Richard Phillips Rho Agenda Blog

An Independent Author’s Path to Publishing Success on the Kindle April 10, 2012

Since a number of readers have expressed interest in the process of going from self-published to traditionally published, I will post a series of articles on this topic as I progress toward the publication date.

As most of you know, I originally self-published the first two novels of my Rho Agenda trilogy, so I will begin with my experiences there.  A year ago, I gave a talk to the Arizona Authors Association about the daunting path independent authors  face in trying to bring their work to a broad readership and why I believe self publishing for the Amazon kindle offers the first significant break from that catch 22.

When I finished writing The Second Ship, my first Rho Agenda Novel, I encountered the typical obstacles independent authors face.   You can’t get your books in bookstores, other than a few local stores, without a major traditional publisher.  You can’t get a major publisher without an agent with a working relationship with that publisher.  When you try to get an agent, your manuscript is buried in tens of thousands of other submissions to that agency.  You might get lucky in this process and have a great agent read your work and like it, but most likely you’ll never make it past the electronic trash receptacle.

After beating my head against that wall, I decided to try self-publishing on the kindle, publishing The Second Ship and Immune for the eBook reader.  At first, I sold only a few copies per month, but that continued to rise and as it did, something happened that I believe is due to the advantages only publishing for the Amazon Kindle offers authors, a categorization system that helps people find works by new authors.  My books began to break into the top 100 bestsellers in a couple of the sub categories under science fiction, specifically the techno-thriller and high-tech sci-fi categories.   When that happened, a lot more people started finding my novels and they continued to rise in those best seller lists.

As The Second Ship and Wormhole broke into the top ten in those sci-fi subcategories, they also broke into the top one hundred best sellers in the larger Science Fiction category for the kindle, followed by an appearance in the top 100 best sellers in Science Fiction on all of Amazon.  Once again, this brought a lot of new readers, such that in January of 2011 I found myself with the #1 and #2 bestsellers in the broader Science Fiction and Fantasy category on Amazon.com.

With the draft of my third book in The Rho Agenda trilogy complete in February of 2011, I had a difficult decision to make.  Should I continue to utilize the approach that had been so successful or should I try again for an agent with big connections to the publishing industry?  There are costs with making that change: I would have to give up control of the publishing schedule, I would have to take a much smaller percentage of royalties than the 70 percent Amazon pays kindle direct publishers like myself, and I would have to pay a percentage of those royalties to my agent.  On the plus side, the traditional arrangement offered me much broader distribution channels, a world-class editing staff, some of whom had New York Times bestsellers of their own, and a world-class marketing platform.  After weighing my options, I selected the traditional route to have a chance at bringing my novels to a much larger international market and elected to sign on with a well-known literary agency, Janklow & Nesbit, who were now interested in representing me.

Then the waiting game began as my agent pitched the trilogy to multiple publishing houses, reaching agreement in principle with 47 North and then waiting again as the attorneys worked out the fine details of the agreement.  This culminated with me signing with 47 North in March 2012, granting them the rights to publish the entire Rho Agenda trilogy in print, eBook, and audiobook formats in the U.S. and internationally.

This brings me back to the topic I began this article discussing: Is there a successful publishing path an independent author can take, other than relying solely on luck?  I believe there is.  Even though I self-published in multiple eBook formats, publishing for the kindle was by far the most successful.  There are reasons why Amazon’s system works far better for independent authors.

#1 Amazon has a great system for allowing readers to find your eBooks, a system of categories and subcategories plus the biggest eBook marketplace in the world.  You may not be on any Barnes & Noble bookshelves but your work is on the shelf in the biggest bookstore in the world.

#2 It doesn’t cost you anything.  Authors just set up a kindle direct publishing account and enter some bank account information to let Amazon make direct deposits and you get paid two months after the month in which the sales occur.  You can track all your sales through Amazon’s online reports.

#3 It’s easy.  You can follow the online instructions for converting a Word document. Upload it.  Then use the available tools to preview how the book looks as an eBook.  Set your pricing, publish, and a couple of days later it shows up as available.  People worry about making mistakes, but don’t.  If you need to update something or change your pricing, you can do that at any time.  (NOTE: That doesn’t mean you don’t need to use the best editor you can afford before publication.)

#4 Through the free Kindle App, kindle books are available for almost every mobile or computing device.

If you’ve written a work of fiction or non-fiction, I encourage you to take the plunge and publish your work for the Amazon Kindle.

Best of luck to all of you who may be thinking about publishing your own works.

Richard

In coming articles, I will discuss the 47 North publication process as I work my way through it.

Now with 47 North March 26, 2012

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m very happy to announce that 47 North is my new publisher.  I am excited for the opportunity to work with their great team to make my Rho Agenda trilogy available to a much larger fan base and to provide you, my readers, with the best quality product available.  The 47 North Author Team is an exceptionally talented and motivated crew and we will be working together closely over the next few months fine tuning the novels, creating the new cover designs, getting the print and audio book versions produced, all targeting a fourth quarter release.  Once again, I appreciate your patience during the lengthy negotiation process, but I am confident that you will find the end product worth the wait.  Regards, Richard

47 North Contract Signed March 16, 2012

Well folks, I just signed the contract with 47 North so I will no longer be able to offer my early reader feedback program.  I look forward to the official publication of the trilogy.  As part of the process, all Rho Agenda novels are currently unpublished and no longer available until they are officially released under the 47 North imprint.  I will periodically post updates as we work our way through the edit of all three books with my new editor, get the cover designs, produce the print editions etc.   Thank you to all my early readers for the feedback.  I think you’ll find it improved the final product. Best, Richard

Last Day for Early Reader Feedback Program for Wormhole March 13, 2012

Once I have signed the contract with my new publisher, which I expect to happen today, they will own the three Rho Agenda novels and I will have to comply with their distribution guidelines.  At that point, I will no longer be able to offer my early reader feedback program.  Once again, I want to thank all of you who have participated and will still be accepting feedback from those who are already participating.

March 9, 2012 Update March 9, 2012

Got another big meeting in New York today, so we’ll see if we can get the deal closed.  The only remaining open issue involves whether or not the publisher gets the guaranteed rights to follow-on novels.  Christ, you’d think I was JK Rowling or something. In the meantime, I’ll keep my early reader program going strong.  I’ve really enjoyed the fan feedback and it’s definitely helped me make Wormhole the best I can make it.  Thank you all.

Early Readers February 25, 2012

Thank you to all you folks who are providing feedback on the draft version of Wormhole.  For the time, being I am keeping the offer to join my early reader feedback program open and I will continue to make it available as long as I can.  Your comments are helping make the final product the best it can be.  Keep them coming.

12 Feb 2012 Update February 12, 2012

With everything taking ten times longer than I think it should, I’m continuing my commitment to my loyal fans by holding open my early reader feedback program until I get a publication date.  Anyone who would like to participate, I need you to do two things:
1.  Add my email address … richard.phillips@secondship.net … to your approved senders list on the manage your kindle page.
2.  Email me your kindle or kindle app email address … something@kindle.com
I will forward the completed draft directly to your device and just ask that you not share it and that you provide me your general impression of the novel … and any glaring error that might strike you.  For you folks that need it in PDF format, drop me an email and I’ll make sure you get it.

Best,
Richard

Happy Holidays December 23, 2011

Hello folks.  Thanks to all of you early readers who have hustled to get feedback to me on the draft version of Wormhole.  We’ve finally reached agreement with my new publisher on the final contract wording and I hope to have the contract signed shortly after everyone returns to work from the holidays.  Until that happens, I’m leaving open the early reader feedback program.  Best holiday wishes and a happy new year to you all.
Best,
Richard

Wormhole Update November 26, 2011 November 26, 2011

I want to thank all of the fans who have participated in my early reader feedback program.  There’s still a little time left to sign up to get the pre-edited draft of Wormhole, but I’ll have to cut it off as soon as the contract is finalized (hopefully in the next two weeks).  The many excellent comments will help me tweak the final edit and give a better product for all the readers to follow.

Early Reader Feedback Program October 19, 2011

For a limited time, leading up to final contract signing, after which the manuscript goes to my publisher, I am enlisting the help of fans of my blog in providing early reader feedback on Wormhole.  If you would like to participate in my early reader feedback program I can send a pre-edited draft version of Wormhole to your kindle or a pdf formatted version to your other ebook reader.  In return, I just ask that you not share it with others and that you give me your general impressions of the novel (my editor will take care of the actual edit).  If you have a real kindle device, I can send it directly to that.  It won’t
work with the kindle app though.

1.  Go to the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon.com
a. Click on the link on the left hand side that says Personal Document Settings
b. Add my email account to the Approved Personal Document E-mail List(richard.phillips@secondship.net)

2.  Click on the Manage Your Devices link on the left
a. Send me the Kindle E-mail Address for your kindle (something@kindle.com).
It will end in @kindle.com

Let me know if you’re interested via my email at Richard.Phillips@secondship.net

Best,

Richard