Another indie marches upward

[Anna Drake]

Indie suspense writer Russell Blake turned up in a recent Wall Street Journal article. Apparently all he's done to rate WSJ coverage is to have co-written a book with Clive Cussler.

Here's the link:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...98604044404682

But one of the things stressed in the article is Blake's commitment to publishing approximately one book a month. He suggests it's a pace Indies have to meet to succeed in today's world.

There are several top selling indies matching that kind of production schedule, too. I doubt I could, but it's certainly working for them.

[gmw]

It is interesting, thanks for the link. I guess if a person in this in the hope of financial success it may be good advice. But I don't want to match that pace, even if I could. If that means I never "succeed in today's world", well, c'est la vie.

[Ken.Hagdal]

Good for him if he can churn out quality at this pace. By way of comparison, Joseph Heller needed 5 years to write catch 22. I'd like to know what he came up with after 5 weeks.

[eschwartz]

It may be *quality* but there is a difference between a good read and something fantastic that really makes a name for itself, etc.

As a reader, well, I haven't read any of his books, but I highly doubt he is a writer on the level of Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, J. R. R. Tolkien, J. K. Rowling, etc.

And more importantly, he never can be.

True quality work will always take time. Regardless of how error-free your books are.

"Being an author is like being a shark, you have to keep swimming or you die," he says. "People don't want to wait a year and a half for the next book in the series, they want instant gratification."

Most people want instant gratification, true enough, and that is what he is targeting! But his books won't stick with people and remain cult classics. True book nerds will pass over his books.

Well, now that I have gone ahead and read so much into this, I kind of have to read at least one of his books, don't I, to see if I was right,...

[VydorScope]

I know him (well - know as in have chatted with him online) and he is a big supporter of other indies and knows what he is doing. He is one of the many success stories in this industry that prove it can be done.

[Lazer]

Thinking about cranking out a book a month gives me a headache...

I got on Amazon and read a bit of his writing. Reads a bit pulpy but it started to pull me in! I'm glad he's having the success.

TL

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Anna Drake

Indie suspense writer Russell Blake turned up in a recent Wall Street Journal article. Apparently all he's done to rate WSJ coverage is to have co-written a book with Clive Cussler.

Here's the link:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...98604044404682

But one of the things stressed in the article is Blake's commitment to publishing approximately one book a month. He suggests it's a pace Indies have to meet to succeed in today's world.

There are several top selling indies matching that kind of production schedule, too. I doubt I could, but it's certainly working for them.

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I know him (well - know as in have chatted with him online) and he is a big supporter of other indies and knows what he is doing. He is one of the many success stories in this industry that prove it can be done.

Yes, it can be done, but he's working at a pace most authors just can't match. Few people have the time to write that much, and many lack the money he puts into his books. He invested $15,000 of his own money on covers and editing before his book started catching on.

He's exceptional, not average, and duplicating that success is not a reasonable expectation for any writer, regardless of how they're published.

We all know it can be done, but I'd rather focus on ways to get to the regular sales levels that are attainable for many writers, not the lightning in a bottle exceptional successes.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Yes, it can be done, but he's working at a pace most authors just can't match. Few people have the time to write that much, and many lack the money he puts into his books. He invested $15,000 of his own money on covers and editing before his book started catching on.

He's exceptional, not average, and duplicating that success is not a reasonable expectation for any writer, regardless of how they're published.

We all know it can be done, but I'd rather focus on ways to get to the regular sales levels that are attainable for many writers, not the lightning in a bottle exceptional successes.

Lemurion - maybe that is what you want to focus on, but thankfully others here disagree with you. I know because I get karma and personal thanks from members here when I share success stories. Others like to hear about the real successes out there because it inspires them or whatever the reason is. Everytime someone mentions a self pub success you come and try to be a downer, how about letting it go and being happy for people? Just a thought... hopefully you will consider it.

While we are at it ... here is over 200 "exceptional" self-pubs from a 2012 listing...

http://selfpublishingsuccessstories.blogspot.com/

Cause you know - its so rare for people who work hard and take chances to succeed at anything.

[Lemurion]

Congratulations on the Karma.

I've never denied that people can't make a lot of money self-publishing, but if you really think these 200 success stories are anything other than the exception, I would beg to differ.

If you go here, you'll see that the author suggests roughly 3,000 indie books are making their authors $1,000 a month or more.

The catch is that books aren't authors, and some authors are going to have multiple books on the list, while others are going to make more than that in sales with multiple books that each earn less than $1000 a month but add up to more than that.

Given those facts, I'd be willing to argue that there could easily be as many as 5,000, 10,000, or possibly even more, people making at least $1,000 a month from their self-published books on Amazon.

The problem is that there are at least 2,369,688 ebooks in the Kindle store, and even if each author has at least 10 separate titles to improve the chance, it still works out to about 4% of authors making $1,000 a month.

These are great stories, and there really are no limits to how much a truly successful indie author can make, but the reason these people make the news is because their success is exceptional.

[Anna Drake]

VydorScope, I do salute you! I've never corresponded with Blake, but I have read his free Jet novel. I think he handled a female protagonist very well. And when the other Jet novels become available though the Scribd subscription services via Smashwords, I will read the rest. (I'm sorry. I'm a former small-town journalist. I'm very frugal.) One of the things I constantly wrestle with is my ability to write men well. I don't think I do. So I had to read Blake's Jet to see how well he handled a female character.

Anyway, I think it's all fabulously interesting. I wish Blake the very best of luck! Now, jf only I could write men well and also produce a book month. Anyway, my best to every author, indie or otherwise.

[Lazer]

Originally Posted by Anna Drake

VydorScope, I do salute you! I've never corresponded with Blake, but I have read his free Jet novel. I think he handled a female protagonist very well. And when the other Jet novels become available though the Scribd subscription services via Smashwords, I will read the rest. (I'm sorry. I'm a former small-town journalist. I'm very frugal.) One of the things I constantly wrestle with is my ability to write men well. I don't think I do. So I had to read Blake's Jet to see how well he handled a female character.

Anyway, I think it's all fabulously interesting. I wish Blake the very best of luck! Now, jf only I could write men well and also produce a book month. Anyway, my best to every author, indie or otherwise.

Anna: Just thought I'd let you know, I STRUGGLED with my female character in the last book. I had to have my significant other tune her emotions up. Still, one female beta reader thought she was a bit flat.

On the other hand, my male protagonist is a half-blood Salish and he's struggling with differing values of two cultures. Did I catch the Salish culture? I think I did. But writing about women....

I think writing from the point of view of the opposite sex is damn near the toughest challenge I have. Tougher than a good ending that reads like a slow motion train wreck.

Glad you posted that. I don't feel as inept!

Tony Latham

[MichelleLouring]

I would probably die from stress if I had to write a book a month... I can't even finish a short story in that time.
Good for him, though!