Given that I basically have a successful career as a working freelance journalist, some of you might be asking, why change the formula? Great question. The answer is threefold.
Motivation #1
As a journalist, trends are my bread and butter. So when Amazon announced it had sold more eBooks than print books, I started to think this is something that I, as a writer, should pay attention to.
Motivation #2
As a journalist, my editors make the call about what stories see the light of day, and which simply remain (great) ideas whipping around in my brain. Mostly, this is a good thing. A good editor knows their audience, understands what they want to read about, and uses writers that can deliver those type of stories. In eBook world, the writer becomes not only the editor, but the all-powerful publisher. This is an undeniably attractive proposition for anyone whose story pitch has been rejected by an editor. (“Are they mad? That’s a fabulous story idea.” us freelancers think.)
Motivation #3
I’ve met someone doing it. As in, actually making money from it. Aside from my freelance feature and travel writing career, I teach at the Sydney Writers’ Centre. One of my travel writing students, Brian Lawrenson, let drop that not only had he published around 26 eBooks (and counting), but one of them had sold an impressive 11,000 copies in a month! Yep, 11,000 copies. Now a number of these were freebies, but many weren’t. Brian is an early eBook success story, and his generous sharing of how to get started has inspired me to get on board.
Motivation #1
As a journalist, trends are my bread and butter. So when Amazon announced it had sold more eBooks than print books, I started to think this is something that I, as a writer, should pay attention to.
Motivation #2
As a journalist, my editors make the call about what stories see the light of day, and which simply remain (great) ideas whipping around in my brain. Mostly, this is a good thing. A good editor knows their audience, understands what they want to read about, and uses writers that can deliver those type of stories. In eBook world, the writer becomes not only the editor, but the all-powerful publisher. This is an undeniably attractive proposition for anyone whose story pitch has been rejected by an editor. (“Are they mad? That’s a fabulous story idea.” us freelancers think.)
Motivation #3
I’ve met someone doing it. As in, actually making money from it. Aside from my freelance feature and travel writing career, I teach at the Sydney Writers’ Centre. One of my travel writing students, Brian Lawrenson, let drop that not only had he published around 26 eBooks (and counting), but one of them had sold an impressive 11,000 copies in a month! Yep, 11,000 copies. Now a number of these were freebies, but many weren’t. Brian is an early eBook success story, and his generous sharing of how to get started has inspired me to get on board.
No comments:
Post a Comment