Inspiring Facts for Self-Published Authors

GOOOOOOD AFTER-FREAKIN-NOON! How the hell are you? Sorry for the delay, I realize my post is a tad late today. I aim to not make that a habit! Did everyone have a nice Halloween? Let me know in comments and if you don’t then I am going to assume you did. Why? Because I am an optimist that’s why.

For the writers out there, NANO-FREAKIN-WRIMO is officially among us! Very exciting time. I have not been writing for the past two weeks as I was waiting for the start of NaNo to begin the third book in the Love Before Law series!

Speaking of which if you haven’t started that series, check out the first book HERE and if you have already read that one and are ready for book two, which just came out on Tuesday, go RIGHT HERE.

Back to NaNoWriMo!

Today it began, and I have never been so excited to be up at 4:45am and I don’t say that sarcastically I truly like popped out of bed to get the coffee started and get to work! I love it! I love creating a new story!

Alright Porter COME ON! Let’s get into the topic for the day.

Here’s the deal, according to several national studies done over years and years, 80% of Americans would like to write a book. 1 out of every 100 people who begin writing a book will finish it and a small percentage of that group will move ahead to publishing whether that be the traditional route or self-publishing.

Before I get too far in though, I am giving a disclaimer. I am NOT shaming traditionally published authors and I am NOT saying that you shouldn’t try that route! Whatever route speaks to you, go for it. I won’t try to persuade you one way or another, that is all up to you and either way I am with you!

Moving to the topic though.

As time moves on more and more writers are turning to self-publishing for a multitude of reasons, but with that comes certain stereotypes, the main one being that self-published author aren’t “real authors”.

This is, of course, a complete fallacy, but it can be discouraging to those of us who are choosing the indie route. In that spirit, I decided to share some facts regarding self-publishing that will inspire as oppose to discourage!

1. Self-Publishing is Overtaking Traditional

Of the people who have written a book including both traditionally and self-published authors, 46% are traditional, 28% are strictly self-published and 26% engage in both. That being the case means that 54% of all authors are engaging in self-publishing!

Another statistic that might surprise or motivate you is that on average 30 out of the top 100 best sold books on Amazon are self-published! To expand slightly on this one, several of the other 70 books are written by the same author!

Just these couple of facts alone should make you feel enthused to be an indie author! We are taking over this party!

2. Some of the Best-Known Novels Were Self-Published First

Let me know if you have heard any of these names or book titles before: Andy Weir (The Martian), E.L. James (50 Shades of Grey), Beatrix Potter (The Tale of Peter Rabbit), Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad), John Grisham (A Time to Kill), Amanda Brown (Legally Blonde), Mark FREAKIN Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn).

Yep, that’s right. All self-published to start.

Need I say more on this particular note? I dare anyone to say that these aren’t “real authors” because they were at one time self-published. Why were they self-published? Because apparently, they weren’t good enough, or their stories didn’t have the mass market appeal.

OUT-FREAKIN-RAGEOUS!

This right here should tell you that there is nothing wrong with being an indie author, in fact this may even motivate you to choose self-publishing over traditional publishing!  

3. Self-Publishing Creates Opportunity

This may be the biggest fact of all. With self-publishing you don’t have to have anyone approve of your work to put it out into the world. Now, to be clear, many people use this as a con to self-publishing claiming that because of this we are losing quality in novels and that this is the reason why the book market is so saturated.

They wouldn’t be wrong in saying those things! This does open the door for anyone to publish anything which means there are no absolute to-be-followed guidelines when it comes to spelling, grammar, quality of information, etc. It also does increase the level of competition with a lower barrier to entry.

HOWEVER, it also allows hard working writers who have amazing stories to get them out in the world! There are thousands of publishers out there, but there are millions of people who want to get a book published. Publishers can only select so many of those which means the rest of the millions of novels that didn’t get picked up will never get into the hands of readers.

ENTER SELF-PUBLISHING.

This process takes the middle man out of the equation. There is no one standing in your way at that point except you. Yes, you’re still going to have to do the work and you’re actually going to have to do MORE work and you have to invest your own money to get it done right, but you will be able to do it and that is what matters!  

Alright. There you have it. A few things to keep in mind if you are thinking about going down this route! It is a great route and I love every moment of it.

I hope you found this helpful. Do me a favor also if you would. Leave a comment letting me know what you have liked and what you haven’t so far with my blog as well as what you would like to see more of!

As an added incentive and a thank-you for reading the entire post, if you leave a comment over the weekend, I will enter you into a drawing to win a free paperback copy of my third novel in the Love Before Law series which will be released early next month or an amazon gift card your choice!

That’s it. I’m done. This week is in the BOOKS. I love it and I love YOU. Thank you for reading and for your support it means everything to me.

I know each and every damn one of you were waiting for my joke of the day and it just so happens that I have one.

What do you call a chicken who counts her eggs?

A Mathmachicken.

HAHAHA. BACKSLAP MOMENT FOR MEEEEE. Nice.

I also have a quote to end the post with and I hope it will hit you the way it hit me. Have a great weekend, stay safe, we will see you soon!

“A professional is just an amateur who didn’t quit.”

                                                                          -Richard Bach