On Friday, the Wall Street Journal ran a cover story in their Friday Journal section about author Darcie Chan and how she became a best selling author. The reason the Journal gave so much space to the story is Darcie had been rejected by 12 publisher and more than 100 literary agents before she self published and sold more than 400,ooo ebooks. Part of her marketing strategy included pricing very aggressively to gain a following. Here’s the link to the full article in the Journal that tells her story.
Self published author Darcie Chan has sold more than 400,000 ebooks. There is much we can learn from her example.
This is something all authors should read. The subhead on the article declares, “Self-publishing is upending the book industry”. So no matter what your publishing experience, Ms. Chan’s story is one that can help you navigate the fast changing landscape.
What I like about her journey is it reinforces what I have been saying in my secrets of self published authors series of blog posts. Perhaps the most important thing about this story is she believed in her work. That is the second secrect I shared in an earlier post. While she piled up rejection, it did not make give up on her dream of reaching readers with her writing.
This quote from the article sums up a key lesson all authors can learn from Ms. Chan’s success.
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“The story of how Ms. Chan joined the ranks of best sellers is as much a tale of digital marketing savvy and strategic pricing as one of artistic triumph. Her breakout signals a monumental shift in the way books are packaged, priced and sold in the digital era. Just as music executives have been sidestepped by YouTube sensations and indie iTunes hits, book publishers are losing ground to independent authors and watching their powerful status as literary gatekeepers wither.”
Thank you ,Keith, for sharing this article. It was encouraging, inspiring, and I learned a thing or three as well. I think I’ll hang around for a while.
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I would not cut Darcie Chan short on her creativity judging from the reviews-I intend to read Mill River Recluse myself….no matter how good the book, without good marketing, no one will find it. The market is getting more and more competitive by the days, literally- so that even the strategies that once worked, may not work next year.
You make an excellent point. Marketing is a key, but for sure, you have to start with a good book. If you have any other ideas for marketing, please feel free to share them.
Yes- you are right of course, the first key is a good book: good plot, well developed characters, good pacing and most importantly, good writing. I am about to post about this in a second
Send me the link to the post when it is live. If you are OK with it, I can repost it on my blog.
http://impactbooksandart.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/the-future-of-publishing-the-art-of-writing/
Thank you!