Post by stephlaurens on Jun 10, 2011 19:20:51 GMT -5
This is breaking news as the relevant NYT hasn't yet been posted online yet - it will be this weekend.
Barbara Freethy's SUMMER SECRETS is #1 on the about to be released NYT E-BOOKS list (and #4 on the combined e- and print list). Despite what the Times have listed it as, it's a self-published backlist title. Barbara's story is an empowering one, especially for authors caught in the ongoing midlist crunch. See: barbarafreethy.blogspot.com
Another of her titles holds down the #24 NYT E-BOOKS spot. The two books were #13 and #84 respectively on the USAToday list.
Relevant background: Barbara has been published over 15 years by Avon, then NAL, and now Pocket. She is demonstrably a fine writer, but none of those houses have ever been able to make her books take off. But she's always claimed back her backlist, and over the past months, she's put them out. She did all the work herself. Her self-made covers are a great example of covers that communicate the "feel" of the work.
So yes, she had a loyal fan base already, BUT that smallish group would have already bought these books - neither are all that old. So by going the e-selfpublishing route, she's proved that she all along had the right stories for readers, but 3 of the biggest trad. publishers couldn't get her works into those readers hands.
This biz has always been about getting your works into the hands of readers - and Barbara's experience shows the potential that can be there and can be tapped by self-publishing, no matter what happened in the past through traditional publishers.
Barbara Freethy's SUMMER SECRETS is #1 on the about to be released NYT E-BOOKS list (and #4 on the combined e- and print list). Despite what the Times have listed it as, it's a self-published backlist title. Barbara's story is an empowering one, especially for authors caught in the ongoing midlist crunch. See: barbarafreethy.blogspot.com
Another of her titles holds down the #24 NYT E-BOOKS spot. The two books were #13 and #84 respectively on the USAToday list.
Relevant background: Barbara has been published over 15 years by Avon, then NAL, and now Pocket. She is demonstrably a fine writer, but none of those houses have ever been able to make her books take off. But she's always claimed back her backlist, and over the past months, she's put them out. She did all the work herself. Her self-made covers are a great example of covers that communicate the "feel" of the work.
So yes, she had a loyal fan base already, BUT that smallish group would have already bought these books - neither are all that old. So by going the e-selfpublishing route, she's proved that she all along had the right stories for readers, but 3 of the biggest trad. publishers couldn't get her works into those readers hands.
This biz has always been about getting your works into the hands of readers - and Barbara's experience shows the potential that can be there and can be tapped by self-publishing, no matter what happened in the past through traditional publishers.