Amanda Hocking is 26 years old. She has 9 self-published books to her name, and sells 100,000+ copies of those ebooks per month. She has never been traditionally published.

yup.

That reminds me that I need to get another query letter out; I've put the process in park while considering the new pitch approach and working on Cog.

The growth of eBooks should have interesting effects. Self-published books do have an advantage on pricing. I've been tempted just because I could just be done with it. (Well, I'd want to make yet another editing run over it because of my fear of leaving in some glaring mistakes or typos) I'm not counting on making any money in any event. There's a sense of validation you can't get from self-publishing, though, well I guess you could if you get good sales.

She's writing YA, paranormal, and series, all of which are in demand right now. She priced the first books in each of her series at .99 and then the subsequent titles at $2.99, and engaged in a fairly relentless Twitter/Facebook/blog campaign (which, good for her).

I haven't read her, but several of my writer friends who have say that she's got good chops, which also puts her above a LOT of self-pubbed authors, but she still could've used an editor.

I'm wondering how long, though, amazon will keep that sweet 70% royalty rate (which kicks into gear at the $2.99 price point. Below that, and it's 35% of retail price.)

I've been tempted just because I could just be done with it.

Which, come to think of it, is also almost precisely the reason I don't especially want to go that way. If I slap together an eBook and put it out there, well, I don't really feel like I'm accomplished anything. Hey, I just did something anyone could do.

Sales are going to depend on the market, at least for a while still, I think. Romance writers have already proven e-pub can be really successful (see Ellora's Cave, etc.), and teens and the fannish (who are probably more interested in paranormal, whatever kind of book it is) are going to be web-savvy already.

But for someone like my dad, say? He only goes to Amazon to order a book by an author he knows, or he's at a brick and mortar store looking at covers, etc. Reaching him with self-pubbed or e-pubbed thrillers is going to be harder. And he's not reading anything but a print book still.

But that segment of the market will (sorry, Dad!) be gone in the not-too-distant future, too.

The other half just read this morning that B&N is still in trouble, too, and considering bankruptcy for restructuring purposes so they can attract a new buyer. And they *did* address the e-book issue with the Nook, something Borders didn't do.

or he's at a brick and mortar store looking at covers

It's hard to imagine an online experience that could replace that. I mean, if I only want to find a book to read, I might use a web browser to try to find similar books to ones I've read, but going to a bookstore is an activity, something to get out of the house to do.

So-- I cut 49,299 words from a manuscript yesterday.

I'm still a little faint.

That's a shitload of words! Do you need a tissue?

I'm not sure it's healthy to lose that much text at once. Drink plenty of fluids and maybe take an iron supplement.