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Author Michael Anderle joins us this week to discuss the ways he’s found self-publishing success in his first year as an author.
If you listen to this show on a regular basis, you know that there are several paths to success as an author. One of those paths, the one that seems to give the author the most control over the myriad of variables that go into building a successful author business, is to write and publish books quickly and regularly.
Of course, you can’t just write and publish crap. Your stories have to engage readers, your covers need to be good enough, and you need to be able to pivot, to use a startup world term when readers aren’t connecting with your books. Meaning, if something’s not working, say a series, for example, move on to the next series to find something that will connect with readers.
Michael Anderle joined us in January of this year to talk about his first three months as an author, where he published multiple books. During that time we considered his goals, which were to write 20 books that would generate $50,000 in annual revenue. When we talked after those first three months, he’d gone from around $400 to over $10,000 in monthly income from his Kurtherian Gambit series.
Now that Michael has been self-publishing author for just over one year it made sense to touch base with him again, to see how his plan of publishing a book every five weeks had worked out. While he didn’t quite hit the 20 book target, his net revenue from Amazon, on the day we recorded the interview has already exceeded $400,000, with revenue growing each month.
In this wide-ranging 60 minute conversation, we discuss his progress towards the goal, the value he sees for participating in anthologies, and how his focus in 2017 will shift to improving his author rank. We get into a variety of other topics as well, including his 20 Books to 50K Facebook group and some self-publishing success stories members of that group have experienced during the past year, and the document he wrote after his first year in publishing, State of the Hack (PDF Download).
Links:
Michael’s latest book, DON’T CROSS THAT LINE at Amazon
Michael’s Amazon Author Page
20 Books to 50K Facebook Group
Download Michael’s State of the Hack document
Book Report website www.getbookreport.com/
Camven Media website www.camvenmedia.com
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining me again this week.
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Thanks to Michael Anderle for joining us this week!
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Before getting into the business of writing I spent twenty-five years in the technology business as a financial guy, and then as a serial entrepreneur. I know what it takes to start and run a successful business.
A couple comments about learning from the success of James Patterson and EL James in the marketplace-
You mention that you can’t put down James Patterson’s books. I loved Patterson’s early books, but put down 2 books of his a few years back and now the only books of his I read are the Women’s Murder Club. I put down Mistress because everyone the protag talks to dies right after he talks to them- this happened at least four times in a row. In my mind it went from implausible to stupid. And Zoo, after giving it at least 30 pages, I didn’t care – I didn’t care about the protag, and I didn’t care that the world was going to end.
As for EL James, I think she accomplished 2 amazing things with her books. First, she did something no other romance author has ever done for me before. She took me back to my 19 year old self in a very intimate way, which I credit to her writing style and her protag’s insecurities and inner dialogue – much of which is considered bad writing. I consider it effective writing.
Secondly, she found a way to make me feel the risk and vulnerabilities involved in having sex, something that is very much glossed over in romances.
Thanks for chiming in Carol – There are a ton of Patterson books that I haven’t read, but the ones I start I tend to finish, but maybe I’m unique in that regards. As for EL James – I’ll confess that I haven’t read her books, but then again, I’m not her audience. I do agree with you though, that whatever she did to connect readers with her protagonist worked, so it’s hard to consider that to be bad writing.
Enjoyed the interview! There are articles out there about how sometimes people from totally different walks of life do better at solving problems in a certain field the people who’ve been working in it for decades. Michael seems like that kind of guy.
Thanks, Lindsay and thanks for popping in – much appreciated. I’m a fan of your show and blog. It’s fascinating to see what people bring to publishing from past lives, especially when they don’t do a lot of study on how things “should” be done.
Michael Anderle shares such amazing knowledge through his experience. SO invaluable. I’m just starting, but what he’s shared will save me years of frustration and unnecessary failure. I think Michael is quickly turning into the James Cameron of indie book publishing.
Also, Stephen, thank you for all the work you do with this podcast, you really help to change the game for author entrepreneurs everywhere. You’re one of the best interviewers I’ve heard: natural, engaging, and always diving deeper to get extremely valuable content from the guest. Transforming the world one podcast at a time:0)
Thanks, David – Sorry for the LONG delay in responding. I appreciate the kind words. Best of luck on your journey.
Stephen, no worries, sir. It’s impressive that you reply to everyone’s posts. Keep being yourself and doing what you’re doing. We need you.