I have written many books, including a fantasy series. The first three books have been extensively edited and I'm writing the fourth. I always thought I would try for traditional publishing, but it looks like ebooks are the future. I'm not a hundred percent sure on self-publishing my ebooks, but I am seriously considering publishing on Amazon Kindle Direct. Does anyone have any really good or bad experiences with AKD? What kind of traps to they have up their sleeves? Is there a better place? Also, if I self publish via Amazon, is there any chance of a publishing agency being interested in publishing that book?
Amazon is currently the best place to do this, in my view. If you enroll in their Kindle Select program (which means you're exclusive to them for 90-day periods) you may see increased sales as opposed to spreading the work around the different markets (that's what I saw, anyway). No bad experiences, really, just keep in mind that there are tons of self-published books on Amazon, and the vast majority of them make little money.
e-books come out from traditional publishers as well as self-publishers. Make sure you understand what you're looking at before you make any decisions. Some basic strengths and weaknesses of different approaches: Traditional route - get an agent, agent finds a publisher, sign a contract, do edits - takes longer - get less money per book sold, but generally sell more books - books available for purchase in physical book stores - easier access to translation and other extended rights Self-publishing - do edits, design/commission a cover, do/hire out formatting, upload to various distributors - faster - more money per book sold, but a LOT of trouble getting significant sales - there are a lot of self-pubbed titles out there and it's hard to get attention for yours - books very unlikely to be in physical book stores - you'll have to handle your own translation and other extended rights In general, I think it makes sense to start with trying to get an agent. Self-publishing works really well for a very small number of people; it's probably easier to succeed at it if you've already got some trade-published books to build your name.
Amazon does push new ebooks for the first few weeks they're on the store, which makes them much easier for readers to find than older books. If you can make enough sales in the first month or two to get on the 'also bought' lists for other books, they can then send readers to you. But, yes, it's not easy... it needs a good title, a good cover, and a good blurb to convince readers to try it, then a good story to keep readers buying. I'm certainly not able to do it consistently yet.
Agree. E-books are a format; self-publishing and trade publishing are publishing methods. Take time to learn about both methods (from objective sources) first.
If you choose to e-publish here's my experience with my first book: I made it available on both Amazon and Smashwords (the latter will market it to multiple other sources including B&N and Apple). I released it on Smashwords first by maybe a week, then on Amazon. The only people who bought it for the most part were friends and family which is what I expected. However, it was notable that Amazon sold over 3x as many as Smashwords though I did sell to 'unique' buyers outside my local sphere including a few foreign sales. I sold exactly ONE on B&N and it was the copy my wife purchased for her Nook. Based on this experience I've decided to do Amazon Kindle Select for my next one; 90 days exclusive with them after which I can sell it elsewhere if I choose. I suspect sales should be equivalent at worst. My books thus far have been unlikely to sell in the mainstream 'real' book market so I chose not to waste time trying to go that route; I'm happy being a niche author for now and (hopefully) building a name for myself (slowly).
