-publish. Trad publishing can takes years to just get published and then you book will be another year or so before they publish it.
I just watched a video where someone said "authors like to pretend that self publishing is as good as real publishing" so this is a balm to my soul (I'm self published as well)
Hahahahahaha, OMG. Wow. It is real publishing. It’s why we have an agent and our books have been translated with foreign publishers. 😂 Know what I say? Haters gonna hate. You can have your cake and eat it too as a self-published author. ❤️
Thank you for point #1. I read someone's self-published fantasy novel that he had asked me to take a look at for a review. It was quite bad. He used beta readers (and not a few of them, either) but the book was a mess. A good developmental editor when have made that book like 50X better.
Thanks so much for being here! Do you have any misconceptions you’ve heard about self-published? I’d love to hear them! Any questions? Post them below! ❤️
Thanks for the video. I am doing self publish book of my poems. I am stating the publisher is my full name not made up company. Not sure how that will look. I did hire a graphic designer to design the cover and I had people edit and proof my manuscript. Any thoughts about how to list oneself as publisher?
So refreshing to hear this take from someone that is successfully self published. I also love that you offered some behind the scenes context. Thank you! Please consider doing a video on marketing, and all the other ways authors can make money with their books such as audio, foreign rights, movie deals.
Thank you so much for being here and for watching! I probably should do a marketing series. I’ve had so many people ask. :)
This was helpful as a person trying to get started. Sometimes it seems so wide open and so extreme that even thinking about publishing stops me from writing.
Poetspice Biblio Scribe just start with writing and finishing the best book you can then figure out all the publishing stuff later. :)
You are very serious about your career.
Love it and you speak well. Well-done
Thank you so much! ❤️
Yes! Agree so much with this and the people who have sworn off of indies because of one error they found in a book years ago. People listen to indie music, they watch indie films, why not read indie books. All I can say is: "Girl, PREACH!!"
MK Williams yes! 100%!! I’m always like but... some of my favorite books are self-published and don’t have errors and have beautiful covers. MISSING OUT!!! LOL. ❤️❤️
@@TheCourtneyProject So true, and I do still catch errors in traditionally published books. I loved EVERY second of this video. So glad I found your channel. :)
MK Williams thank you!! Glad you’re here! Oh yes, I’ve seen mistakes in tradpubbed books too. No editor is perfect.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing! I am working hard to become a successful self-published author, and fighting the stigmas and stereotypes can be frustrating. I love that this video is so balanced - there are extremist opinioms on all sides. Thanks for providing a balanced view!
Joanna Holden aww thanks so much! Good luck on your publishing journey. Happy you’re here!
I definitely think theres some stigma! Like when I tell people I want to self publish they consider that I'm taking the easy way out.... like what
I'm just a fanfic writer nowadays but the title interested me and I stayed. Must say your pronunciation and the way you talk is incredibly clear! My bilingual self thanks you wholeheartly 🤣💕
Great video, darling! Thanks a lot.
Oh this video gives me a little more hope!!! And gives soooo much valuable info! I subscribed twice! My personal account and author one😁 Thank you!!!
Aww thank you! ❤️❤️
Thanks so much. Very helpful!
You’re welcome! ❤️
Loved this video! I have spent way too much time discussing this and I now usually respond with an eye-roll.
I think the second misconception (the make more money when you self-publish bit) comes from very symplistic math. The most royalty you can get is 50% with indie publishers and about 25% with bigger trad publishers. And that's after Amazon's cut, for example. So you'd typically have to sell a lot more books than if self-publishing to make the same amount of money. Which is true, but then there's the initial cost in self-publishing, plus all the other factors you mentioned. I think that aspect is why people think you can make more, less so than the fact you get paid quarterly or every six months. There are smaller publishers who pay monthly, btw, but all the ones I know of are indie.
The quantity over quality stuff annoys the crap out of me. But hey... I don't really see an end to it. I'm like four or five books ahead right now and it's still tight lol. I can't wait to get to 10 books ahead :D
Also, preach on the read aloud edit! It's the best thing ever, especially for catching typos and stuff that just doesn't sound right.
Alina Popescu totally agree with you! The second point is a hard one because yes, if your book skyrockets the same as if you had a trad publisher if you self-published, you’d absolutely make more. But who’s to say it would do great being trad pubbed? Or even self-pubbed? LOL. It’s the risk we take when publishing. There’s no definitive answer, but I see people arguing until their brains explode over it in FB groups. There are too many scenarios with both routes, which goes back to doing your research and producing the best book possible!
Yessssssss....listening to the book is SO helpful. Omg. It’s helped me catch so many repetitive phrases or thoughts that I didn’t see reading. It forces you to view it differently which only makes your work stronger. Highly recommend it to everyone!! ❤️❤️
“Direct it yourself,” is perfect! I think more people are taking their work seriously and hiring editors, taking more time with craft. Some of them are those who realized the weren’t ready back when the self publishing boom first began. Going to be self publishing myself and would love to hear more about your process, specifically how long between books. Are you staying with the four novels per year minimum model, more than four, less?
StoryDTechtive I think you hit the nail on the head! Oh man, this year was a tad crazy with 6 full-length and 2 novellas. But, some of those were written last year. Typically, under Kennedy Fox, we release 5-6 books per year, but start writing the current year for the next year, if that makes sense. So at the end of 2019, we’ll be working on 2020 books.
I do plan to release under my LP name next year and my goal is to release 3-4 books. But I’m trying to get ahead of schedule now. This might be a good topic for a video. :)
It would definitely boo a good topic. I touched on this very method in my own self publishing vids-working ahead, creating arcs. It’s what we did in the comic book field and its what traditional publishers do. I’m working to be at least a year ahead in my own WIPs. And since I feel the best arcs are 4 books, I’ll actually be a year and a half by the time I finish getting my second arc in draft...which will give me a good buffer.
Your shirt made me cackle out loud. 😂
Clare Kauter LOL!! I love a great graphic tee! ❤️😂
I love the vid. There were some things I really needed to hear as I continue the self publishing journey. Question: where does one go to find editors and cover designers for indie writers?
I’ve found most of my designers by checking out books in my genre that I know are written by indie authors. Also Facebook has been extremely helpful. Dunno if you’re in the Alessandra Torre Inkers group or not but it’s a great resource!
@@TheCourtneyProject thanks for the tip! I'm not, but I'm about to be! Lol 😎
OMG thank you for mentioning Alpha Readers! So many newbies have no idea!
Great video, and so true with all of these conceptions. What does your timeline look like? I draft fast enough, but for me the bottleneck is always feedback and edits. When I send it out to critique partners, they only do one chapter a week. And with 30+ chapters, it will take a while. And then comes beta feedback and edits, and prof editors and edits. Same process as you use, but it feels like it takes forever when you want to write and publish several books a year. Any advice on how to speed up the process while still keeping quality?
Hi! I’d get paid critique partners who can finish your entire book in a week. It costs around $50-$75 to pay someone and with the monetary exchange, it’s not longer a favor but a job. 1 chapter per week is too slow.
I had to edit my first book on my own because the editors I paid to "fix" my book ended up making more errors than corrections (one just put it through a computer program that messed up the grammar even more). Unless you want to pay around $1,000 for a freelance editor, its hard to find a good one.
Love your shirt,
Thank you!
As someone who worked in trad as an editor, it isn’t that it’s harder to get an agent, it is harder to get the book you self published picked up for trad in the USA for reprint
Absolutely. If you self-publish it, lol, it’s pretty much dead in the water unless you sell a million copies as an indie. I’ve found that when you pitch for subrights agents, if you can’t sell your English titles in a competitive market, they don’t want you. Our agent wanted our sales records to date before she offered us a contact and even now, she requires them monthly.
@@TheCourtneyProject I’m not surprised since typically agents only get paid when you do. It’s also super analytical being an agent when pitching to presses. But as far as online discourse goes you’re one of the few agented indies who talks about the process, which I find fascinating as an editor.
Thanks so much for this!
Welcome! ❤️❤️❤️
The big thing about self-publish compared to traditional published is a self published book can give you a drip of income and while trad published books will give you some money at some point. If you write fast you can have several books on the market when you self-publish. Trad publishing can takes years to just get published and then you book will be another year or so before they publish it.
I just watched a video where someone said "authors like to pretend that self publishing is as good as real publishing" so this is a balm to my soul (I'm self published as well)
Hahahahahaha, OMG. Wow. It is real publishing. It’s why we have an agent and our books have been translated with foreign publishers. 😂 Know what I say? Haters gonna hate. You can have your cake and eat it too as a self-published author. ❤️
My #1: Thinking that marketing a book today is the same as it was 10 years ago. Oh, how wrong I was.
The basics are the same, but social media isn’t. 😂 If only…
Your shirt is one point haha
Mandi Lynn hahaha yasssss!!
Thank you for point #1. I read someone's self-published fantasy novel that he had asked me to take a look at for a review. It was quite bad. He used beta readers (and not a few of them, either) but the book was a mess. A good developmental editor when have made that book like 50X better.
OMG... that shirt. Hehehehehehe!
Melissa yesssss! LOL! 😍😍
An agent takes you to the next level? Do you mean like a movie?
Are your comments intentionally snarky or am I missing something?
30%
I know I just showed up, but why is Harry Potter beside Twilight LOL
I love them both so why not?
Been writing enough now.....let your voice be heard girl!!!!
🙌🙌🙌
Never, ever read the comments.
Luz Rosas hahaha!!! I’m a rebel. ❤️
Ok so I won't comment then
Huh?