Self-Pub author signs seven figure deal with Penguin...

[AnemicOak]

Thought this might be of interest...

A self-published Clive author whose manuscript was rejected by 14 publishers a year ago hit a writer’s jackpot last week.

Tracey Garvis Graves of Clive signed a two-book deal with Dutton & Plume, which she says is worth “seven figures, a good seven figures.”

The New York publisher, which declines to release book-deal figures, acquired Graves’ surprise e-book best-seller, “On the Island,” and her forthcoming novel, “Covet,” which will be released in 2013.

“It’s life-changing,” said Graves, who chronicled her path from rejection to viral e-book sensation last month in the Des Moines Register. “I’m happy for my good fortune and humbled by it. I’m not sure what happened.”

What happened is this: The 45-year-old Clive mother of two rose before the sun and work at Wells Fargo every day and tapped out a steamy novel about a 30-year-old English teacher shipwrecked on an island with a 16-year-old student. She was rejected by 40 book agents and 14 traditional publishers so she spent $1,500 for editing and formatting and posted the e-book on Amazon.com. It sold only 100 copies in the first month, then took off by word of mouth and thousands of positive online reviews from readers.

A paperback was offered and by last week the title rose to No. 7 for e-books and print sales combined on the New York Times best-seller list.

more...
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/art...nclick_check=1

[kennyc]

Wonderful! Thanks for the post!

[stonetools]

Looks like self pubbers are becoming a farm team for traditional publishers-which is probably not how most Mobile Readers see it.
It seems routine now- a self-pubber has a hit (often after having been turned down by a trad publisher) , and then gets picked up by a traditional publisher, to the mutual delight of both.
Why does theself pubber go with the traditional publisher? Acccess to print distribution and and professional editing, art and marketing services.
Advantage to the publisher? They're laying their money down on a "sure thing"-the author bore all the initial risk and found their market

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Looks like self pubbers are becoming a farm team for traditional publishers-which is probably not how most Mobile Readers see it.
It seems routine now- a self-pubber has a hit (often after having been turned down by a trad publisher) , and then gets picked up by a traditional publisher, to the mutual delight of both.
Why does theself pubber go with the traditional publisher? Acccess to print distribution and and professional editing, art and marketing services.
Advantage to the publisher? They're laying their money down on a "sure thing"-the author bore all the initial risk and found their market

Originally Posted by stonetools

Mr. Goodkind is cashing in on marketing investments his publisher made. Good for him, I guess.

The comments there aren't 100 per cent favorable for him.

So it's "mutual delight of both" when someone self-published signs up for traditional publishing, but the author is "cashing in on marketing investments his publisher made" when someone traditionally published goes the self-published route? Careful, your bias is showing.

[stonetools]

WEll, I do have a bias to the facts.
What's non-factual about my posts?

I'm happy for both authors -they're taking advantage of all the options out there-including both trad publishing and self -pub options.
Mr. Goodkind isn't finished with traditional publishing, btw- he has another book coming out that's published by Tor, whose parent is Macmillan.

[andreabc]

I read this one a few weeks ago... it's an engaging story (I could see it being a successful movie).

Last week they pulled the self-published ebook ($2.99) and put up the new edition at $5.99 (the book promptly dropped from the top 10 on the Kindle bestsellers - right now it's #175). I was curious and compared the first few pages -- I didn't notice any changes in the text, so I'm wondering what the differences (apart from the nicer cover) between the old and the new editions might be.

What surprised me is that there hasn't been a lot of talk about it... I think the marketing people might be holding off until the paperback is available.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by andreabc

... so I'm wondering what the differences (apart from the nicer cover) between the old and the new editions might be.

The main difference is the Publisher needs to recoup their 7-digit payout.
When I see these stories, I figure *somebody* got taken for a ride. But I'm not sure it's the author...

Monkey see, monkey do.

[Rob Lister]

Reading a review about the self-pub book she did, I come across this...

There was a small bit of continuity error on the timeline of the island. They were on it technically 3 years but at least twice it was said they were there for 4 years. The land in early June 2001. In June 2002, that's 1 year. In June 2003, that's 2 years. In June 2004, that's 3 years. They get rescued at the end of 2004. So that's 3 years and 6 months. Almost an even 3yrs,6mos. But that's so tiny and considering all they go through it DOES feel like they were there longer.

This is the stuff editors are made of.

Amazon kindly lets me read the first chapter. The writing is decent but amateurish. It is engaging (and I'm not easily engaged) but lacks the descriptive talent of a professional writer. It isn't very believable.

A really good developmental editor could do wonders.

[xg4bx]

lets reverse the roles: in this day and age would an erotic novel about a 30 year old man trapped on an island with a nubile 16 year old girl even be considered for publication? or would the author be put on a sex offenders watch list?

good for the author but it would be lovely if some more indies who aren't writing low brow bodice-rippers were given a shot at the big time.

[Suzanna]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

lets reverse the roles: in this day and age would an erotic novel about a 30 year old man trapped on an island with a nubile 16 year old girl even be considered for publication? or would the author be put on a sex offenders watch list?

This concerned me as well, but from what I read in a review I believe they're on the island for a few years and their relationship doesn't turn romantic until the boy is legally an adult. If I'm mistaken, someone please correct me!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

lets reverse the roles: in this day and age would an erotic novel about a 30 year old man trapped on an island with a nubile 16 year old girl even be considered for publication? or would the author be put on a sex offenders watch list?

Exactly! I was thinking the same thing.

Profiting from double standards.

[Valkrider]

Originally Posted by Suzanna

This concerned me as well, but from what I read in a review I believe they're on the island for a few years and their relationship doesn't turn romantic until the boy is legally an adult. If I'm mistaken, someone please correct me!

At 16 the boy is an adult in most of Europe as far as s.x is concerned so not an issue this side of the pond.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

lets reverse the roles: in this day and age would an erotic novel about a 30 year old man trapped on an island with a nubile 16 year old girl even be considered for publication? or would the author be put on a sex offenders watch list?

from the description in the first post, I assumed it was that way round. There are no genders mentioned.

[taming]

I think this is the true new publishing model: midlist authors are dropped and publishing house wait for crap to bubble up into potential best sellers.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Valkrider

At 16 the boy is an adult in most of Europe as far as s.x is concerned so not an issue this side of the pond.

True, no legal issues there. However, the emotional double standard exists here as well:

30 year old man & 16 year old girl -> Eeuw, castrate the nasty pedo!
30 year old woman & 16 year old boy -> Damn, lucky b*st*rd!

OK, a bit over the top, but you get the idea.