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Heroscapers that are published authors

Have you thought about self-publishing? That seems to be an increasingly viable route into the industry thanks to various technologies.
 
I've thought about Amazon, but some of the clauses in their contract made me uneasy.

As for self-publishing in general, I had the opportunity to speak with Aprilynne Pike (NYT bestselling author of the Wings series) at length at a community event last December, and she advised me to not be too hasty in going into self-publishing. She told me many agents and publishers are very unwilling in representing/publishing self-published works because they cannot verify copyright information, and that representing/publishing those said works often lead to contract disputes. Where Amazon is quite popular, the big name publishers have more contacts that can give a manuscript more opportunities/popularity. Publishers take care of copyright infringers for you, whereas with Amazon, you have to do the policing yourself. Nevertheless, if all else fails, I will go into Amazon or BookCountry or something of that ilk.

PS-As it so happens, Aprilynne Pike got her agent through a client referral. Who was that client referral, you may ask? Stephanie Meyer.
 
Billtrumpet25 said:
I've thought about Amazon, but some of the clauses in their contract made me uneasy.

As for self-publishing in general, I had the opportunity to speak with Aprilynne Pike (NYT bestselling author of the Wings series) at length at a community event last December, and she advised me to not be too hasty in going into self-publishing. She told me many agents and publishers are very unwilling in representing/publishing self-published works because they cannot verify copyright information, and that representing/publishing those said works often lead to contract disputes. Where Amazon is quite popular, the big name publishers have more contacts that can give a manuscript more opportunities/popularity. Publishers take care of copyright infringers for you, whereas with Amazon, you have to do the policing yourself. Nevertheless, if all else fails, I will go into Amazon or BookCountry or something of that ilk.

PS-As it so happens, Aprilynne Pike got her agent through a client referral. Who was that client referral, you may ask? Stephanie Meyer.
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There are some episodes of the I Should Be Writing podcast with agent, self-published author and editor interviews (not in the same interview). There is some good information about getting published either on your own or with one of the big publishing houses. If you haven't already, it is worth a listen.
 
Taeblewalker said:
I took my own advice. Here is a link to my own book of original poetry on Amazon Kindle. It sells for $2.99. I get $2.10 of that.

The Beasts of Darkwood Hole
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Yet, here is one example of how Amazon's contract is slightly shifty. I hope you haven't had any issues with this (and hope that it stays that way), but it's something to keep an eye out for:

http://www.sfwa.org/2012/02/guest-post-who-controls-your-amazon-e-book-price/

Out of curiousity, how well has your book sold? I'm quite curious...:)
 
Billtrumpet25 said:
Yet, here is one example of how Amazon's contract is slightly shifty. I hope you haven't had any issues with this (and hope that it stays that way), but it's something to keep an eye out for:

http://www.sfwa.org/2012/02/guest-post-who-controls-your-amazon-e-book-price/
Click to expand...

Jim would have full control over his price if he went with the 35% royalty option. When Amazon introduced the 70% royalty one of the conditions of receiving that royalty rate was that they could and would adjust prices to match the lowest competitor's price. They were very clear and up-front about this, but that's been a few years ago. I got in on Kindle from just about the outset, so I was fully aware of that condition. It could be that he joined KDP late and didn't notice the distinction between the two royalty levels.

The one time it happened to me was, like him, a situation in which Kobo had marked down some titles. KDP (Amazon) told me right away what the problem was. I contacted Smashwords, who distributes to Kobo, they corrected it the next day, and my Amazon price was back where it needed to be the day after that. So far I really can't complain about my experience with Amazon.
 
Mossman said:
Billtrumpet25 said:
Yet, here is one example of how Amazon's contract is slightly shifty. I hope you haven't had any issues with this (and hope that it stays that way), but it's something to keep an eye out for:

http://www.sfwa.org/2012/02/guest-post-who-controls-your-amazon-e-book-price/
Click to expand...

Jim would have full control over his price if he went with the 35% royalty option. When Amazon introduced the 70% royalty one of the conditions of receiving that royalty rate was that they could and would adjust prices to match the lowest competitor's price. They were very clear and up-front about this, but that's been a few years ago. I got in on Kindle from just about the outset, so I was fully aware of that condition. It could be that he joined KDP late and didn't notice the distinction between the two royalty levels.

The one time it happened to me was, like him, a situation in which Kobo had marked down some titles. KDP (Amazon) told me right away what the problem was. I contacted Smashwords, who distributes to Kobo, they corrected it the next day, and my Amazon price was back where it needed to be the day after that. So far I really can't complain about my experience with Amazon.
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Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification, Mossman. :)
 
No problem. His point about keeping your eyes open and know what you're getting into is good advice for any agreement- be it self-pubbing or with a big house.
 
Mossman said:
No problem. His point about keeping your eyes open and know what you're getting into is good advice for any agreement- be it self-pubbing or with a big house.
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While we're on this subject (this is related, but not directly), does Heroscapers have a thread where authors (not necessarily published) can share excerpts of their work? :confused: I want to be able to share some of what I have written, but no such threads came up when I searched the site, and I want to make sure that posting such excerpts would be well within the rules.

Also, I didn't want to hijack this thread as it seems to be focused on published Heroscapers.
 
This forum is probably the best place to start such a thread, since it wouldn't really fall under Fan Fiction.
 
philowar said:
Well, don't know if this counts as published, though fed up with waiting months to be taken on by an agent or publisher and after figuring I don't want to wait months more on the very slim chance that something might happen, I decide to make my fantasy novel LORD OF ULIM available on Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Ulim-Lords-Darkness-ebook/dp/B007OIGV04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332706949&sr=8-1
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I've read part of the preview. Impressive work! I caught a typo ("corpses both friend and foe" instead of "corpses of both friend and foe") but otherwise it looks fine.

I can't say how the rest will turn out, but it has a nice pace to it. I'm looking forward to the depth that the characters will develop after the initial battle scene.
 
Taeblewalker said:
philowar said:
Well, don't know if this counts as published, though fed up with waiting months to be taken on by an agent or publisher and after figuring I don't want to wait months more on the very slim chance that something might happen, I decide to make my fantasy novel LORD OF ULIM available on Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Ulim-Lords-Darkness-ebook/dp/B007OIGV04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332706949&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

I've read part of the preview. Impressive work! I caught a typo ("corpses both friend and foe" instead of "corpses of both friend and foe") but otherwise it looks fine.

I can't say how the rest will turn out, but it has a nice pace to it. I'm looking forward to the depth that the characters will develop after the initial battle scene.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback! It's not a typo actually. I was going for a more poetic old school style with a lot of the prose, which may become apparent with subsequent chapters. You're right though. I see how that could read like a typo and have changed it. So, thanks! BTW, I see I sold two copies yesterday. Were you one of them? :)
 
Mossman said:
philowar said:
Well, don't know if this counts as published, though fed up with waiting months to be taken on by an agent or publisher and after figuring I don't want to wait months more on the very slim chance that something might happen, I decide to make my fantasy novel LORD OF ULIM available on Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Ulim-Lords-Darkness-ebook/dp/B007OIGV04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332706949&sr=8-1
Click to expand...

Congrats! Good luck with it.
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Thanks Moss. I was kind of nervous but went ahead and took the plunge. If can sell even a modest number of copies on Amazon and get some generally positive reviews, I'll be happy. I've been at this writing game for over a decade and it's really beaten the crap out of me. I've read some of your blog and I'd have to agree: bookstores and print media seem to be dying off, and the traditional route of landing a deal with a brick and mortal publisher has become less viable for new or small-time authors looking to get in the game. Every agent or publisher seems to be looking for either the next book from Mr. Big Name Writer or the next Big Thing from an unknown. I'm guessing that in ten or twenty years though the publishing landscape will look a lot different, as in a lot of publishers and agents out of business, a lot less books in print, and e-devices for reading--despite being currently seen as a novelty--being the norm.
 
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