Who Dares Wins

Author Bob Mayer talks to Indie eBooks about the new publishing company he's starting, Who Dares Wins, and about his experiences with traditional publishing vs. self-publishing:

What I'm seeing is a lot of authors doing both. Pushing forward with their traditional publishers and bringing out their backlist on their own. It's a win-win situation. I was told flat out by an editor at Random House that they can barely promote their front-list never mind their backlist. But authors can promote their backlist. Random House gave me backs the rights to my Area 51 series, and it's really gaining traction, especially with the release of Super8 this month. I can also cross-promote it with my Atlantis series, which I had written under a different pen name.

[...] I really like the fact that I control more of my fate now. What's also interesting is that I get steady paychecks. Every month we get a check from Amazon, Apple, LSI, etc. Each day, if I want, I know exactly how many sales I have and how much revenue is being generated. That's the polar opposite of traditional publishing.

[...] It's a risk, but the big thing is I have such a big backlist, that we still haven't published everything I have the rights to. I'm currently going through the last 6 of my Area 51 books and making sure they're ready to be published, updating things a bit.

For a new writer, my biggest piece of advice would be to look to the long haul and build up your list. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

– Indie eBooks: Bob Mayer talks to Indie eBooks about the modern publishing world.