Confident Reads: Jon S. Lewis Guest Posts about Why All Authors Should Self-Publish

Hello everyone! Confident Reads is a feature I have here each week once in awhile and is a way to open communication between readers and Indie authors.  This  is to help readers feel confident in the books they spend their money on, and for authors to feel confident in the book they publish.


I have not done this feature since early summer, it's been so hard to balance everything, but when Jon Lewis contacted me about posting about his Kick-Starter I thought it was the perfect chance to put it up again.  At least for one week and hopefully more regular again.  Jon S. Lewis a traditionally published author who is Indie publishing and here's his thoughts on that as well as the information on the project.  Plus, some awesome illustrations to show you he has to notch illustrators on the job!

Why All Authors Should Self-Publish

I think all authors should self-publish at least one book. I’ve done by best to come up with an argument against it, but there isn’t one. In fact, the worst that would happen is that we’d end up with a deeper appreciation for the business of publishing.

Amanda Hocking Paved the Way

You might have heard about or even read some of the stories about how Amanda Hocking became a literary rock star by selling a million self-published books in less than a year. And she’s not the only one. There’s JA Konrath, Barry Eisler, John Locke, Hugh Howey and dozens of others. Count me as the next to make the jump.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not turning my back on the publishing industry. If anything, I want to keep working with my editors at Scholastic, Little Brown and Thomas Nelson. So I guess that makes me a hybrid author—someone who both self-publishes and publishes through a traditional author.

I used to loathe self-publishing but the publishing industry is in a drastic state of change. The good news is that most of the changes favor the creators thanks to digital technology. We can now go straight to market with a professionally edited and designed novel much faster than a publisher can. And instead of earning 17.5% on an e-book, the self-published author can earn up to 70%.

Why Publishers Need Writers

Getting a book deal doesn’t guarantee success. In fact, most books won’t earn back their advances. Publishers simply can’t afford to build a fan base for you. The thin profit margins won’t allow it, so they’re looking for authors who have strong platforms—you know, as in Twitter followers, Facebook fans and blog subscribers. They want authors with a built in fan base that will help guarantee book sales.

I’ve been lucky enough publish nine books with three of the biggest publishing companies in the world and my experience with each has been phenomenal. My shift to publishing some of my own books isn’t sour grapes. If anything it gives me incredible flexibility, including the opportunity to give back in a big way.

Stephenie Meyer, Project Book Babe and Why I Want to Give Back

A couple years ago a friend of mine found out that she had breast cancer, but unfortunately she couldn’t afford the treatment. She was the children’s book buyer at Changing Hands Bookstore and she not only helped launch my career, but she’s been an amazing champion for authors like Stephenie Meyer, Aprilynne Pike, Lisa McMann and many others.

I made some calls and wrote some emails to a few author friends, and together with Stephenie, Shannon Hale, Laini Taylor, Brandon Mull and others, we created an event called Project Book Babe that helped raise enough money for Faith to pay for her medical care and living expenses while she went through her treatment. I’m ecstatic to report that she’s alive and well, but I also know that there are thousands of other women who aren’t getting the care they need.

 

As I finish writing Grey Griffins: Night of Dragons, some of those same author friends that I teamed up with for Project Book Babe are writing an anthology of short stories set in the Grey Griffins world. That means I’ll be releasing two books instead of one, and we’re going to donate 100% of the profits from the anthology to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/) and Kids Need to Read (http://www.kidsneedtoread.org/).

Here’s a list of the authors who are involved with the anthology:

• Brandon Mull | NY Times Bestselling Author, Fablehaven
• Aprilynne Pike | NY Times Bestselling Author, Wings
• Frank Beddor | NY Times Bestselling Author, Looking Glass Wars
• Michael Spradlin | NY Times Bestselling Author, Youngest Templar
• Dean Lorey | Co-Executive Producer, Arrested Development
• Shannon Messenger | Let the Sky Fall, Keeper of the Lost Cities
• Tom Leveen | Party, manicpixiedreamgirl, Sick
• Joseph Nassise | International Bestselling Author, Templar Chronicles
• Matt Forbeck | Leverage: The Con Job based on the TNT television series
• Janette Rallison | My Fair Godmother, Slayers

SAND DRAGON
by Imaginary Friends

The Drawback with Self-Publishing

Each short story in the Grey Griffins anthology will be professionally edited. It will also have its own cover painted by the incredibly talented Scott Altmann (http://www.scottaltmann.com/). The final product will look every bit as good as what the major publishing houses produce, but there’s a drawback. When you publish your own books you have to come up with the money to pay the artists and the editors. That’s why I’m turning to Kickstarter for Grey Griffins: Night of Dragons and the anthology.

Crowdsourcing with Kickstarter

Running a Kickstarter campaign gives readers the chance to pre-order the book. In turn I’ll invest the money

THE SEARCH FOR DRAGONS (Cover)
by Scott Altmann

into making an amazing product. And I know what it means to have a tight budget, so I made sure the pledge levels started at $1.

There are some fun rewards like custom Grey Griffins short stories, collectible character trading cards and sketches from the cover artist. For the writers out there, we’re offering the chance for a query letter review, a partial manuscript review, and even a Skype brainstorm session where I’ll help you come up with ideas for your story.

You can help fund the Kickstarter campaign here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1363603530/grey-griffins-night-of-dragons

You Can Even Get Your Story Published in the Grey Griffins Anthology

Because I also have a passion for helping new writers break into the industry I thought the best way to do that with this project was to give someone a chance to get a short story published in the anthology. Your story will end up in the same book with all those New York Times bestselling authors. If it sounds like something you’re interested in, you can find the submission guidelines here: bit.ly/gg-anthology.

Thank you

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for your consideration to back the Kickstarter campaign. I’m going to need your help to make this project a reality, and I know that together we can do something incredible!

Photo by Joanne Mandel

Bio: Jon Samuel Lewis is an American writer best known for the acclaimed Grey Griffins series publishedGrey Griffins Clockwork Chronicles. He is also the author of CHAOS Novels, a young adult urban science fiction series published by Thomas Nelson and has written for DC Comics. Lewis is also a marketing executive and content strategist who works with Fortune 500 companies on their digital marketing strategies.

by Scholastic’s Orchard Books. After selling nearly a million copies in the original trilogy, Lewis and his writing partner, Derek Benz teamed with Little Brown to publish the

 LINKS

• Twitter: @jonslewis
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greygriffins
• Blog: http://www.greygriffins.com