The first of many lists of authors to dispel all the self-publishing myths!
This blog post is a long time coming, but it’s just as well, since the more time passes, the more authors will prove that you can have critical and financial success as a self-published author.
I’m starting with the most recognizable names here, but I’ve got enough on my list for a five-part series, so there will be more to come! Contact me if you’re a fan of any self-published authors you’d like me to include in future posts.
1. E L James
Hailing from West London, E L James began writing romantic fiction in 2009. She wrote Twilight fan fiction: fiction based on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. After removing the Twilight references (what I’ve learned is called “filing off the serial numbers”), she self-published a trilogy under the title Master of the Universe through The Writers’ Coffee Shop in Australia.
She quickly developed a fan base for the trilogy, which resulted in her selling the publishing rights to Vintage Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) in 2012.
This is very likely why the title changed to Fifty Shades of Grey. The trilogy was initially criticized as “mommy porn,” but James did several things really well: she gained a following from blog posts about the story, and used social media (primarily Facebook) to bring readers into the Fifty Shades world.
The series broke book sales records and hit The New York Times bestseller list. In two years, it sold over 100 million copies worldwide and, at one time, surpassed the Harry Potter books (the last of) which hold the record for fastest selling paperbacks.
After a bidding war between several movie studios, James sold the rights to the book for US$5 million to Universal Pictures and Focus Features. The franchise has earned over $1.32 billion worldwide.
I wanted to see for myself how the book read, and although I will likely never touch another romance novel again, the writing is good. It’s no literary masterpiece, but James tapped into a market of readers few romance authors had before her. So good on her!
2. Mark Twain
Mark Twain (AKA Samuel Clemens) is most known for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but well before that, publishing pioneer Elisha Bliss suggested he publish a book based on his newspaper travelogues on the Sandwich Islands (what we know now as Hawaii). Twain received no publishing offers for the idea, so in 1867, Bliss requested Twain write a book for subscription publication with his publishing house, American Publishing Company.
Subscription publishing was considered a low-class publishing method for new authors. Thousands of salespeople sold book subscriptions door-to-door. Twain became wealthy from publishing The Innocents Abroad with this method. That lead to subsequent publishing deals.
In 1884, Twain started his own imprint, Charles L. Webster and Company, and wrote two more successful books, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
3. Amanda Hocking
American author Amanda Hocking finished her first novel at 17 and wrote subsequent novels over the next six years. When she turned 25 in 2009, she wrote 8 to 12 hours a day in a more popular genre and queried agents throughout that year. In 2010, she heard of several authors who had self-published and hit #1 in Amazon Kindle books, and tried out the model.
She self-published My Blood Approves, the first book in her vampire series, in March 2010. Four more books, a novella in the series, three books in the Trylle series, and Hollowland followed. By January 2011, she had sold nearly a half a million copies across 9 books and one novella. Then she made traditional publishing deals.
Hocking has sold more than a million book copies and earned $2m in revenue. She breaks down how she did it on her site.
4. Jane Austen
Another author well known to English Literature majors, Jane Austen became a hybrid author, taking both publishing routes in the 19th century. Austen published her books anonymously, as it was discouraged at the time for women to be full-time writers vs. wives and mothers. Novels were also seen as a lesser form of literature compared to poetry. Both female and male authors published novels anonymously.
Authors could publish books on commission, meaning a publisher would publish the book and pay for publishing and distribution. The author had to repay the publisher for those costs from the book’s income plus a commission of about 10% of sales. If the book did not make enough money to cover costs, the author had to pay the publisher out of pocket.
Thomas Egerton agreed to publish Sense and Sensibility on commission in 1811. Northanger Abbey (originally titled Susan), was sold to Crosby & Sons for £10. They never published the book and forced her to buy back the copyright. She published Mansfield Park and Emma on commission. All but Pride and Prejudice were sold on commission.
After the success of Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s subsequent books were billed as written “By the author of Sense and Sensibility.” Egerton advertised Pride and Prejudice widely. It was an immediate success. Had Austen sold Pride and Prejudice on commission, she would have made a profit of £475, or twice her father’s annual income.
Egerton published Mansfield Park in 1814. While reviewers ignored this title, it was very popular with readers, selling out within six months. Austen’s earnings on this title were larger than that of her other novels.
Austen’s name never appeared on the cover of her books during her lifetime. Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Lady Susan were traditionally published as a set after Austen’s death. She also wrote plays and poetry; some of her writings were left unfinished.
5. Andy Weir
American author Andy Weir was a 20-year software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian. He published a web comic, Casey And Andy, that built up an audience of 50,000 readers from 2001 to 2008. He self-published a steady stream of short stories, including The Egg, which went viral in 2009.
The Martian began as blog stories. Readers demanded he publish it as an ebook, so he self-published it on Amazon, selling 35,000 copies. In 2013, Podium Publishing, a then-new and small audiobook company, discovered The Martian and created the audiobook version narrated by R. C. Bray, which became the #1 bestselling audiobook on Audible.
When Crown Publishing Group (owned by Random House) expressed an interest in printing The Martian, Podium (kindly!) let Weir buy his rights back. It’s said that Crown sold the rights to 20th Century Fox for US$2 to 3 million.
6. Beatrix Potter
Who else grew up reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit series? British children’s book author Beatrix Potter attempted to go the traditional route and sent her book to six publishers. They all rejected it because Potter wanted the book to be small enough for a child to hold; publishers wanted something bigger. The bigger the book, the more you can charge.
Even though I also had BIG books as a kid, the size of the Peter Rabbit series makes a lot of sense!
In December 1901, 35-year-old Potter self-published 250 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Once in print, it caught the eye of Frederick Warne & Co., which published the book in 1902 to immediate success.
In 1903, Potter took her career into her own hands again after failing to reach an agreement with Warne over her new story, The Tailor of Gloucester. She left the rights to her works to the publisher upon her death.
7. Margaret Atwood
No one’s a stranger to Canadian literary legend Margaret Atwood, who broke ground with the feminist dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. It launched a successful TV series starring Elisabeth Moss in 2017, over three decades after the book was published.
But few know that Atwood self-published her first book, a poetry collection called Double Persephone, at 21. She printed 200 copies and sold them herself at 50 cents each, according to The New York Times.
Surviving copies of this debut poetry collection now sell for close to US$4000.
8. Rupi Kaur
I’m sure all of us who wrote poetry in college before the age of Facebook wish we had the luxury of social media and self-publishing! Indian Canadian Rupi Kaur wrote and performed poetry for many years. She illustrated and self-published her first poetry collection, milk and honey, in November 2014. Her website shares why she published via Amazon.
Next came the sun and her flowers (2017) and home body (2020), which both debuted at #1 on bestseller lists around the world, sold over 12 million copies, and have been translated into over 40 languages. milk and honey has become one of the highest-selling poetry books of the 21st century.
In 2022, Kaur released her fourth book, Healing Through Words.
9. Mel Robbins
You likely know American Mel Robbins as a famous podcaster, speaker, and author. After 2010’s Stop Saying You’re Fine: Discover a More Powerful You, Robbins self-published her second book, The 5-Second Rule, with Savio Republic, a hybrid publisher, in 2017.
Robbins says on Instagram, “It all started one morning, in 2008, when I was at a rock bottom moment paralyzed with anxiety that my alarm rang and instead of hitting the snooze button (like I had done for six months straight)—I counted backwards, 5-4-3-2-1 and pushed myself out of bed.”
The 5-Second Rule was the sixth most-purchased book on Amazon the year it launched. It gained popularity and reached The New York Times bestseller list through Robbins’ strong social media presence and a successful audiobook launch. Forbes editors reported it as the most successful self-published audiobook by total downloads. It sold millions of copies and was translated in over 40 languages.
Robbins smartly founded 143 Studios, which produces audiobooks for Audible and professional development education.
While her subsequent books, The High 5 Habit and The Let Them Theory, were published by Hay House, Robbins is still an advocate of self or hybrid publishing: “If a book sells, you will make a greater share of the profits than making a small percentage on each copy. . . [you] own the content and make creative decisions according to your own timeline.”
Mel Robbins Productions Inc. is credited as the audio publisher for The 5-Second Rule and The High 5 Habit. Let that be a lesson to speakers who already host podcasts: you can make a lot of profit if you have a following and put out an audiobook.
One site claims Robbins might be the highest paid woman on the speaking circuit today.
10. Stephen King
Yes, we both know Stephen King is one of the most successful award-winning American fiction authors of all time. But did you know he owned a publishing company, Triad and Gaslight Books? In 1960, he published People, Places and Things through his company.
Electric Lit explains how, long before Substack was founded, The Plant originated as a series of three limited-edition, printed installments that King gave to family and friends during the holidays between 1982 to 1985.
The ebook for King’s novella, Riding the Bullet, was encrypted to prevent piracy, which crashed aspiring readers’ computers who were trying to hack the system to get the book for free. With this experience, King re-released The Plant online in installments starting in July 2000, hoping readers would pay based on an honour system.
He requested $1 to $2 per chapter and said he would only write if at least 75% of readers voluntarily paid. He released six chapters before announcing the project’s hiatus five months later. The Plant remains unfinished and free to read on King’s website.
Check out Part 2 in my successful self-published authors series!
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