« Marième Ndir vient de publier le tome II de son roman, Destins croisés, 5 ans après le tome I. Il y a une dizaine d’années, ses nouvelles littéraires berçaient le cœur des grands lecteurs du journal Le Quotidien et aujourd’hui, sa passion pour l’écriture qui grandit de jour en jour. Elle s’est prêtée à un jeu de questions-réponses avec Le Quotidien chez elle, au quartier Golf nord à Guédiawaye. Toujours souriante, Marième Ndir nous parle dans cet entretien de son nouveau bébé, qui a été présenté au public samedi dernier à la librairie Didactika.
» Après le tome I de votre livre Destins croisés il y a 5 ans, vous venez de publier le tome II. Faites-nous une description de l’ouvrage ?
» Destins croisés Tome II, si je devais résumer le livre en une phrase, je le résumerais ainsi : comment les rencontres qu’on fait dans, que cela soit les rencontres professionnelles, les rencontres personnelles, impactent notre vie. Destins croisés Tome II, c’est la suite du tome I qui mettait en scène la vie de Sénégalaises vivant à Paris. Ce sont des histoires d’amitié et d’amour. Les personnages ont évolué et ce tome nous entraîne dans les péripéties de leurs vies.
» D’où vous est venue l’idée de faire ce roman ?
» L’idée est partie d’une nouvelle. J’étais plus habituée à écrire des nouvelles. J’avais commencé par publier des nouvelles dans les cahiers de vacances du journal Le Quotidien. Je voulais au départ faire un recueil de nouvelles. Je me suis dit pourquoi ne pas rassembler ces nouvelles et en faire une histoire, des gens qui se connaissent dont les destins se croisent. C’est comme ça qu’est née l’idée du roman.
» Quand j’ai commencé à écrire les nouvelles, j’étais au Sénégal. Après, quand je suis partie en France peut-être ma vie là-bas m’a influencée. Je suis partie sur l’idée de Sénégalaises vivant en France. Trois amies qui sont intimement liées, qui développent une forte amitié. Je raconte l’histoire d’amitié entre ces trois femmes mais aussi leurs histoires avec les hommes.
» C’est une fiction mais est-ce que les lecteurs peuvent avoir une idée sur le mode de vie de ces Sénégalaises à Paris ?
» Peut-être un aperçu parce qu’il y a beaucoup de fiction. Le roman ne reproduit pas exactement le mode de vie des Sénégalaises en France. Pour le tome I par exemple, il y a des gens qui vont lire le livre, ils vont dire : “Ah ! C’est comme ça que les femmes se comportent en France.” Mais non pas exactement. J’ai essayé d’écrire de façon très décomplexée. Bien sûr qu’il y a un certain mode de vie des Sénégalaises en France qu’on perçoit dans le roman mais pas totalement. Destins Croisés Tome II, ce n’est pas simplement une histoire d’amour.
» La plus grande histoire du roman, c’est une histoire d’amitié, à savoir Nina et Khady. Pour moi, c’est l’histoire la plus importante du roman. Et je voulais créer des caractères où les gens se retrouvent et souvent des lectrices m’interpellent et me disent qu’elles se voient comme une Nina, une Khady, une Sali. Ça signifie qu’il y a une part de réalisme, de réalité dans le roman.
» Qu’est-ce qui caractérise l’amitié entre Nina et Khady ?
» Il y a surtout l’affection parce que quand on parle d’amitié, il y a forcément l’affection. Ce sont des femmes de caractère. J’ai choisi des femmes au caractère bien trempé qui savent surmonter les difficultés qui sont en face. Donc il y a cette ressemblance des caractères qui renforcent leurs liens d’amitié, il y a aussi le courage et la sincérité. Ce sont des femmes sénégalaises modernes, fortes.
» Il y a de l’amour mais aussi de la déception dans le roman ?
» La déception était présente surtout dans le tome I. Par exemple, il y a un personnage qui s’appelle Sali. Elle, c’est la femme un tout petit peu naïve qui laisse vivre ses sentiments à fond. Donc elle a vécu une grande déception en amour. Heureusement, dans cette épreuve, il y avait Nina et Khady qui étaient là pour la requinquer, la soutenir. Cela prouve encore à quel point l’amitié est importante pour ces femmes.
» Ça c’est un élément qui est important. Parce que quand on est à l’extérieur, on ne voit pas ses parents, on ne voit personne. On n’a que ses amis. C’est là vraiment que l’amitié prend son sens.
» Destins croisés, c’est une fiction mais est-ce que quelque part c’est une histoire réelle tirée des relations entre l’auteure Marième et ses copines ?
» Pas totalement. (Rires). S’il y a une part de réalité, je dirais peut-être que c’est 1 % ou 5 %. C’est plus de la fiction que de la réalité. Destins Croisés Tome II, ce n’est nullement mon autobiographie, c’est surtout de la fiction.
» Pourquoi le choix de faire de l’autoédition ?
» Pour le premier roman Destins Croisés, j’ai fait ce choix automatiquement. Je n’avais envoyé le manuscrit à aucune maison d’édition. C’est vrai que c’était dur. J’ai fait surtout ce choix parce que je n’avais pas la patience d’attendre la réponse incertaine d’une maison d’édition. Je me suis dit pourquoi ne pas profiter de la facilité que procure la plateforme d’autoédition d’Amazon.
» Donc dès que j’ai fini d’écrire le roman, j’ai publié le manuscrit sur Amazon et au Sénégal les gens n’ont pas facilement accès à cette plateforme, du coup j’ai décidé de faire un tirage papier. C’était compliqué, je peux vous dire et ça a un coût aussi financier. Quand vous êtes autoédité, vous avez plusieurs casquettes. Vous avez la casquette d’écrivain, d’éditeur, de marketeur, de communicant et tout. Quand vous terminez la rédaction du manuscrit, il faut le mettre en forme et quand on est novice, ça vous prend énormément de temps. Je vous dis il y a des moments, je n’étais pas découragée mais je n’en étais pas loin. Après il faut bien sûr payer le coût de l’impression.
» Il faut faire appel à des prestataires. C’est une formation au métier d’éditeur. Je suis assez têtue de nature et quand je veux quelque chose, je me donne les moyens d’atteindre mes ambitions. Je me disais qu’il fallait coûte que coûte que je publie mon roman. Le coût financier ne m’a pas stoppée. L’énergie à fournir non plus ne m’a pas stoppée.
» Comment vous avez réussi à le mettre à la disposition des librairies ?
» Ça, c’est une question très intéressante. L’autoédition n’est pas bien vue, surtout par les librairies. D’habitude les librairies ne prennent pas de roman autoédité. Mais je me suis dit que quand on écrit son roman, il faut avoir de l’audace. Je n’ai pas hésité à contacter les librairies. Et la première librairie que j’ai contactée et qui m’a donné une réponse favorable, c’est la librairie Didactika. C’est pour ça que c’est ma librairie de cœur.
» C’est avec eux que tout a commencé. Mon premier roman était distribué par trois librairies parisiennes en plus de librairies implantées au Sénégal. Destins Croisés Tome II est disponible aussi en librairie au Sénégal et sur les sites Amazon et Fnac.
» Vous en êtes à votre deuxième roman. Peut-on savoir d’où vous vient cette passion pour l’écriture ?
» Tout commence par la passion pour la lecture. Quand j’étais adolescente, j’aimais beaucoup la lecture. Je passais mon temps à lire. Les gens me taquinaient en disant qu’ils ne me voyaient jamais sans un livre à la main. Et justement c’est de là qu’est née la passion pour l’écriture. Je me rappelle quand j’étais au lycée, j’écrivais des poèmes que je faisais lire à des camarades de classe qui m’encourageaient et disaient que c’était bien.
» Destins croisés, tome I, tome II, est-ce qu’il y aura un tome III, ou ce sera une autre histoire ?
» Pour le moment, je ne sais pas encore. (Sourire) Peut-être qu’il y aura une suite. Tout est possible. Mais ce qui est sûr, c’est que j’ai pas mal de projets littéraires.
» Quel message pour ceux ou celles qui ont envie d’écrire mais qui hésitent à cause des difficultés ?
» Je leur dis de ne pas abandonner. Quand on veut écrire il ne faut pas abandonner. Si on donne son manuscrit à une maison d’édition et qu’elle le refuse et qu’on croit à son projet, il faut aller jusqu’au bout. Maintenant ce qui est bien, c’est qu’il y a des plateformes qui facilitent l’autoédition.
» Il y a Amazon qui nous permet de publier facilement entre autres plateformes. Et si on veut rendre son roman disponible au Sénégal, on peut contacter un imprimeur et faire le tirage de son roman. Le processus n’est pas simple mais la satisfaction qu’il y a au bout mérite tous les efforts et les difficultés. Je me rappelle mon émotion la première fois que j’ai tenu mon roman entre mes mains. Je suis bien contente aussi d’avoir concrétisé le projet Destins Croisés Tome II et j’espère que d’autres œuvres vont suivre. »
»Uno de los mayores miedos de un escritor es recibir una reseña u opinión negativa de su libro. En este vídeo te cuento mi experiencia lidiando con ellas y espero que ayude a alguien a no tenerles tanto miedo».
AVB, «Editores, jóvenes autores y el reto de publicar sus obras», El Mercurio (@mercurioec)
Germán Gacio Baquiola, librero y editor, foto de Diario Mercurio.
«Opciones de editar son mayores que hace una década: editoriales independientes son una vía para la edición de sus obras. Un autor que nunca haya publicado antes y busque editar su obra literaria tiene hoy día algunas opciones, un poco más que las disponibles hace unos diez o quince años, gracias al surgimiento de las editoriales independientes y a la tecnología, explica Germán Gacio Baquiola, librero y editor, que dirige la editorial La Caída.
»Las opciones de editar son mayores que hace una década: las editoriales independientes son una vía para la edición de sus obras.
»Un autor que nunca haya publicado antes y busque editar su obra literaria tiene hoy día algunas opciones, un poco más que las disponibles hace unos diez o quince años, gracias al surgimiento de las editoriales independientes y a la tecnología, explica Germán Gacio Baquiola, librero y editor, que dirige la editorial La Caída.
»Anteriormente, las pocas vías para publicar una obra eran ganar un premio o un certamen literario; tener un contacto en las instituciones culturales (Casa de la Cultura, Banco Central, o ciertos departamentos municipales o de prefecturas), para que le ayuden a sacar el libro; o, autopublicarse.
»Había muy pocas editoriales que trabajan con escritores. Y tener esos respaldos era complejo.
»Ecuador es uno de los países con menor tradición editorial de la región, dice Gacio. Históricamente, pocas veces se conseguía el respaldo de un editor particular y se tenía que optar por la autopublicación
»Con posterioridad a los años 1950, la Casa de la Cultura se convirtió en un espacio de publicaciones. Después de la editorial Ariel, la década de 1980 marcó el inicio de editoriales dedicadas a la literatura como El Conejo, Librimudi o Libresa, como proyectos privados; y luego, hacia 1990 Eskeletra...
»Las editoriales independientes surgieron pasados los años 2000, pero en el Ecuador llegaron en la década anterior: tales como Doble Rostro, Ruido Blanco, La Caída, entre otras que ya suman unas 30. En 2017 se fundó la Asociación de Editores del Ecuador.
»En los últimos cinco años esto se ha reforzado con un auge de las editoriales universitarias, “lo que aporta al ecosistema del libro”.
»Así pues, hoy día un autor puede intentar enviar sus textos a una o varias editoriales, hay una abanico mayor para un autor joven o aún para alguien que ya es conocido. Esto, aparte de publicar con las nuevas tecnologías como los libros digitales.
»También están las publicaciones por Internet, medio a través del cual se puede contactar a empresas editoras en pocos minutos.
»Mas no se trata solamente de publicar una obra, sino de de que esta, efectivamente, circule. Por eso la autopublicación, es decir, imprimir un libro por los propios medios no es tan recomendable, señala Gacio, ya que así no se cuenta con respaldo editorial y con los contactos para la distribución de los libros.
»Juan Romero, poeta cuyos trabajos han aparecido en varias antologías, agrega que revistas digitales y blogs se han convertido en nuevos medios para hacer conocer textos literarios.
»Uno de ellos es el sitio “Cráneo de Pangea” que conduce junto a Yuliana Ortiz y Gabriel Altamirano. Autores jóvenes que han aparecido en el sitio, han logrado publicar sus obras. (AVB)-(I)
»Colección de nóveles
»El escritor Juan Romero Vinueza señala que el ser poco conocidos es la mayor dificultad de los jóvenes autores para publicar; premios hay pocos y editoriales con líneas de difusión de primeras obras, también.
»Una de ellas, La Caída, tiene la colección “Región”, dedicada a autores inéditos. Isabel Aguilar, Juan Fernando Bermeo publicaron con este sello y están en proceso de hacerlo otros como Jorge Aguilar, Roxana Landívar, Andrea Rojas, Amanda Pazmiño.
»Otro factor que incide es que los jóvenes dudan de la calidad de su trabajo y tardar bastante tiempo en decidirse a proponer una publicación».
Alberto González (@Moguei) «PlatinumGames tiene interés en autopublicar la saga de Bayonetta» Vandal (@VandalOnline)
«ANÁLISIS BAYONETTA & VANQUISH 10th Anniversary Bundle (PS4, Xbox One) Dos JUEGAZOS de ACCIÓN» | Vandal (@VandalOnline) [VÍDEO]
«El estudio, que ha decidido hacer lo propio con The Wonderful 101, podría dar ciertos pasos en la dirección de llevar la saga Bayonetta a otros sistemas y consolas.
»Nintendo ayudó a publicar y editar el clásico de culto The Wonderful 101 para Wii U, un videojuego que no llegó a tanto público como PlatinumGames esperaba. Por eso, el equipo decidió embarcarse en la autopublicación del videojuego, sin depender de grandes corporaciones, empresas o compañías. El equipo japonés cree que así serán más libres, y tras la inyección de dinero de Tencent, pueden lograrlo.
»Pese a que la campaña de Kickstarter no ha gustado a todos, están luchando por llevar sus propiedades intelectuales y sagas a tantos jugadores como puedan. Ahora, según confirma el máximo responsable del estudio, van detrás de Bayonetta.
»Bayonetta es otra de las licencias que PlatinumGames podría usar para sus próximos objetivos en términos autopublicación. El responsable del estudio nipón, Atsushi Inaba, ha ofrecido algunos atisbos y detalles sobre ello al medio IGN Japan, si bien ha dejado patente que se trata de un simple deseo y no de un movimiento real en estos momentos. Según Inaba, hay ciertos elementos y escollos a salvar, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta que Bayonetta es una licencia que pertenece a otras empresas externas, y no solo a ellos.
»De hecho, el directivo recalca que tanto Nintendo como SEGA son copropietarios de los derechos de Bayonetta, y en el caso de que PlatinumGames quisiera autopublicarse los juegos existentes o futuros de la saga a través del micromecenazgo o el crowdfunding —algo que han hecho con The Wonderful 101 y no ha gustado demasiado a la comunidad—, la compañía destaca que necesitarían de una cifra y una cantidad de dinero mucho mayor debido a este hecho. Sin embargo, Inaba es consciente de que este tipo de movimientos son vitales de cara a garantizar la absoluta independencia de la compañía en un futuro.
»Hace unos meses, Kenichi Sato, presidente y director ejecutivo de PlatinumGames, recalcó que la inyección de dinero de Tencent les serviría para fortalecer su negocio como empresa de videojuegos competitiva. “Se trata de algo que nos ayudará a expandir el desarrollo de videojuegos explorando la autopublicación”, remarcaba Sato.
»The Wonderful 101: Remastered llegará en abril a consolas como Nintendo Switch y PS4, así como a PC. Hace unos días, el estudio manifestó su deseo de recuperar Scalebound de Microsoft».
«El proyecto Revista Escolar Digital (RED) es una red de diarios escolares dirigidos y editados por estudiantes de secundaria con el apoyo de periodistas profesionales.
»Se plantea como una herramienta multidisciplinar que ayuda a
los alumnos a fomentar el espíritu crítico, a aplicar competencias digitales
y a favorecer la libertad de expresión mediante el trabajo en equipo.
»El proyecto RED está presente en 37 centros de Cataluña, País Vasco
y Madrid, y se encuentra en pleno crecimiento internacional».
Los periodistas coordinadores de este proyecto pertenecen a BLUE GLOBE MEDIA: «Somos periodistas y educadores. Proponemos lenguajes, canales y contenidos innovadores para explicar los temas de actualidad de forma pedagógica y entretenida. Nuestro objetivo es despertar el interés de los jóvenes por la realidad que les rodea. Y que se conviertan en protagonistas del cambio hacia un futuro mejor».
1. Junior Report es el diario para jóvenes lectores📰. Analizamos las claves de la #actualidad para hacerla accesible a los #adolescentes. Además, hemos impulsado proyectos #pedagógicos para trabajar la actualidad en las #aulas.
«As publishers face challenges, will self-publishing actually become bigger after the pandemic?»
«On 22 March one of our authors called me to ask if we had enough copies of her book in stock. Over the next three or four weeks most people would be home with the lockdown, and there would be a surge in reading and book sales, she insisted.
Sadly, the lockdown has ensured otherwise. With bookshops closed and online deliveries of books taking a backseat until recently, authors and publishers have taken a huge hit. There has been a small increase in ebook sales and readership, but with insignificant financial impact.
»The good news is that self-publishing enquiries have not stopped being made. Authors have been calling and asking various questions about different aspects of self-publishing, from book formats post Covid-19 to new methods of publicity and promotion.
»History of self-publishing in India
»Self-publishing in India is as old as publishing itself. Publishers may scoff at this, but deep discounts to authors, subsidy publishing and buyback arrangements have always been available and used. And these terms have always guided publishing decisions.
»A lot changed in early 2008, when Amazon launched Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP); this opened up the market to anyone who aspired to become an author. The growth in print-on-demand installations expanded the market. The creation of platforms like Lulu and Createspace (now part of Amazon), among others, resulted in further expansion. They provided authors with tools to format books, design covers, and convert PDFs to ebooks.
»Lulu and Createspace also provided enhanced services such as editing and marketing for a fee. This allowed authors to not only publish without the involvement of agents and traditional publishers, but also make their self-published print and ebooks available globally. The rising influence of social media further provided them with an affordable and dynamic solution to promote these books.
»‘All you need to do is pay for it’
»The term ‘self-publishing’ once carried a stigma, but with the commercial success of several self-published books over the past few years, that perception has changed somewhat, and many authors in fact now choose this path voluntarily and not as a last resort.
»Self-publishing platforms democratised the dissemination of writing and earned a dedicated audience. EL James (Fifty Shades of Grey), Michael J Sullivan (the first three books in the Riyria Revelations series) and Ashwin Sanghi (The Rozabel Line) are just a few of the writers who went on to hit the big time after self-publishing their first books.
»Traditional publishers have always had limited bandwidth to cater to the burgeoning market of aspiring authors. There are alternatives now. Given the reach, speed, revenue upside and the control it allows, self-publishing has become an important avenue for many aspiring authors.
»The many markets of self-publishing
»In late 2013, after completing twenty years in media and publishing with leading organisations such as Encylopaedia Britannica, Disney Publishing Worldwide and The Times of India Group, among others, I wanted to go independent and start my own venture. During my last assignment at Popular Prakashan, I noticed that often a traditional publishing company struggled to publish in a timely manner despite the work having been submitted and approved by the editorial. Authors were unwilling to wait indefinitely and I realised that some of them were even willing to invest to publish their works.
»I saw a space in the market for assisted publishing that was aligned with the aims of self-publishing and, at the same time, provided quality intervention in development areas of editing, cover design and publicity. AuthorsUpFront was launched a few months later, with Arpita Das as co-founder, and published its first work in early 2014.
»I have always thought of AuthorsUpFront as an independent publisher with an author-supported business model. Quality intervention in editing and layout and design were two aspects that we always felt strongly about and made integral to our service.
»We believed that our editorial and design services could go well beyond first timers writing just fiction or self-help books, and decided to target a segment of writers that needed serious developmental support, such as those writing in the genres of biographies/autobiographies, food, art, business research, and so on. We also found out that some established authors – who are well aware of who their audiences are and how to reach them – were also looking at self-publishing to reduce the turnaround time between books and increase their revenues.
»One of the first books that we helped self-publish was Gas Wars by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. The book is about the pricing and allocation of natural gas found in the ocean bed of the Bay of Bengal, in the Krishna and Godavari river basins. It exposes how government policies are shaped to help large private corporations at the expense of the national exchequer as well as the public at large.
»Subsequently, we developed a separate imprint with him, called Paranjoy, and have published more than 20 books under this imprint. Some of these were Calcutta Diary by Ashok Mitra, Sue the Messenger by Guha Thakurta and Subir Ghosh, The Modi Myth by S Nihal Singh and Kashmir: A Noble Tryst in Tatters by BadriRaina. Clearly, self-publishing is much more than an author paying to see his book get published.
»We also discovered that in certain cases where a book might invite legal trouble, traditional publishers, despite their desire to support an author, are commercially and legally constrained. In such a situation, self-publishing is a viable option for authors.
»We have also worked with companies with custom publishing requirements, as well as small organisations who need publishing support services. For instance, when the famous Mahatta Studio of Delhi completed 100 years, we helped them publish a commemorative volume, Picturing A Century. Recently we brought out Farming Futures: Emerging Social Enterprises in India by Vikas Anvesh Foundation, which is a collection of 15 contemporary case studies documenting social enterprises in agriculture.
»We have also published books by school students, many of whom write and publish their first work before going to college. In the last three years I have seen some very interesting writing from this segment, such as Cold Brew by Sanskriti Ramachandran and The Fury in the Sky by Anavi Khosla.
»In sum, there are a number of markets within the self-publishing sphere.
»Business before Covid-19
»Business was stable before the pandemic, with a new author usually selling between 300 and 400 copies in the first year, and established authors, more than 1000 copies. Most authors who self-publish understand that they are constrained by limited distribution options for their print books. Recognising this, and instead of spending their resources on offset printing, they print smaller numbers on demand, and use the available budget for the purpose of promotion and generating publicity.
»There is no industry body in India or a group that tracks numbers in self-publishing, so it is difficult to make estimates. From what we can see on various local and global platforms including Amazon KDP and Lulu, there has been reasonable growth in self-publishing over the last several years.
»Authors have a wide range of options, from using technology platforms to opting for traditional publishers offering custom or sponsored publishing with some distribution support. And then there are author services like ours offering assisted-publishing solutions. The entry of new players such as Buuks and Zorba, and more sophisticated offerings by Notion Press and Amazon Kindle, augur well for the market, signalling expansion of the business and sophistication of technology, as well as customised solutions within the assisted publishing model.
»Many of these platforms are language agnostic, though most self-published books are in English. But this is going to change, for sure. A recent entrant named Pratilipi is likely to shake things up. Pratilipi is a storytelling platform accessed via a mobile app, and is similar to Wattpad. It is currently available in Hindi, English and 10 other languages from India. Its simple model of connecting readers and writers, and its effective technology, is promising. Google Play Store reveals that 10 million plus readers/writers have downloaded this app.
»What next, after the pandemic?
»The pandemic has caused most businesses to rethink their way of operating, given the changes in demand, the rise in work-from-home practices, and the limitations of social and physical distancing. Many may not survive unless they adapt to the rapidly changing market.
»Any economic slowdown affects every industry, and will certainly have a major impact on publishing as well. In the current environment of rising unemployment, a cash crunch and general economic uncertainty, “indulgences” like reading may have to wait.
»Some might argue that many first time authors are driven by a burning lifelong ambition to publish a book and may not want to postpone their decision just because of the pandemic. That may indeed be the case, but the size of this segment is not substantial.
»Like other publishers, authors who choose to bring out their own book at this time will face the immediate challenge of managing the expenses. While the actual cost of printing-on-demand may remain the same, courier costs are likely to go up with the increase in fuel prices due to additional taxes and duties likely to be levied by state governments.
»Most of the orders for self-published books are from individual consumers. These are either fulfilled by the author or through self-publishing platforms. Rising delivery costs will affect the total expense for authors. This will squeeze their margin unless they increase prices – not an ideal scenario when you are facing a demand shortage.
»Changes in the retail environment
»For every author – including those who choose to self-publish – it is always gratifying to see their book in bookstores. Over the past few years, authors and service providers in the self-publishing system have realised that this is easier said than done, as bookstores prefer to work with distributors handling large accounts over individual authors having only a few books to offer. But today, more and more authors are realising the benefits of e-commerce over the physical bookstore, and are happy to see their printed books made available through online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart, and as Kindle editions. They work with this model and direct their energies towards digital marketing and promotional campaigns.
»Some of our books are filtered into traditional retail distribution like those of any other independent publishers’. At least 1500 copies of a book need to be produced in order to print affordably and get some visibility in the market. Our authors are made aware of the financial risks involved in this, and of the time it takes to get a response from distribution channels. For authors who have risked their entire investment in favour of this model, it has been nothing but frustrating, because they get an estimate of the sales only 120-180 days after actual publication.
»I see this changing in the post-Covid-19 days, since retail bookstores, whether chains or standalone, are going to face many challenges – including their very survival. A recent Confederation of All India Traders study estimates losses of Rs 5.5 lakh crore for the retail industry in the past 45 days, which will lead about 20 per cent of retailers to close down completely in the next few months.
»Book retail, even though it is relatively small, is not insulated from this demand downtrend. There are clear indications that some bookstores may have to close down, while the ones that will continue to operate will see a significant drop in sales due to compulsions of social distancing, or because they will be allowed to open on fewer days and for fewer hours. This will impact the buying pattern at these stores, and the share of the reduced buying budget will be even more skewed towards the big publishing players with major and bestselling authors on their lists. In such a scenario, mid-sized and independent publishers will find it more difficult to get their books into stores.
»Technology tools and automation
»There are several free do-it-yourself cover design solutions, typesetting templates, automated ebook developers and convertors, and basic grammar check tools available online. The quality of these tools continues to improve resulting in output that is both high quality and sophisticated.
»In a post Covid-19 publishing world, large platforms offering such packages will have to alter their pricing, as free services may end up pricing them out of the market. Some of them have already begun to offer a few of these services at an exceptionally low, or even zero cost. We could be looking at a scenario where authors may pay only for editorial, printing and promotional services, while cover design, ebook development and typesetting are likely to become more automated. Thus, it will become increasingly challenging for platforms to differentiate their services from that of their competitors.
»Self-publishing companies earn revenues by charging a fee for the services on offer. They also get a small share from the sale of print copies and ebook downloads. After the pandemic, I anticipate that these services will be offered at a discount. Companies will be forced to make up for these discounts by increasing their share of revenue from the sales of print copies and ebook downloads. This proposition is risky for the platform in case the book doesn’t sell well. For the author, it reduces the upfront service fee, which is an important consideration in the decision-making process.
»Publicity
»In the last two years, I have referred nearly two dozen self-published authors to small digital public relations agencies who undertake digital and social media promotions on behalf of their clients. Some of these agencies have added traditional print media reviews, reviews by online bloggers, event-planning and invitations to literature festivals to their bouquet of services. The results, at least in some cases, have been rather encouraging.
»Authors who are looking at self-publishing as a long term option are likely to spend money on such services. Established PR agencies do not find book publicity viable because of the low retainer fee involved.
»Post Covid-19, I expect self-publishing service providers such as AuthorsUpFront to offer digital marketing services either directly or in alliance with independent digital marketing service providers.
»Will traditional publishers lose certain advantages?
»Physical retail spaces will shrink now and become even more elusive for small and independent publishers. Shrinking buying budgets at bookstores will also mean reduced width of the store catalogue; books are likely to lose out to products that can bring in greater revenue per square foot. This used to be one of the biggest competitive advantages for traditional publishers, even though they bring other crucial value-additions like professional editing, marketing and promotions, and, most of all, brand recognition.
»There is likely to be a downsizing of full-time staff at publishing houses. This is likely to continue for at least two financial cycles.
»Publishing companies – and this is not to anyone’s liking, ever – should be prepared to expect higher than usual inventory returns over the next two quarters, which will put immense financial strain on them. There will be delayed payments and defaults, and the resulting cash flow challenges may slow down their future publishing programmes. However, since it is essential to put out new books, publishing will continue, although the front list will mostly comprise safe, sellable titles.
»All these factors clearly point to a strained system that will face serious challenges. Self-publishing for an established author is always a tricky choice to make, but post-Covid-19 those who have been on the fence may finally give it serious thought.
»This series of articles on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on publishing is curated by Kanishka Gupta.
»Support our journalism by subscribing to Scroll+. We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in.»
«So many writers get overwhelmed with the abundance of information about the self-publishing process, what it’ll cost, how to do it right, how to come up with a good book idea, and more.
»I’ve created a step-by-step comprehensive self-publishing guide that will walk you through the beginning steps of how to write your book all the way to how to self-publish it on Amazon’s Kindle (KDP) Network.
What is Self-Publishing? How Does Self-Publishing Work - A Full Guide.
»Let’s get started so you can get started!
»#1 – Decide Why You Want to Learn How to Publish a Book
»What you need to decide first when self-publishing a book, is WHY you want to write a book.
»I encourage going through this brainstorming process as it’s the only way to ensure that you’re 100% committed to writing a book (and you’re doing it for the right reasons).
»This is a huge step that’s largely responsible for our Become a Bestseller students to write and publish so quickly.
»Here are some questions for you to decide why you want to publish a book:
»• Are you an entrepreneur or freelancer with a new business trying to get a leg up on your competition by publishing a book?
»• Do you want to leverage your skills and knowledge to become a paid speaker or coach?
»• Do you have a well-established business and you want to write a book to diversify your income streams and land speaking engagements?
»• Or do you already have a successful story, and want to build an asset that will share the knowledge and skills you’ve gained over decades of experience?
»• Do you have a larger number of book ideas or prompts you need to start writing?
»Action Plan:
»Come up with at least 10 valid reasons why you want to write a book. Use the questions above as a starting guide to brainstorm.
»#2 – Write Your Book
»If you’ve ever tried to start writing a book, you might have had moments where you’ve stared at a blank page for hours with nothing to show for it. Feeling frustrated, you resort to procrastinating and get nothing done!
»This is normal, writing a book is hard work.
»In fact, coming up with a book idea in general can be very tricky. But in order to start writing your book, you must develop a writing process.
»Here’s are some effective ways to write a book worth self-publishing:
»• Buy a calendar. The best way to have your book complete is to have a calendar that schedules your goals per day/week.
»• Create an outline. An outline is like a map of your book that provides direction to your story. It keeps you on track and ensures that your ideas are organized.
»• Develop a writing habit. Condition yourself to write at the same time every day. With this practice, it will soon become a habit that will make writing a book automatic.
»• Get an accountability partner. You can hold each other accountable to write and finish your by your “draft done” date.
»• Build your writing environment. Yes, this can be a blanket for if you choose to use “build” literally or you can simply find an area where your head is clear, there are no distractions, and where you can write in peace.
»To learn more tips on how to write faster, here’s a tutorial video of the simple process I use to write over 1500 words per hour:
I’m writing 1,500 words/hour with this NEW method...
»Action Plan:
»Create a resistance plan! Figure out which methods best filter out the negative noise to get you into the writing process.
»#3 – Get Feedback on Your Book Before Publishing
»When writing your book, it’s important to get as much feedback as early in the process as possible.
»It’s essential to get this feedback in order to improve your writing.
»Everything from creative writing to factual, non-fiction works needs feedback in order to produce a polished publication.
»As writers, it’s all too easy to retreat into your cave for a long period of time, spend countless hours writing what you think is the perfect first draft, only to find that a) your draft doesn’t make sense to anyone else or b) no one else is as interested in the topic as you originally thought.
»Writing tips can come from anywhere and the best usually come from those reading your book for the first time.
»Not only can a fresh set of eyes on your book help you catch typos and grammatical errors, but a new perspective can give you ideas for tightening up your story and making the theme more clear, like in the example below.
»Giving your book to one (or more) “beta readers” before giving it to an editor and self-publishing can also cut down on the time and cost of paying a professional editor.
»You can also use a beneficial piece of writing software like Grammarly or the Hemingway Editor so you can learn as you write!
»Action Plan:
»Reach out to a few friends who could provide good (preferably unbiased) feedback, and ask them if they’ll be willing to read a chapter or two (or the whole book!) as you finish writing
»#4 – Choose a Book Title
»Contrary to popular belief, you should never decide on a book title until after you are done writing your first draft.
»This is because choosing a book title first often results in you “writing yourself into a corner” because you’re trying so hard to align your story to the title of the book instead of writing what needs to be written.
»Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.
How to Title a Book | Finding the Perfect Book Title to Increase Sales.
»The key to choosing a perfect title is: the simpler the title, the better.
»As you’re brainstorming ideas, always remember to keep it simple.
»Your title should also be clear on what your readers will receive by reading your book. This is because experts state that a clear promise or a guarantee of results will further intrigue your readers.
»It’s certainly what’s made our Become a Bestseller students so successful during their launches.
»Here are some questions to consider when creating your memorable book title:
»• Is your title going to teach a high demand skill?
»• Can your title impact someone’s life?
»• Can your book solve a very difficult problem?
»• Is it short enough to read in a thumbnail image on Amazon?
»• Does it elicit an emotional response?
»Action Plan:
»Once you’ve narrowed down your book titles, send out an email to your friends and family or put a poll up to your audience asking what title they’d prefer. You could also ask a community of other authors what they think.
»#5 – Hire a Great Book Editor
»Hiring a great book editor can mean the difference between becoming a bestselling author, or self-publishing a mediocre book. Therefore, it’s important to take as much time as necessary during this stage of the process.
»To find an editor for your book, begin with your personal network.
»Do you personally know any qualified editors?
»Start there. If you don’t, then do you know someone who knows an editor? If you don’t have any luck finding an editor within your personal network, don’t worry!
»Depending on your budget, you can either hire a professional book editor or hire a more budget-friendly editor from Upwork. But be careful and always check references and portfolios of work.
»As a Self-Publishing School student, we will also provide you with a Rolodex of approved and vetted book editors who all do a great job, as you can see in the example below.
»No matter how you find your editor, make sure you’re a good fit before committing to the full book by paying them a small sum ($25 or so) to edit a few pages or a chapter of your book.
»Make sure the editor is interested in the subject matter, that they can get your whole book edited in 3.5 weeks or less including back-and-forth revisions, and that their edits are both accurate and make sense to you.
»If you don’t feel you’re a good fit following a sample edit, then let that $25 go and find an editor who’s going to work out rather than sinking more money into a relationship that might be a mistake.
»Whatever you do, don’t give up during the editorial process! If one editor isn’t working out for you or meeting your needs, find another.
»Action Plan:
»Find a friend or professional editor who can make sure your book is error-free, and start working with them sooner rather than later!
»#6 – Design a Book Cover that Converts
»When it comes to self-publishing, a high-quality book cover is one of the most important elements that will get your book to convert into sales!
»The reason is that your book cover design is what readers see first and will immediately determine whether they want to read your book or not.
»“Don’t judge a book by its cover” simply doesn’t apply to actual book covers, as much as we wish it did.
»The hard truth is that everyone judges a book by its cover whether they realize it or not.
»So you must make sure that it is created professionally and that it will stand apart from the rest of the books in your genre or category.
»What makes a good book cover?
»• Simplistic styling. Too much going on will make readers unable to figure out what your book is about. Keep the cover minimalistic and it will convert more readers.
»• Professionally designed. Book cover designers know how to create book covers that convert. They have industry knowledge and have studied what works and what doesn’t.
»• Clear title and subtitle. The title on your cover does matter. The easier it is to read, the better. This allows your readers to clearly see what your book is about as they scroll through Amazon or other book retailers.
»• A design style that fits your intended audience. If you’re writing a faith-based book intended for an audience of faith, having an overly dark, devilish cover doesn’t make sense.
»You can find amazing book cover designers on freelancing sites such as:
»• Ebook Launch
»• 99 Designs
»• Happy Self Publishing
»• 100 Covers
»• Fiverr
»• Upwork
»Prices will vary depending on what type of service you want, but the end result will be well worth the spend.
How to Use Fiverr to Outsource Book Cover Design.
»Action Plan:
»Find a book designer with any of these sites and your book will stand apart from the rest of its competition!
»#7 – Create Your Kindle Direct Self-Publishing Account
»Amazon has a self-publishing service called Kindle Direct Publishing where you can create and manage your Kindle eBook, paperback, and audio books.
»Amazon has recently acquired the well-known book printing company CreateSpace and they’re now merged as one.
»This means you can now offer print books to your audience. It’s the best way to learn how to publish a book and start selling quickly, and I’ve used it for all my self-published books.
»I highly recommend it for all new self-publishers!
»Here’s how to set up your KDP account on Amazon:
»1. Visit https://kdp.amazon.com and create an account with either your existing Amazon account or your email address.
»2. Next, you must complete your tax information. You will not be able to submit your published book if you do not complete this step.
»3. Once your tax information is complete, hit “Finished” and your account is complete!
»Action Plan:
»Follow these steps to create your KDP account! With this platform, you can figure out how to publish your book within minutes and soon have it appear worldwide!
»#8 – Format Your Self-Published Book
»If you’re on a budget, there are plenty of resources online that can tell you how to format your book yourself for free. You can start by looking at Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing forums where there are plenty of discussions on book formatting.
»You can also use KDP’s free resources to help format your book. Formatting can be a frustrating experience for the uninitiated though, so if you have a few bucks to spare, you might consider paying someone to help you.
»Also keep in mind that formatting will look different for fiction versus nonfiction books.
»Typically, nonfiction books don’t have an indent between paragraphs but instead, they have spaces whereas fiction books are indented with each new paragraph.
»Below are formatting examples from Jenna Moreci’s The Savior’s Champion and my book, Published.
»If you want to pay for formatting, Liber Writeris a low-cost, effective option for converting a Microsoft Word file to Amazon’s Kindle format. If $60 is too much, you can also find people on Fiverr to format your book for Kindle.
»Just be sure you hire someone who knows how to format your specific book genre.
»Action Plan:
»Make sure your book is formatted properly by using the free online resource above or hiring someone who can handle the formatting process for you.
»#9 – Self-Publish Your Book
Self-Publishing is the way (unless you're really well known)
»When you feel confident your book is ready for the public, you can create a KDP account and upload your book.
»This is how to upload your book on KDP:
»1. On the KDP mainpage, locate and click on “Your Bookshelf”.
»2. Locate and click on “Kindle eBook Actions”.
»3. Then, locate and click on “Edit eBook Content”.
»4. Finally, click on “Upload eBook Manuscript”, and upload your manuscript file from your computer.
»Amazon also allows you to select 7 keywords or keyword phrases to make sure your intended audience can find your book when searching on Amazon.
»It’s highly recommended you also select two different categories on Amazon your book might fit into so you can reach a broader audience.
»To select keywords and categories, look at other best-selling books in your niche and notice what keywords and categories those authors chose.
»Once Amazon finishes uploading your file, a confirmation message will be sent and you can preview the uploaded file to check for any errors. Create your Amazon author central account after uploading your book.
»Adicional tips:
»Include a bio, photo, and link to your website or blog to help you stand out among authors. After a few more steps, you’ll be ready to publish your book, at which time you’ll click “save & publish” in your KDP book dashboard.
»Afterward, you should be ready to publish your book! Just click “save & publish” in the book editing screen!
»Action Plan:
»Follow these steps to upload your book. You are allowed to upload your manuscript as many times as you want with each upload overriding the previous.
»#10 – Price Your Book
»One of the most important decisions when it comes to self-publishing a book is how to price it. The most common question I get from new writers is, “How much should my book cost?”
»To answer this, my general rule of thumb is to have your book priced is between $2.99 to $5.99. To be more specific, when beginning a launch, I would begin by pricing the book at $0.99 for the launch period.
»Then I would set the price to 2.99, and I would moderately increase the price by $1 every week and measure how well the new price performs. Once you see a sales dip, that will determine the exact price of your book that will guarantee book sales.
»Action Plan:
»Find the perfect price by using this strategy that will attract your readers and best drive long-term success.
»#11 – Form a Launch Team
»Your launch team is the group of people who are dedicated to helping make your book successful.
»They should be a passionate group of individuals who are eager to make your book launch successful. Remember, one highly skilled team member is better than a group of mediocre ones!
»Here’s a video detailing how to use a launch team effectively:
How to Launch a Book Effectively Using a Launch Team.
»To find quality candidates, here’s a questionnaire you can use to assess applicants and see if they’re qualified to market your book:
»• Why do you want to support my book?
»• What goals are you trying to reach with this project?
»• How would you market this book?
»• Which influencers would you reach out to and why?
»• Do you have a genuine interest in my book and its genre?
»Action Plan:
»Create an application with questions that align with your thought process. Try to be open-minded with those who think outside the box – they may be the perfect candidates that can get your book to become a bestseller.
»#12 – Maximize Book Launch Exposure with Reviews
»It’s not enough to learn how to publish a book and be done with it. You still have to take action even after your official launch.
»As soon as your book goes live on Amazon, be sure to leverage your launch team and your audience to help you market your book! It may be odd to ask your fans for help, but your fans are there to support your project and want to see you succeed.
»You might be surprised how willing they’ll be to help you if you just ask!
»Here are some marketing initiatives you can assign your team and audience to do:
»• Share content from your book as blog posts across social media
»• Submit reviews on Amazon (ensuring they don’t make the mistakes in the video below)
»• Help build your book’s website
»• Reach out to influencers for a future guest post or podcast feature
»• Share a book review on their YouTube channel
»• Buy extra copies to gift their friends
»The additional exposure generated from your launch team and audience will help push your book up Amazon’s rankings, which will drive more sales!
Amazon Book Review Guidelines (& Why Amazon Deletes Book Reviews!)
»Action Plan:
»Create your book marketing launch plan using these methods. Measure each of these methods to see which will best get your book in the hands of new readers and convert into sales.
»#13 – Celebrate Learning How to Self-Publish a Book!
»Publishing after writing a book is just the beginning. Depending on your goals for your book, self-publishing can get you more customers, free publicity, and establish you as an expert in your niche.
»This can help you land speaking gigs and build a business within your area of expertise.
»Your book sales can also help fund your lifestyle with passive income.
»Dream big about what you want your book to do for you. When you have a vision for where you want your book to take you, it will be easier to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
»Getting clear on what you want will also help you to be more effective when expanding your network along on your journey.
»What to do Now
»Now that you’ve learned how to publish a book, it’s time to take action and bring yourself one step closer to your goals and dreams.
»If self-publishing a bestseller is something you want to do, and you’re serious about changing your life and your business for the better by getting your book out there in the world, then you need a step-by-step system to follow to take action.»
Javier Castillo posa para ICON en la sede madrileña de la editorial Suma de Letras. El escritor está a punto de publicar su cuarta novela La chica de nieve. Foto: Saúl Ruiz.
«Javier Castillo: el malagueño rechazado por las editoriales que se convirtió en el tercer autor más vendido de España. El escritor, de 33 años, se ha convertido en un fenómeno literario que ha despachado 615.000 ejemplares sin el respaldo de la crítica ni de los medios tradicionales.
»A los 27 años Javier Castillo (Málaga, 1987) escribió su primera novela durante los trayectos de tren en los que iba y volvía de su trabajo como asesor financiero en una consultora. Invertía algo menos de dos horas al día, 48 minutos cada trayecto, en ir y venir de Málaga, donde trabajaba, a Fuengirola, donde vive. El tiempo que muchos dedican a hundir la nariz en el móvil él, acompañado de su ordenador portátil, lo aprovechó para dar forma al thriller romántico El día que se perdió la cordura durante un año y medio.
»“Había leído muchas novelas publicadas que creo que eran mucho peores que la mía”, reconoce a Icon Javier Castillo. Por eso se animó a contactar con varias editoriales a finales de 2014, cuando terminó el libro. Solo una le respondió que le dirían algo, pero 13 meses después porque no daban abasto con los manuscritos que reciben. Castillo no quiso esperar.
»“No tenía sentido, yo tenía mi trabajo y para mí esto era un pasatiempo. Solo quería que alguien me leyera, así que subí la novela a Amazon, le puse un precio de tres euros, se lo comenté a mis amigos más cercanos y me olvidé”, explica el malagueño. A las dos semanas quiso comprobar si alguno de sus amigos la había comprado y lo que descubrió superó todas sus expectativas: El día que se perdió la cordura era número uno en España y la obra de Javier Castillo aparecía al lado de la de Ken Follet y Pérez Reverte.
»“Pensé que el ranking estaba ordenado por orden alfabético, porque no me lo podía creer. De un día para otro empecé a vender 1.000 libros al día en Amazon”. Hoy, su primera novela lleva 33 ediciones y Javier Castillo, con 615.000 ejemplares despachados y cuatro libros publicados, es el tercer autor más vendido en España (por detrás de Arturo Pérez Reverte y Fernando Aramburu). Unas cifras que superan de forma salvaje la media del mercado editorial. Según el informe sobre el sector editorial español de 2018, elaborado por la federación de gremios de editores de España, cada título tiene una tirada media de 3.762 ejemplares.
»El escritor, que ahora tiene 33 años, acaba de publicar su cuarta novela, La chica de nieve (a partir del 12 de marzo en las librerías españolas) y recuerda a Icon la vorágine que sucedió a su boom digital. “Al ver el fenómeno que estaba siendo en ventas digitales, muchas editoriales me escribieron interesándose por la novela. La que hoy es mi editora me escribió un tuit pidiéndome que no firmara con nadie porque estaban muy interesados y dos días después me hicieron una oferta”.
»Así comenzó la andadura de Javier Castillo, que seguía yendo a trabajar a Málaga todos los días porque pensaba que ya había vendido todo lo que podía vender en Amazon, junto a Suma de Letras, editorial que en 2017 publicó El día que se perdió la cordura en papel. “La primera edición del libro fueron 8.000 ejemplares. Desde entonces ha vendido casi 500.000 y ha sido número uno muchísimas semanas. Recuerdo que la editorial me llamaba casi todos los días diciéndome que era una locura lo que estaba pasando”.
»Pero el precipitado éxito de Castillo poco tuvo que ver con la suerte del principiante. Su segunda novela, El día que se perdió el amor, continuación de El día que se perdió la cordura, estuvo ocho semanas en el número uno cuando se publicó en enero de 2018. Su tercera novela, Todo lo que sucedió con Miranda Huff, publicada en marzo de 2019, pasó diez semanas ininterrumpidas en el número uno. Tal y como explicaba Jesús Ruiz Mantilla en un artículo publicado en EL PAÍS en 2018, junto a Elísabet Benavent y Eva García Sáenz de Urturi, Javier Castillo es “uno de los grandes magos del best seller en español”, y más concretamente del suspense y la novela negra. Estos tres autores han logrado publicar y vender libros a una velocidad pasmosa sin que nadie esperara tales niveles de popularidad cuando empezaron desprovistos de respaldo editorial.
»Sin embargo, el tercer autor español más vendido en España no cuenta con un apoyo de la crítica literaria equitativo al que recibe de un público que agota sus novelas en las librerías españolas. La obra de Castillo —novela negra, vertiginosa y efectista— pertenece a un ámbito de la literatura, el de las novelas de entretenimiento y consumo rápido, que no suele aparecer —ni lo pretende— en las publicaciones literarias. El escritor reconoce a Icon que al principio no entendía el desinterés que despertaba entre los críticos cuando estaba vendiendo cientos de miles de ejemplares, pero que con el tiempo lo vio como un ejercicio de justicia en el que otros libros que necesitaban más promoción que los suyos obtenían la atención que él no recibía por parte de los medios.
»“Ahora me parece genial que no hablen de mí e incluso me da paz mental. Es cierto que antes no lo comprendía, pero en este momento creo que es algo bueno. Lo único importante es que la gente te lea. Lo demás es alimentar el ego y este es el peor enemigo de cualquier escritor porque hay que estar preparado para no vender y para no gustar. Al final se trata de disfrutar del día a día con la familia y los amigos”.
»Javier mantiene los pies en la tierra, escribe sus libros en la biblioteca pública de Fuengirola rodeado de opositores y estudiantes (“ya nos conocemos todos porque siempre vamos los mismos”), y su nombre apenas aparece en la prensa. Pero cada vez que va a una firma de libros, el malagueño atiende a miles de personas que esperan horas para compartir con él unos segundos. En Instagram le siguen más de 300.000 fans y sus libros se traducen a varios idiomas. Castillo ha sido invitado al almuerzo anual que organiza la Casa Real con motivo del Premio Cervantes y ha charlado sobre literatura con el rey Felipe y la reina Letizia. Incluso Joël Dicker, autor al que admira, alabó su obra en una frase que decidieron incluir en la solapa de su tercer libro (“Javier Castillo es sin duda el nuevo fenómeno de la literatura europea”).
»Durante un tiempo, Castillo trató de compaginar su incipiente carrera literaria con el trabajo que había sido su sustento durante seis años y con su reciente paternidad, pues solo un mes antes de que Suma de Letras publicara su primera novela nació su hija Gala. “Pasaba mucho tiempo fuera de casa trabajando. No podía disfrutar de lo que me estaba ocurriendo con mi novela ni podía ver a mi hija todo lo que quería. Fue una época dura en la que cuando cogía a Gala lloraba y me di cuenta de que no podía seguir así. Necesitaba un trabajo que me permitiera estar en casa para vivir al máximo los momentos como padre y el éxito que estaba teniendo como escritor”. Y así Javier Castillo se despidió de la estabilidad laboral para apostar por su nueva vida como escritor. “No sabía si esto iba a tener continuidad pero sí sabía que necesitaba intentarlo”.
»Tres años después de haber tomado esta decisión, el malagueño puede decir que hizo lo correcto pero no pierde la perspectiva y es consciente de que lo que a él le ha ocurrido no es lo normal. “Es muy complicado que a alguien le pase lo que me ha pasado a mí. Yo tengo buenos ingresos y vender las cantidades que vendo me permite vivir bien. Pero tengo muchos amigos autores que no pasan de los 10.000 ejemplares, que no deja de ser una barbaridad ahora mismo”, apunta Castillo, a la vez que reconoce que para tener un sueldo que a un escritor le permita sobrevivir debe vender unos 15.000 libros al año. “Por encima de eso te permite ahorrar y aún más por encima puedes permitirte espaciar los libros. Si vendes 100.000 ejemplares puedes plantearte escribir un libro cada tres años. Pero los que llegamos a esto somos unos afortunados, no es fácil. La mayoría lo que hacen es completar la escritura con su profesión”, matiza.
»Haber vendido más de medio millón de libros le ha dado la oportunidad de cumplir uno de los sueños que compartía con su mujer, la influencer Verónica Díaz (conocida como Just Coco): construirse una casa con piscina y jardín donde poder criar a sus dos hijos, Gala, de tres años, y Bruno, de un año. La pareja hace partícipes a sus seguidores de su día a día a través del canal de YouTube que Verónica se abrió en 2016. En él, Javier aparece muchas veces escribiendo en casa mientras su mujer muestra cómo es su vida cotidiana a los 900.000 seguidores que tiene en la red social.
»El canal de YouTube que gestiona Verónica ha permitido a Castillo llegar a un público que de otra forma no le leería. “Es indudable que el canal te acerca a gente que no te conocería si no fuera por él. Sobre todo lo siguen mujeres que suelen leer novela romántica y que se lanzan a leer novela negra por curiosidad al verme en los vídeos de Verónica. Además, YouTube nos permite mostrar cosas de nuestra familia y también enseñar qué es lo que hay detrás de la escritura”, opina el autor de La chica de nieve.
»En unos meses el fenómeno Javier Castillo traspasará las páginas de papel para colarse en las pantallas de televisores y ordenadores, pero de eso, aunque le ilusiona, no puede hablar mucho. “Se va a hacer una serie con mis dos primeras novelas y yo estoy ayudando en la parte preliminar de los guiones”. Cuándo y dónde podrá verla el más de medio millón de personas que han leído El día que se perdió la cordura y El día que se perdió el amor aún es un misterio».
Captura de pantalla de la web ideatoauthorpublishing.com
«Cliff Pelloni created the Idea to Author program to help more people to publish their passion and monetize their message. He wants potential authors to avoid the biggest traps, pitfalls and challenges when writing a book and go from Ideas to Author with ease even if they Have No Time, Hate Writing and Lack Clarity.
»“I've helped hundreds of people clarify their message, get laser focused and publish their inspirational, professional book with ease while having fun,” states Pelloni.
»“I created Idea to Author Self-Publishing Academy to help authors avoid unneeded costly mistakes, delays and frustration. It's a self-guided program with some personal coaching by me. I walk them along the process of what I call the 5 Phases of Profitable Publishing and help them to avoid the most common mistakes which can turn their book from fantastic to failure.”
»Pelloni created a free video training and guide at www.IdeatoAuthorPublishing.com for anyone interested in writing and publishing a book. It helps potential authors get started down the right path.
»The training covers topics such as:
»- How to avoid the traps pitfalls and challenges of self-publishing
»- How to overcome time confusion and ensure authors write the “right” book
»- How to navigate the potholes of publishing tech
»- The #1 reason people don't finish their book
»Pelloni believes having a book is an essential tool for business owners, coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs to help them elevate their brand and become irresistible to their ideal clients while growing leads, sales and revenue.
»ABOUT CLIFF PELLONI
»Utilizing more than 25 years of sales, marketing and entrepreneurial experience ranging from start-ups to Fortune 5 companies Cliff has developed programs and exclusive systems which help sell millions of dollars of products and services for organizations, businesses and entrepreneurs using the Power of Transformational Publishing.
»Working with many different and diverse clients around the world ranging from piano teachers to rock stars, realtors to international speakers he helps them to clarify their message, get laser focused and publish their inspirational, professional book with ease while having fun.
»His system helps authors avoid unneeded costly mistakes, delays, and frustration while elevating their brand and become irresistible to their ideal clients while gaining leads, sales and revenue.
Felipe Gurgel «Autores e livreiros relatam suas experiências com o livro digital» Diário do Nordeste (@diarioonline)
Mylena Araújo conquistou seu público leitor pela ferramenta digital de autopublicação do Wattpad. Foto: Alexandre de Almeida.
«O romance A Sombra de um outro Mundo (ficção científica), e-book da escritora cearense Mylena Araújo (28), já alcançou mais de 30 mil visualizações. Desde que começou a publicar nas plataformas digitais há quatro anos, ela comemora a possibilidade de interagir com os leitores em tempo real. Na sequência dessa publicação, surgiram o miniconto Tereza e a série de contos macabros Lugar Nenhum.
»Habituada à plataforma de autopublicação do Wattpad, Mylena, contudo, não tem, como leitora, preferência entre livros digitais e físicos. Para a autora, existe uma complementariedade de ambos os formatos. “Não há uma versão melhor que a outra. Cada uma oferece aquilo de que o leitor necessita”, identifica.
»A exemplo de Mylena, o autor L.M. Ariviello (nome artístico do cearense Manoel Oliveira) costuma publicar seus textos no Wattpad. O segundo livro, A Herdeira de Hélzius, está disponível em versão impressa e digital. Com o e-book, Ariviello admite que a recepção da obra ainda é tímida. “Apesar de muita gente ler no formato digital hoje em dia, eu percebo certa resistência. Muitos leitores são tradicionais e preferem o livro físico mesmo”, destaca ele.
»Segundo Alexandre Munhoz, gerente de Kindle no Brasil, os leitores passam a ler mais, quando adotam o livro digital. "E não necessariamente trocam um suporte pelo outro. Não vemos uma disputa (entre digital e impresso)”, reflete.
Dias Vazios, vencedora do 4º Prêmio Kindle de Literatura.
»Vencedora do 4º Prêmio Kindle [@AmazonKindle, @brkindle] de Literatura com a obra Dias Vazios, a psicóloga e escritora carioca Bárbara Nonato acrescenta que muitos leitores ainda veem os livros digitais como “aperitivos” da versão impressa. Além de R$ 30 mil pelo prêmio da Amazon, ela ganhou a oportunidade de publicar seu novo livro no papel, por meio da Editora Nova Fronteira.
»“Quando comecei a escrever, meu primeiro livro saiu impresso. Depois publiquei outros só no digital, e alguns leitores falavam ‘ah, quando sair impresso eu compro’. Hoje, vejo que tudo está mais amplo nesse sentido. Muita gente tem se adaptado à leitura digital”, observa a autora.
»Grandeza
»Para Angela Gutierrez, presidente da Academia Cearense de Letras, a grandeza de uma obra literária não se perde à medida que o leitor troca de suporte. “Machado de Assis continuará a ser um escritor extraordinário se sua obra for lida em um e-book. Mas leio pouco em suporte digital. Desde criança, me afeiçoei ao livro de papel. O prazer da leitura vem, claro, da qualidade intrínseca da obra, mas, algumas vezes, pode ser intensificado por certos paratextos que a apresentam”, conta a escritora.
»Vencedor do prêmio Jabuti de Literatura em duas categorias, em 2018, o cearense Mailson Furtado chama atenção para a predominância de um “nicho” formado por leitores jovens no ambiente digital.
»Segundo o autor de À Cidade, esse público “lê principalmente prosa, em sua grande maioria títulos categorizados como ‘young adults’, em suas diversas vertentes: fantasia, ficção científica, terror”, detalha. Mailson enfatiza que disponibilizar sua obra no formato digital ajudou-lhe a alcançar um público distinto do leitor do livro impresso.
»Em 2011, a escritora cearense Julie Oliveira publicou uma “versão animada” de seu livro infantil, “Brincando com Matemática”, pela Conhecimento Editora, empresa na qual trabalhou como sócio-editora. A publicação saiu nos primórdios do livro digital no Brasil e, tanto sua concepção, como a recepção dos leitores, ganhou ares de experimentação.
»“Além disso, a editora não tinha muitos conhecimentos sobre esse mercado, tampouco recursos de investimento/marketing em torno desses suportes. Lembro que, curiosamente, os retornos de leitores que recebemos foram todos de pessoas sediadas em outros países. Pra mim, representou na época uma possibilidade de expandir as fronteiras a partir desses 'novos formatos'”, reflete Julie.
»Distinção
»Os autores são unânimes em sinalizar como o livro impresso tem seu espaço consolidado no mercado livreiro (apesar da atual crise das livrarias) e apelos bem distintos em relação ao e-book. Sobre os pontos a favor da aquisição do suporte de leitura digital, dois dos itens mais sensíveis são a portabilidade e a questão do impacto ambiental.
»“A vantagem principal seria a portabilidade, em um mundo cada vez mais fluído em tempo-espaço, isso conta demais. Entre outras, citaria, a depender dos dispositivos, a interação que se tem com o próprio texto, os hiperlinks, e por vezes até o contato direto com o autor”, elenca Mailson.
»Ariviello se diz do “time que defende os e-books", mesmo sem ter tido uma boa experiência quanto à formação de leitores via suporte digital. “Acho que eles são o futuro. É uma forma mais politicamente correta, não destrói o meio ambiente para criar papel. No Wattpad, você pode ter contato com outras pessoas que estão lendo aquele mesmo livro”, conta o autor cearense.
»Rapidez
»Julie Oliveira destaca como o e-book favorece a pesquisa de trechos específicos da obra, a interação com o acesso ao significado das palavras e links similares. E reforça a praticidade de armazenamento das obras e para carregar consigo os dispositivos.
»“Esse é um ponto extraordinário, nesses tempos de malas que ‘tem que ser leves’. Além da quantidade de ‘autores independentes’ que tem se autopublicado e utilizado esses mecanismos para distribuição de suas obras”, acrescenta a escritora.
»Mailson Furtado complementa como a acolhida de todos os formatos é um caminho espontâneo para o autor encontrar seus leitores. “Creio que o escritor deve estar onde existam leitores, não podemos negar qualquer que seja o formato. Afinal, a literatura ali está”, observa.»
«About a year ago, I removed A Falling Body from the Kindle store. It hadn’t sold even a single copy for several months and I worried that by languishing there without showing any sign of life, it was probably doing no good to my reputation with Amazon.
»More to the point, it was annoying me: its baleful presence felt like an accusation or a reproof. Obviously, I wasn’t doing enough to market or promote it. A few people said to me that it was a mistake to remove it: as long as it existed on the platform there was a chance that somebody might discover it by tripping over it. I felt sure that that wasn’t true, though I wasn’t sure why at the time.
»The book remained available through iBooks, Kobo and a handful of other ebook sellers and I set up a page for it with Payhip, which attracted a few hundred page views but just one additional buyer — my cousin. That’s how things remained until two weeks ago, when I was writing about Goodreads and the self-published author. Among the relevant material I found using Google were two stories by Ewan Morrison from the Guardian in 2012.
»These stories are six years old now and we all know that the ebook publishing business is changing fast, so naturally I read them with a sense that the situation might have changed dramatically since they were written.
»In 2012, Morrison expected the self-publishing “bubble” to have burst within 18 months. Clearly, that didn’t happen, so to that extent his reading is wrong. But, as they say, prediction is notoriously difficult, particularly when it’s about the future. There is, I think, an unending supply of aspirants who “always dreamt of being an author”, so it should be no surprise that they are enough to keep the self-publishing industry going, long after it should be clear that the economic model doesn’t work — at least not for the authors.
»Morrison foresaw that the bubble would progress through 7 named stages, culminating in the final disillusionment of the indie author:
»“[T]his was in fact the business model of Amazon and other platforms in the first place: a model called “the long tail”. With five million new self-publishing authors selling 100 books each, Amazon has shifted 500m units. While each author — since they had to cut costs to 99p — has made only £99 after a year’s work”.
»His prediction of a collapse within 18 months was based on the assumption that the authors would behave in an economically rational manner and quit the business. Unfortunately for them, “aspiring” authors have been conditioned to accept years, even decades, of rejection, failure, setbacks and unpaid work. We’re told, and tell each other, that to give up would be a betrayal of our “dream”.
»As a consequence, we make perfect targets for “a kind of Ponzi scheme — one created by digital companies to prey on the desires of an expanding mass of consumers who also wanted to be believe they could be ‘creative’”.
Of course, there are self-published authors who have been and continue to be enviably successful. They’re a tiny — proportionally infinitesimal — minority.
»And as Morrison points out, for many of those who have made indie authorship their main business, their best selling book is the one which explains to other would-be self-publishers how they did it! In fact, some observers believe that more money is made from self-publishers — selling them how-to books, courses and services (editing, design, marketing) — than by self-publishers.
»Amazon’s model is analogous to social media (where the “content” is created voluntarily by the users) or blogging on a free WordPress site: you (the user of the service) are not the customer. Similarly, in the business of selling ebooks (and print-on-demand books) to readers, you (the author) are not the enterprise. You’re not, in effect, the seller. According to the business model, you’re not the one who’s meant to make money from the deal.
»When you qualify a term, you change its meaning to a greater or a lesser extent. I’ve long been fascinated by the way we sometimes qualify something to the extent of actually reversing its meaning. So, Lucio Colletti was able to show that “dialectical materialism” is not materialism at all but its opposite, idealism. In much the same way, “magic realism”—though it certainly didn’t start out that way—has regrettably come to mean something far removed from realism, more like fantasy. And “self-publishing” is not Publishing. In practical terms, it’s the opposite of publishing.
»That’s why Amazon so generously provides free publishing tools and will store your digital file on its servers, at no cost to you, till kingdom come, whether you sell any copies or not. But, if we’re not the sellers of the ebooks we write, what the heck are we? I like the term “digital sharecroppers” which I think was popularized, if not coined, by Nicholas Carr.
»I’m not willing to play that game any more. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up writing fiction. (Of course not.) I’ve been posting A Falling Body in parts of 1,500 to 2,500 words, here on Medium. You can read it, if you’re so inclined, for free. I’m about to get back to work on another novel (working title: Songs We Know, nicked from an album by Fred Hersch and Bill Frisell). When that’s finished … well, I probably won’t self-publish it, at least not as an ebook or print-on-demand.
»Time will tell.
Update: I decided that Songs We Know would work better as a novella, so I removed a subplot, halving the number of words in the first draft, and you can now read it under the title Dear Old Stockholm.
And here are some of my more recent thoughts about “Survivorship bias in writing and publishing”.»
«La plataforma de autopublicación de Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), mantiene una batalla encubierta con las editoriales tradicionales. Las ventajas que ofrece KDP a los autores es un arma muy poderosa que juega en favor del gigante del ecommerce. Algunos de los libros que han visto la luz en KDP son casos de éxito, ¿quién no ha oído hablar de Juan Gómez-Jurado o de El asesino de Sócrates?
»Si un autor tiene la suerte de gustar a una de las editoriales tradicionales y de que su obra vea la luz, el porcentaje de beneficio que obtendrá por las ventas rondará el 25%; mientras que, al publicar su libro en KDP el beneficio directo por la venta puede ascender al 70%. Estas cifras inclinan la balanza al lado de Amazon, y seducen todavía más a los autores al conocer que el coste de publicación es cero.
»“Todos sabemos que cualquier escritor que no sea un personaje popular, o tenga cierta trayectoria que asegure las ventas, es invisible para las editoriales”, sentencia Ismael Santiago, autor autopublicado en KDP. La frustración de muchos autores encuentra cura en la herramienta de la que dispone Amazon.
»La autopublicación ha atraído a algunos autores conocidos y ha sido la última bala de otros tantos cansados de negativas de las editoriales. Las grandes ventajas que ofrece KDP para escritores nóveles, o ya publicados, pero que no han alcanzado la gloria, son un reclamo editorial. Además de la diferencia porcentual en materia de beneficios, Amazon permite mantener el control de los títulos y de las ventas al autor. En esta evolución del mercado editorial han nacido nuevas formas de publicación.
»La semiedición es una de las más contempladas por autores contemporáneos. De este modelo sabe mucho Marcos Chicot, el autor de El asesino de Sócrates. El escritor madrileño empezó publicando en KDP, más tarde pasó a publicar en Planeta, y ahora, publicará sus libros en formato electrónico con KDP y en papel con Planeta. Tal fue el éxito de sus novelas que, Chicot ganó el Premio Planeta en 2016 y fue el libro más vendido de Amazon en 2013 con El asesino de Pitágoras.
»AMAZON, EL CALDO DE CULTIVO EDITORIAL
»Juan Gómez-Jurado es uno de los autores más vendidos de 2019. Su Reina roja y su Loba negra encabezan las listas de títulos más deseados. El autor comenzó a publicar en KDP y ahora sus novelas están a la venta en el sello Ediciones B, del grupo Penguin Random House.
»El reconocimiento alcanzado por dos autores que depositaron su obra en KDP evidencia los cambios en el mundo editorial. Igualmente, los nuevos aires que corren en el gremio explican la fuerte apuesta de las editoriales por otros formatos como el audiolibro, y por supuesto, el libro electrónico. Aunque en Amazon encuentran un fuerte rival.
»Además, el origen de Amazon, concebido como libreria online, parece chocar con la gran apuesta del marketplace por el formato electrónico. La digitalización es una realidad, afirma la responsable de contenidos de Kindle España, Betty Argilés. Quien asegura que, desde Amazon, existe una apuesta firme por la coexistencia del formato papel y electrónico.
»EL LIDERAZGO DEL PAPEL
»El reto que tiene Amazon a través de su plataforma de autopublicación no está muy respaldado por los datos del último Barómetro de Hábitos de Lectura 2019. Los resultados del estudio, que ha presentado el Ministro de Cultura, revelan un crecimiento muy moderado. La cifra de lectores en soporte digital se sitúa en 29,1%.
»Si se compara con el resultado de 2010, cuando este tipo de lector representaba el 5%, es muy superior. Sin embargo, el presidente de la Federación del Gremio de Editores en España (FGEE), Miguel Barrero, apuntaba que en los últimos años, aunque ha crecido, mantiene cierta estabilidad».
