[thomaskcarpenter]

Does anyone know where the list of self-published best sellers is?  I've seen it on the forums before.  The reason I'm asking is because a well-known science fiction author was recently spouting that (paraphrased): "no one but Amanda Hocking ever made any money on self-publishing".  I would like to discretely send him a the big list of successful self-published authors so he can decide for himself if that is true or not.  I can list off a half-dozen without much thought, but the bigger the list, the more impact it will have.  And why am I bothering?  Because he has following of young writers, some of which are friends, and while they can choose what they want to believe, they should at least be given the real facts. 

Thanks for your help!

 

[MegHarris]

I think the site that was doing a list of bestselling indies for a while stopped, probably because there were so many of them that it became difficult to sort. But this might be helpful:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2013/01/14/self-published-books-hit-kindle-bestseller-list/

 

[David Adams]

There is a list on Kindleboards of authors who've sold more than a certain number of books (50,000 I believe). There are lots of names on it. Lots.

And lots.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

There is a list on Kindleboards of authors who've sold more than a certain number of books (50,000 I believe). There are lots of names on it. Lots.

And lots.

I'm not sure what the requirements for that list are, but I'd seen it as well, and there are a significant number of names on it.

 

[Susan Kaye Quinn]

You can go to just about any bestseller list on Amazon - any book $2.99 or less is usually self-published.

 

[60911]

A well-known science fiction author was recently spouting that (paraphrased): "no one but Amanda Hocking ever made any money on self-publishing".

Heh. Teeheheehehehehee. Heh.

Sorry.

Heh.

 

[Susan Kaye Quinn]

Also: if Dayla were here, she would say "Shhh! Don't tell anyone!"

ETA: Sorry Dayla! Here's a list of people killing it with sales (2012)

 

[Joe_Nobody]

I wonder what the def of a "lot of money" is?

I don't have my calculator handy, but I sold over 98,000 books last year, netting an average of $5.67 each.

Is that a lot of money?

 

[MegHarris]

Is that a lot of money?

No, that is not a lot of money, and no, I am not green with envy.

 

[Hugh Howey]

Does anyone know where the list of self-published best sellers is? I've seen it on the forums before. The reason I'm asking is because a well-known science fiction author was recently spouting that (paraphrased): "no one but Amanda Hocking ever made any money on self-publishing". I would like to discretely send him a the big list of successful self-published authors so he can decide for himself if that is true or not. I can list off a half-dozen without much thought, but the bigger the list, the more impact it will have. And why am I bothering? Because he has following of young writers, some of which are friends, and while they can choose what they want to believe, they should at least be given the real facts.

Thanks for your help!

Heh. I'd love to know who this author is. Unless it's GRRM, I bet they wouldn't make the top-10 list of highest-earning KB authors.

Joe Nobody: DAYUM, man. That's awesome.

 

[60911]

I wonder what the def of a "lot of money" is?

I don't have my calculator handy, but I sold over 98,000 books last year, netting an average of $5.67 each.

Is that a lot of money?

Yes, Joe, that is a lot of money, at least to almost everyone but Bill Gates.

Somewhere far below Joe Nobody, I made about $25,000 last month from self-publishing. I don't even show up as a blip on the self-pub radar, frankly, beneath people like Bella Andre, Liliana Hart, Hugh Howey, Courtney Milan, etc, etc, I could go on and on.

Which is why I laugh at the idea that you can't make money doing this.

 

[Joe_Nobody]

I'm still down here in the minor leagues compared to Hugh, Liliana, Courtney, and many, many others...and soon to be passed by Mr. Crane and a whole herd of good writers on this board.

I gotta stop reading these threads and get back to writing so I can get out of the poor house.

 

[Hugh Howey]

I made about $25,000 last month from self-publishing.

That's more than I made PER YEAR working at a bookstore, my day job while trying to make it as a writer.

I don't even show up as a blip on the self-pub radar

To me, this is the most amazing thing. I've heard from hundreds of self-pubbed authors making thousands or tens of thousands a month, and none of them are getting the publicity they deserve. I'm sure they'd rather have the money than the publicity, but I still find it amazing that so many are doing so well and it still isn't a story. If anything, you get the opposite story.

 

[Susan Kaye Quinn]

That's more than I made PER YEAR working at a bookstore, my day job while trying to make it as a writer.

To me, this is the most amazing thing. I've heard from hundreds of self-pubbed authors making thousands or tens of thousands a month, and none of them are getting the publicity they deserve. I'm sure they'd rather have the money than the publicity, but I still find it amazing that so many are doing so well and it still isn't a story. If anything, you get the opposite story.

Which makes me wonder... do people REALLY not know? (In which case, Dayla will be happy with our secret-keeping powers.) Or do they perpetrate the myth intentionally? (Or a possible third option: they are stunned into disbelief because if indies are making bank then there's something wrong and the earth must have tilted on its axis.)

 

[Hugh Howey]

Which makes me wonder... do people REALLY not know? (In which case, Dayla will be happy with our secret-keeping powers.) Or do they perpetrate the myth intentionally? (Or a possible third option: they are stunned into disbelief because if indies are making bank then there's something wrong and the earth must have tilted on its axis.)

I was shocked to learn at WorldCon how many famous authors have day jobs because of how little they make. There was one author there with a line at her signing table stretching off to infinity. She had several Hugo nominations. And then I learned how much she pulled in that year from book sales. I couldn't believe it. I was shocked.

 

[Susan Kaye Quinn]

I was shocked to learn at WorldCon how many famous authors have day jobs because of how little they make. There was one author there with a line at her signing table stretching off to infinity. She had several Hugo nominations. And then I learned how much she pulled in that year from book sales. I couldn't believe it. I was shocked.

How long can that last? I'm not trying to start a revolution (ok, maybe I am), but seriously... how long before authors like this (obviously talented and successful) writer figure out the economics? Or will the change all happen at the inlet to the pipe, where new writers coming in critically examine the choices before them, while authors already down the pipeline, long in their career, are unable to see outside the pipe?

 

[dalya]

.... I would like to discretely send him a the big list of successful self-published authors so he can decide for himself if that is true or not. ....

Oh, I don't know. Pick your battles. If you're going to worry about all the people who think you're doing something stupid ... you'll spend all your time doing that. We don't have to prove anything, except for to ourselves.

 

[60911]

I was shocked to learn at WorldCon how many famous authors have day jobs because of how little they make. There was one author there with a line at her signing table stretching off to infinity. She had several Hugo nominations. And then I learned how much she pulled in that year from book sales. I couldn't believe it. I was shocked.

I had a similar revelation after reading a post on the Passive Voice last week that linked to Hugo-Winner Jim Hines' blog, where he talked about his income for the past few years as a writer. It absolutely blew me away that in the year he won the Hugo he made somewhere around $33,000 for the whole year.

Post was here: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,141074.msg2064780.html#msg2064780

How long can that last? I'm not trying to start a revolution (ok, maybe I am), but seriously... how long before authors like this (obviously talented and successful) writer figure out the economics? Or will the change all happen at the inlet to the pipe, where new writers coming in critically examine the choices before them, while authors already down the pipeline, long in their career, are unable to see outside the pipe?

I dunno, maybe Dalya was right, and we should keep this all quiet...

 

[JRTomlin]

Yep, I'm ok with keeping it the world's best kept secret. 

Well, in a way I'm not. There is just something WRONG about the way in effect writers are ripped off. And I know that it isn't exactly ripping them off when they willingly sign the contract, but if they knew how bad the typical contract is and how much they're losing...

And you have people like the guy mentioned in the original post who do the publishers' work for them, keeping authors in bad contracts by denigrating that we now have choices.

 

[jackz4000]

I was shocked to learn at WorldCon how many famous authors have day jobs because of how little they make. There was one author there with a line at her signing table stretching off to infinity. She had several Hugo nominations. And then I learned how much she pulled in that year from book sales. I couldn't believe it. I was shocked.

When I was a kid I wanted to be an author. Then I found out how little most authors really made. That was the end of the author career.

It has always been this way, just a few A-List authors make real big money. I know a popular medical thriller author who won't leave his Dr job because of how he gets paid by his big pub and his Dr job is regular money.

Many people today still think an author makes tons of money--if they have a publisher. False. Urban myth.

Lawrence Block tells it as it is in one of his book and he wrote it before ebooks. Very few authors have made big money in the old school way and what an ugly biz. With a 70% slice, how can an SP complain? But, authors always had prestige that the publishers anointed them with. Urban myth.