OtherGround Forum >> Any writers here ever get published?

I've had a number of books published. I got my first book deal because I was writing health/fitness articles and connected with some guys who did the Sports by the Numbers series. I was talking with them about writing books for the Dallas Cowboys and/or Texas Longhorns back in 2007. Then I went to UFC 75 and had the idea to do a SBTN MMA book. I talked to them, they talked to the publisher, and literally a week after UFC 75 I got word the publisher wanted to do it.

That was my first book. It led to a couple other MMA books and a couple baseball books, and then I got to work with Stitch Duran on his book, From the Fields to The Garden.

I've now kind of left the traditional publishing industry and am publishing books on my own (thanks to the advent of the Kindle and Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing program). I have two big books in the works and I love controlling my own career. I highly recommend this option if you are pursuing a writing career, but traditional publishing defiinitely still has its place if you can land a good agent.

frederic - Self-publishing is great and most print on demand places will get your books to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. but you have do all the writing, editing, layout, cover, etc. And once it is published, you need to market the book yourself, convince bookstores to carry it, and websites/magazines to write about it/review it.

However, you don't fatten up people since all of the revenue is yours. Some of my friends who have gone the traditional publishing route have gotten advances of a few thousand. Some get profits after the book earns that back (given a piddly fraction per book) and others just get the advance.

OneScoup - I have 3 writer friends who've been published. They've all told me self publishing is the way to go for lesser known writers. One of them even has a lower echelon best selling romance novel. Even she went back and bought out one of her best selling books from her publisher so she could self publish.

OneScoup - 

frederic - Self-publishing is great and most print on demand places will get your books to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. but you have do all the writing, editing, layout, cover, etc. And once it is published, you need to market the book yourself, convince bookstores to carry it, and websites/magazines to write about it/review it.

However, you don't fatten up people since all of the revenue is yours. Some of my friends who have gone the traditional publishing route have gotten advances of a few thousand. Some get profits after the book earns that back (given a piddly fraction per book) and others just get the advance.

You can pay people to do the layout, cover and editing. In the end you'll have less overhead, though you'll pay out of pocket initially.

frederic - 

OneScoup - 

frederic - Self-publishing is great and most print on demand places will get your books to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. but you have do all the writing, editing, layout, cover, etc. And once it is published, you need to market the book yourself, convince bookstores to carry it, and websites/magazines to write about it/review it.

However, you don't fatten up people since all of the revenue is yours. Some of my friends who have gone the traditional publishing route have gotten advances of a few thousand. Some get profits after the book earns that back (given a piddly fraction per book) and others just get the advance.

You can pay people to do the layout, cover and editing. In the end you'll have less overhead, though you'll pay out of pocket initially.

Definitely. It depends on your time frame, your budget (as in you can spend more money than the book takes in), your technical skills, and your friends' abilities and willingness to help.

Sweat equity (ie: doing it yourself) can be worth it sometimes.

I've now done three e-books on my own. I spent a day or two learning about how to format for Kindle and found friends to help with the cover. I also had a few knowledgable friends help with editing. None of the three self-published books have made a great deal of money (one did fairly well for a while), but I have not worked to promote them like I should.

I really think that if somebody wants to spend the time they can use the available technology to do it on their own and produce a solid product.

Palmala Handerson - 

OneScoup - I have 3 writer friends who've been published. They've all told me self publishing is the way to go for lesser known writers. One of them even has a lower echelon best selling romance novel. Even she went back and bought out one of her best selling books from her publisher so she could self publish.

Cool. What kinda cash would somebody like that haul in? I have a pretty solid idea for an instrucional just trying to figure out how I could pull it all together and bring it to fruition.

I get royalty checks pretty much on a monthly basis. The biggest was almost $3,000 and the smallest was like $2.75...seriously. I average about $400 per month.

If you have a solid idea for an instructional I would recommend checking out Lloyd Irvin's free DVD and going from there. If you can develop a squeeze page, offer something enticing prior to the launch, and set up an auto responder you can build a nice list and then launch successfully. I haven't done any of this yet (looking for a inet marketing/tech partner now), but I plan on following a plan similar to this for my next two books, both non-fiction inspirational stories.

frederic - Zac, what software did you use for Kindle? Did you also do it for the Nook?

Just used word and formatted it as Kindle format guide specified. I then downloaded Kindle Previewer and checked it on all devices. If I found errors I went back and figured out why. Now I just format it right from the start and it has been way easier than I thought.

ferox13 -  SiouxNyc wrote a great book about underground mma in New York.

I read SiouxNyc's book and it was great!

MountainMedic -  Very cool story zac!

I was asked to write 2 textbooks about 8 years ago. I was super busy at the time & after weighing the time committed vs the potential gain I took a pass. But of course this wasn't fiction or biography and the like, which require real talent an a certain skill set, just an EMT & Paramedic level text.

I would think you would need to be very dedicated to make a go out if it. Have sn old friend who became a reporter so he could support himself while writing. He wall papered his entire apartment with rejection letters.

Thanks MM. My first book took hundreds of hours to write and I made just a few hundred dollars off of it, but it opened the door to other books. I have a full-time job as well and that takes the pressure off when it comes to earnings. I also have a drawer full of rejection letters. Not enough to paper an entire apartment, but at least a couple walls!

Palmala Handerson - Thanks again guys...Any screen writers on the OG? Also curious about that whole process and how it's pitched to producers/directors.

Palmala Handerson - Thanks again guys...Any screen writers on the OG? Also curious about that whole process and how it's pitched to producers/directors.