Self-published author sells a million books on Kindle
The success of self-published author John Locke, who recently achieved a milestone of selling one million books on Kindle, is enough to inspire other aspiring novelists to follow in his groundbreaking path.
Amazon.com recently announced that Locke is the eighth author to sell over one million Kindle books — over 1,010,370 — to become the newest member of the “Kindle Million Club,” and the first independently published author to do so. Using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Locke has made protagonist Donovan Creed a household — or at least a beach and bedside reading — presence that would probably make plenty of print-only authors envious.
Locke joins Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Suzanne Collins and Michael Connelly in the Kindle Million Club.
Reached via email — because he does promise to answer each email he receives personally, which means he’ll get back to you, it just might take awhile — told us why e-books works for him.
At the point I had a proven history of sales, it made sense for publishers to make generous offers. But traditional publishing is not a good fit for me based on the current industry model. I like to publish quickly, and write and price books my own way. Publishers would want an outline of my next four books. If I could tell you now what I’m going to write four books from now, I’m not taking my audience’s feedback into consideration. I write a book and get immediate feedback from my audience. Their reactions dictate the direction of my next book. I don’t write by committee, but my readers’ opinions definitely influence my writing.
Locke, of Louisville, KY., is the internationally bestselling author of nine novels including “Vegas Moon,” “Wish List,” “A Girl Like You,” “Follow the Stone,” and “Don’t Poke the Bear!” His latest book, “How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months,” is a how-to marketing guide for self-published authors. (Seven of the 9 books are Donovan Creed books and two are Emmett Love westerns.)
On his Amazon page, Locke’s tagline includes this rather incredulous figure: “Every seven seconds, twenty-four hours a day, a John Locke novel is downloaded somewhere in the world.” But if that’s true, his share of 35 cents for every book sale has made him a comfortable living.
Locke’s website features some video trailers for his books, including the one below for “Saving Rachel,” which is a New York Times bestseller. The best part about the video is the quote that comes after it, an endorsement by Vintage DM Book Reviews: “If Dean Koontz collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock at the circus, this would be their brain child.”
Locke knocks down barriers that used to make wanna-be book writers jump through hoops to sign with big publishing, and has some advice for those who might want to follow in his digital footsteps:
I don’t care how good your book is, you have to get it in front of your target audience. Marketing is the key to success for any author, but especially indie authors, which is why I wrote a book that explains, in detail, exactly how I marketed my books onto the best seller lists … The way for an indie author to go viral with eBooks is to have a deep audience, not a wide one. A deep audience is a loyal audience, one that will spread the word. My book was designed to show authors how to get their books into the hands of the readers who count.
As for publishers, they are investors, and it’s the nature of an investor to want to maximize profit. In the book business, publishers do this by trying to widen an author’s audience. But my books are niche books. I maximize profit by writing more books to the same audience. Publishers don’t publish six books a year, though, so they would attempt to widen my audience by demanding changes in my writing style. Those changes would drive my core audience away in short order. Every author in the world is one or two books away from losing their core audience. You lose your core audience by losing touch with your readers. You lose touch by not paying attention to the feedback your readers provide.
It’s this reader-centric approach that he says makes him prefer corresponding with readers and picking their brains, vs. spending time at “book signings and radio and TV interviews and public appearances.” He also think publishing houses need to get hip to the changes afoot in the industry.
I think there are several paths from author to reader, and indie authors are traveling the most direct one. But any path that puts the reader first will be successful. Publishers who adapt to the changing environment will be just as relevant, influential, and powerful as before. Of course, they’ll need to make changes. They can no longer be top-heavy. They’ll have to be lean and move faster. They’ll have to partner with authors to create win-win situations. They’ll have to carve a niche in the marketplace, and re-brand themselves. I bet most readers can’t name the major publishing houses, or tell you the differences between them. Publishers need to move out from under the old umbrella and create a strategic position in the marketplace that gives them a unique voice. This is an exciting new world, and marketing is the key. Publishers have at least one incredible marketing tool they can use that indies can’t, but they don’t seem to know what it is! Of course, as an indie, it’s to my advantage not to tell!
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