# How one author went from $0 to selling $40k a month on Amazon



## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

I missed this when it first appeared


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

I'm watching it now. Pretty interesting. Do you know what thread he's referring to here?


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## KeenToWrite (Oct 30, 2015)

Pretty sure it's this one:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,233197.0.html


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## FlowerShift (May 25, 2015)

Wow, very inspiring. Thanks for posting this, Mark!


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## ############# (Nov 2, 2016)

Thank you for posting this. Motivational and inspiring.


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## Bookmonkey (Mar 12, 2014)

Thanks for posting this Mark! I'm listening to it now wondering how he published 5 200-350 page books in December and a book a month before that?


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Bookmonkey said:


> Thanks for posting this Mark! I'm listening to it now wondering how he published 5 200-350 page books in December and a book a month before that?


He wrote a book every week.. and said editing be damned. !

I admire his chutzpah he published books with lots of errors in them and went back later and re-edited them. His fans didn't care they were so hungry for what he was writing.


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## Rachel E. Rice (Jan 4, 2014)

Thanks Mark.


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2017)

I watched almost all of this because I thought it was interesting. Thanks for posting it, Mark.

I see more and more clearly that to be successful as a self-published writer, you have to think of yourself as a publisher first and a writer second (or third, or fourth). No criticism here. If you're good at it and enjoy it, you can make some good money, and why not do that?

If you put writing first, the majority of us should look at this venture as a way to get your stories read, a self-supporting hobby, and at best a secondary income. And there is nothing wrong with that either.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Out_there said:


> I watched almost all of this because I thought it was interesting. Thanks for posting it, Mark.
> 
> I see more and more clearly that to be successful as a self-published writer, you have to think of yourself as a publisher first and a writer second (or third, or fourth). No criticism here. If you're good at it and enjoy it, you can make some good money, and why not do that?
> 
> If you put writing first, the majority of us should look at this venture as a way to get your stories read, a self-supporting hobby, and at best a secondary income. And there is nothing wrong with that either.


Nah. You can make it either way. I put writing first, and the writers I know who consistently, year after year, make six or seven figures do also.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

Thanks Mark, I have listened to all Michael's interviews. I enjoyed this one too, I listened to it months ago.


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## Not any more (Mar 19, 2012)

Rosalind J said:


> Nah. You can make it either way. I put writing first, and the writers I know who consistently, year after year, make six or seven figures do also.


Although I'm in it for the money, I enjoy writing, and I enjoy the accolades that come with publishing a clean, professional product. I don't want to have to make excuses or explain anything. The better I get at it, the better my books sell. Will I get filthy rich? Probably not. Do I think my books will still be selling ten years from now? I certainly plan on it.


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Gentleman Zombie said:


> He wrote a book every week.. and said editing be damned. !
> 
> I admire his chutzpah he published books with lots of errors in them and went back later and re-edited them. His fans didn't care they were so hungry for what he was writing.


I did that, but I had no fans, lol. How I went from $0 to $0 a month!


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Also, if you look at that guy's books you will see he has various editing notes in the blurbs (so he's updating the editing to something more professional) and he's updated the covers so they're marketable. That's not a coincidence. I also focus on the writing and I do okay when it comes to money. I made terrible mistakes when it came to editing when I first started (some of which I'm stuck with because those books are in audio) but I didn't do it on purpose. I think readers now want a cleaner product. You could get away with bad editing before. You can't now. You could also get away with terrible covers before. You can't now. It's an evolving business. You must evolve or die.


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## Pizzazz (Dec 14, 2016)

Thanks!  Very inspirational.  (I'm slowly getting a second chance, and I won't screw it up this time.)


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> Also, if you look at that guy's books you will see he has various editing notes in the blurbs (so he's updating the editing to something more professional) and he's updated the covers so they're marketable. That's not a coincidence. I also focus on the writing and I do okay when it comes to money. I made terrible mistakes when it came to editing when I first started (some of which I'm stuck with because those books are in audio) but I didn't do it on purpose. I think readers now want a cleaner product. You could get away with bad editing before. You can't now. You could also get away with terrible covers before. You can't now. It's an evolving business. You must evolve or die.


Yep. I think the market's getting much less tolerant of substandard product (editing, covers). The indies who sell well over time are producing work that's indistinguishable from trad--even things like pretty formatting matter.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> Also, if you look at that guy's books you will see he has various editing notes in the blurbs (so he's updating the editing to something more professional) and he's updated the covers so they're marketable. That's not a coincidence. I also focus on the writing and I do okay when it comes to money. I made terrible mistakes when it came to editing when I first started (some of which I'm stuck with because those books are in audio) but I didn't do it on purpose. *I think readers now want a cleaner product. You could get away with bad editing before. You can't now. You could also get away with terrible covers before. You can't now. It's an evolving business. You must evolve or die.*


This is true.

There were novellas and novels in the main genres I read, NA, contemporary and erotic romance that where riddled with errors maybe 1 to 2 years ago. 
These books were up in the top 500 and I saw very few reviews talking about the errors. Now today I am seeing more and more reviews pointing out the errors, commenting on the covers (especially on Goodreads) and talking about the pacing, lack of consistency e.g. an author has named a character Derek on page 2 and then his name has changed to Drake on page 10 or his eyes were blue on page x and then green on page x.

I think readers expect cleaner, more professional books now.


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## manderle (Dec 19, 2015)

*Hmmmm, I guess I'll jump into the discussion with these thoughts.*

1) I hadn't expected the video ($40k month) to come out (I'm out of the closet!) That's not what my wife needs to hear...Geez, she grew up in Hollywood and for the first three years, she was just SURE I was secretly gay. I happen not to be, but you couldn't persuade her otherwise...Our kids think that is the funniest thing ever.

2) *I'm a 7 Figure a year author (2017) making 6 figures a month.* I think I am doing alright. If someone wishes to wonder why? I'm HAPPY to share. I don't think it is rocket science or something that needs to be hidden.

3) I have ALWAYS been about pleasing the readers and my fans while making money (that is my personal mountain). My fans read my stories because I produced what they wanted, and what they needed. It showed me that I had a viable product and I should continue investing. I didn't lack funds to produce a better product, what I lacked was data to tell me to do it.

4) I came at this pretty freaking clueless, guess how much that hampered me? For those who wish to claim something is 'required' to be successful? Well, I'll argue that all of these rules were in place just a year ago as well. I read all of the "you must not" stuff AFTER I broke those same rules. Is it harder? H#ll yes! Get a good cover, get editing, get...whatever... if you can! Should you wait a year? Produce your first 1,000,000 words (Stephen King) and also <insert best practice of the month> before you publish?

Obviously, with over a 100,000 books sold and in the *top 20 of all authors in KU reads* (All*Bonus) for the last 3 months consecutively? I think not. *Are there those who are making more? HECK YEAH! * AG Riddle and Bella Forest, to name just two.... I salute them and they provide another challenge to move towards. If I never hit their numbers? That's ok! I'm sure there are plenty of people doing better than me and I'm happy for them. Some of them, I count as friends who are willing to answer a private message from me because they are wonderful human beings who are more humble than I can imagine with their success.

But, I'll never do better if I don't set a high enough target.

I've hit over 600,000 page reads a day twice in the last week (Dec 31st, Jan 3rd) and all of this was with my first 1,000,000 words and some collaborations. I hope to do 1,000,000 KENP Page a day by summer. Why not? Have you SEEN what Bella or AG are doing? IT IS POSSIBLE, why not us, too?

Why? Why am I successful at this point? Partly because I look and follow my readers and what they want. * I'm NOT wedded to my personal muse at the expense of everything else.* So yes, I am a publisher first, a writer second and I'm ok with that.

Just like someone who wishes to be a writer first and a publisher second is going to be happy with their decision. I'm super ok with that..._I think the idea is "you be you, let me be me."
_
When I first started and put something up about my effort (20 books in 2 years), someone mentioned I should back down to delivering one book every 90 days "or I would burn out." Well, from the standpoint of burning out, I met that monster and kicked it in the nuts, but not without suffering some. I got past it (took about 2.5 books so call it 2 1/2 months).

I put out 15 books in 14 months. I've helped (with others) grow a FB group to 2,300 people focused on changing their lives by changing their outlooks and delivering support and specific, tangible tactics (FB 20BooksTo50k). I've helped dozens of author's by marketing them on my website, my personal Kurtherian Gambit FB group, my Author's Forums (RIP) and in the back of my books.

*How much income did THAT effort bring me?* Well, nothing from billable income but a _HUGE_ amount in personal joy.

One year ago, I was on The Author Biz podcast for making a $10k month in my first 90 days. I accomplished my first $100k month in 12 months. I'm not selling any 'how to' not because others shouldn't (I'm happy they are) but because I don't want to have an obligation to answer a question if I'm on vacation, busy, sick, or whatever. For those who create courses, they are *obligating* themselves to support and supply help and frankly, I don't want that feeling of responsibility.

I am, however, building a Publishing company that is (in my opinion) the future. The first version is in place, and making money for BOTH the collaborator and myself. Check it out, you will see that instead of my name on top of our books, the collaborator's name is on top. It is helping bring the collaborators new fans, new readers and increasing their backlist income.

Between us, we released five (5) books in December...One didn't get approved until January (darn you Amazon!). One of those authors (Natalie Grey) is effectively a ghost writer. We will release 3 more (plus one of mine) in January...Probably another 4 in February. I'll be editing EVERY one of those books before it goes out with my name on it. And writing my own book, so this success is hard, hard work.

So, why didn't I just keep my name on the the book cover with Natalie, since ... you know... Ghost writer? Because, I want her to make a future for herself, but she needs the dependability of a monthly income. I get that. There are a lot of author's who (for whatever reason) fear the future, can't make it happen..WHATEVER.

So, I created a Pen name for her, include her as the main author on the book(s) (because, she is!) and basically work with her the exact same as I work with my other collaborators. You know what is going to happen (my opinion?) She is going to find out just how much money she is leaving on the table, and will switch OUT of ghost writing to true collaborator 2nd quarter this year, I hope.

We talked yesterday. Natalie is going to move some of her other pen name stuff that matches genre (and isn't selling) into her Pen name account (it's her account, not mine - that is key to understand.) My fans who want more of her books (and they already do) will start making her money she wasn't making before from other relationships who were using her as a resource to drive their personal business... not as a relationship. That is ... ok. I'm not judging as that is a business decision between a ghost writer and a publisher. However, that's not how I personally role.

*So, why is she a pen name?* Because it could hurt her other Ghost writing business (her decision, not mine).

Her first book with me has over (in the last 3 weeks) generated over 70 reviews, is (presently) a top 1,000 book and is kicking rear end. Why shouldn't she get the opportunity to benefit from her efforts on my behalf?

I have 4 collaborators running right now. I'll put out 10 books (planned) in 2017 by myself. With collaborators, I suspect another 30 can go out as I have another 4 collaborators to talk to in addition to the 4 who are already running. Generally, the goal is a minimum 4 books (based on data) working together.

Audio is in production, covers and artists I use are shared, it is a (kinda cool) one big Kurtherian Family. What I'm doing is COMPLETELY duplicatable by other genre's and other Series. *One of the main differences is my fans are legendary about helping. Why?* Because I've always included them the whole way. They have helped MAKE some author's whole months and I'm happy and over joyed to share.

*My original desire was to write 20 books and make $50,000 a year (20BooksTo50k)*... That happened (the minimum $4,250 a month) in month three. I hit $50k (total) in month ... (March) I think. That $40k video? I did $50k that month. I'm doing a 7 figure year and I'm helping multiple authors with THEIR first $100k year by actively working with them, collaborating with them, sharing MY resources with them and my FANS with them.

If someone wants to put up that they know how to do it better? By all means, PLEASE! I'm ALWAYS willing to learn something. I'm always willing to TEST what someone says, as well. I don't ever expect anyone to believe me just because I made XXX money or sold XXX books. *What worked (works) for me MIGHT NOT work for you (or your genre etc).*

However, plugging the knowledge of someone who makes <enter figure here> as proof I should be doing something differently? Well, I think I'll continue my path up my personal mountain because the goal, which used to seem outlandish, is $10,000,000 a year by year five. To accomplish that? I've got to figure out how to make a LOT of authors six figures a year, and change their lives, forever.

*Anybody want to say 'Hell Yeah!' ?*

*To all of you who love writing, are supporting each other here on KBoards and in other places, creating worlds for readers and loving what we all do? I salute you all, those who sell, and those who don't but are willing to.*

Michael Anderle

P.S. - Why is Michael admitting all of this, and about his Ghost Writer? Because, LMBPN Publishing Company (my company) will be my focus in 2018 and I'm making sure everyone knows it is a different beast, with a different mentality, and I want to get on your Radar NOW as I prepare in 2017 with my first collaborators working through the kinks and the bugs. ;-)


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## Northern pen (Mar 3, 2015)

I want seven figures


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## Greg Banks (May 2, 2009)

BellaJames said:


> This is true.
> 
> There were novellas and novels in the main genres I read, NA, contemporary and erotic romance that where books were riddled with errors maybe 1 to 2 years ago.
> These books were up in the top 500 and I saw very few reviews talking about the errors. Now today I am seeing more and more reviews pointing out the errors, commenting on the covers (especially on Goodreads) and talking about the pacing, lack of consistency e.g. an author has named a character Derek on page 2 and then his name has changed to Drake on page 10 or his eyes were blue on page x and then green on page x.
> ...


I think Amazon is stricter now as well. It may take them a while, but they eventually catch editing errors, including seemingly minor ones, and inform you of them.


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## thesmallprint (May 25, 2012)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderle again..."

For a loan!

Well, done, Michael. I love mavericks.  Good luck.


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## Bbates024 (Nov 3, 2014)

I love how Michael just kind of does his own thing, and never discourages people from doing theirs. It's an amazing trait to have, t respect the way other people climb up the mountain even if it isn't YOUR way.

A lot of people on these boards inspire me to do better. I'm getting closer, to making this a full-time gig and I wouldn't have been able to do it without meeting some of the great authors I have along the way.


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## John Van Stry (May 25, 2011)

I came across one of Micheal's books about a month ago, and I'm starting to slowly work my way through them. He proves once again, that story is king, content comes above everything else. That he is working to improve those few things that some may hassle him over is great, so I really can't fault him for having had a few problems when he first started out. 
To be honest, I'd rather spend more time emulating him than criticizing him, because he's done what we all want to do: Told a great story and gotten a lot of fans and sales in the process.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

John Van Stry said:


> I came across one of Micheal's books about a month ago, and I'm starting to slowly work my way through them. He proves once again, that story is king, content comes above everything else. That he is working to improve those few things that some may hassle him over is great, so I really can't fault him for having had a few problems when he first started out.
> To be honest, I'd rather spend more time emulating him than criticizing him, because he's done what we all want to do: Told a great story and gotten a lot of fans and sales in the process.


I don't care what anyone does as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. I was merely pointing out, contrary to previous statements, that the books are being edited after the fact and the covers have been vastly upgraded. I think it's a good thing so it's definitely not a criticism.


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## Superkev (May 10, 2015)

manderle said:


> I've got to figure out how to make a LOT of authors six figures a year, and change their lives, forever.
> 
> *Anybody want to say 'Hell Yeah!' ?*


Hell Yeah, OoooRah. I Like your style.

- Also, as the son of a WWII sailor, a former Marine, and father of a US soldier, Thank You!!


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## ronvitale (Mar 11, 2011)

Lots to learn from the video. Michael, I appreciate you taking the time to share it and be willing to support other writers. I'm learning a lot from you and the others on the 20BooksTo50K group and that's a good thing. I hope that in return I can also share and help others. Thank you.


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## LGAdams (Oct 29, 2016)

I think "readers" started expecting more from writers around the time that writers figured out they could review their competitors and 1* them for funzies.


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## manderle (Dec 19, 2015)

Superkev said:


> - Also, as the son of a WWII sailor, a former Marine, and father of a US soldier, Thank You!!


NO, It is OUR job to thank YOU (your parent, and your child...

Michael Anderle


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

BellaJames said:


> Thanks Mark, I have listened to all Michael's interviews. I enjoyed this one too, I listened to it months ago.


I think I head this one on my itunes podcasts, but I hadn't seen the video. Cheers


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

BTW, his FB group now has 3,425 members and me pending


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## Alan Petersen (May 20, 2011)

geronl said:


> BTW, his FB group now has 3,425 members and me pending


The power of the Kboards.


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## Steven Kelliher (Jul 12, 2016)

Not saying this as a negative, but it sorta seems like the key to success for Michael boils down to releasing books often, right? Having a huge backlog. 

I don't see him trying to push any sort of specific formula. Frequent releases and ongoing series.


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## geronl (May 7, 2015)

Steven Kelliher said:


> Not saying this as a negative, but it sorta seems like the key to success for Michael boils down to releasing books often, right? Having a huge backlog.
> 
> I don't see him trying to push any sort of specific formula. Frequent releases and ongoing series.


One not very specific formula he did mention was to give the readers what they wanted.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Steven Kelliher said:


> Not saying this as a negative, but it sorta seems like the key to success for Michael boils down to releasing books often, right? Having a huge backlog.
> 
> I don't see him trying to push any sort of specific formula. Frequent releases and ongoing series.


Poorly-written books generally don't sell, no matter how many of them there are. You need the combo of telling a good story and frequency of same.


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## shankyousomuch (Jan 21, 2017)

Here are three high-end book trailers from three of the most successful indie authors online today, AG Riddle, Bella Forrest and Liliana Hart. I've never used a book trailer myself although I have edited a few for fun. That said, I don't know whether you need to make 6 figures to afford something like this, but what an ideal thing to have promoting your book for as long as your book is out there.

Bella Forrest, A SHADE OF VAMPIRE

https://vimeo.com/131124225

AG Riddle, THE ATLANTIS GENE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-O4M5dA0kc

Liliana Hart, DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0r6zShrR2I


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

shankyousomuch said:


> Here are three high-end book trailers from three of the most successful indie authors online today, AG Riddle, Bella Forrest and Liliana Hart. I've never used a book trailer myself although I have edited a few for fun. That said, I don't know whether you need to make 6 figures to afford something like this, but what an ideal thing to have promoting your book for as long as your book is out there.
> 
> Bella Forrest, A SHADE OF VAMPIRE
> 
> ...


Sorry but I fail to understand what book trailers have to do with this thread. I notice all your posts are about book trailers. Are you promoting a future business (making book trailers) or are you trying to see if anyone is using them to increase sales?

Michael explains everything quite clearly in his first interviews. He has a pdf document on the authorbiz website http://theauthorbiz.com/zero-to-10k-per-month-in-90-days-with-michael-anderle/, where he breaks down what he did.

_BASIC INFO:_

Create an engaging series 
brand covers
write and release fast
mailing list
facebook ads 
stack campaigns (and promos)

There's nothing here that I have not read before. It seems that Michael's success comes from writing engaging books, releasing fast, using ads effectively, paying attention to his audience and seeing what works for him and his brand.

Not everyones plan and method is going to work for your genre, brand or for your audience.


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## T E Scott Writer (Jul 27, 2016)

Michael explains everything quite clearly in his first interviews. He has a pdf document on the authorbiz website http://theauthorbiz.com/zero-to-10k-per-month-in-90-days-with-michael-anderle/, where he braks down what he did.

_BASIC INFO:_

Create an engaging series 
brand covers
write and release fast
mailing list
facebook ads 
stack campaigns (and promos)

There's nothing here that I have not read before. It seems that Michael's success comes from writing engaging books, releasing fast, using ads effectively, paying attention to his audience and seeing what works for him and his brand.

Not everyones plan and method is going to work for your genre, brand or for your audience.
[/quote]

Excellent info on that pdf, thanks for the link!


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## amiblackwelder (Mar 19, 2010)

Mark E. Cooper said:


> I missed this when it first appeared


Thanks for sharing.


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

I still don't know if he's writing serials and putting them into one book, series of short stories and putting them into one book, or novels and short stories, all of these or a combination of any, or none.

Basically, the advice is what many are saying and have been for a long time. His success is great, and I hope it continues, but there's nothing really new here. I don't grok the mercenary attitude, but as Michael says, you be you, I'll be me.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

she-la-ti-da said:


> I still don't know if he's writing serials and putting them into one book, series of short stories and putting them into one book, or novels and short stories, all of these or a combination of any, or none.
> 
> Basically, the advice is what many are saying and have been for a long time. His success is great, and I hope it continues, but there's nothing really new here. I don't grok the mercenary attitude, but as Michael says, you be you, I'll be me.


I've read most if not all of his science fiction. He has a 21 book sci-fi series planned out with 14 books out so far. Within the series are branch points (threads left loose) to attach co-authored novellas/serials onto. Those are essentially co-authored spinoffs about side characters within the original story.

I'm sure he won't mind me saying, that his story and characters are excellent, his original covers were (like a lot of ours) cheap, and I still don't like his formatting. He has recently started replacing all his covers, just as I have done multiple times over the last decade and a half. He writes blindingly fast, publishes just as fast (or did), and has a rabid fanbase he has trouble feeding because they want more faster than he can write them.

Regarding the formatting. It's a matter of taste. I like to mimic the paper experience. He likes a more modern digital feel. He also has very detailed author notes full of backstory/character info.


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## AndrewSeiple (Jan 3, 2016)

Glorious video! Thanks for the advice.

Doing my best to follow a path like yours. Building the backlist brick by brick, gouging out time from a day job and family obligations, to keep plugging. Goes slowly, so slowly at times, but nobody can stop us, save for ourselves. Galaxy Quest had it right; "Never give up, never surrender!"

Videos like this, advice freely given and with good attitude, go far to keep me and those like me going. One day we'll reach the house on the hill, and when we do we'll maybe share a drink or a laugh at whichever convention or seminar we end up at together.

Best job in the world, man. Keep writing, and we'll do the same!


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## Alvina (Oct 19, 2015)

Thanks for sharing, I'm following!


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## JulianneQJohnson (Nov 12, 2016)

I really enjoyed the video, and joined the facebook group.  Certainly you can find the information elsewhere, but I enjoyed learning so much from one well done video by a writer who's done it.  I love success stories.  Sure, I might get a little jelly, but mostly they make me feel joyous for the successful person and hopeful for myself.  I might not have his ability to write so quickly, but there's tons of good information here for me to take advantage of.  Bravo!


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## Marti talbott (Apr 19, 2011)

I finally had time to listen to this and discovered I am doing most of what he suggests. However, I didn't get the part about "hacking" or am I misunderstanding the word?


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## AsianInspiration (Oct 12, 2016)

Martitalbott said:


> I finally had time to listen to this and discovered I am doing most of what he suggests. However, I didn't get the part about "hacking" or am I misunderstanding the word?


Hacking is basically a smart process that skips most of the useless stuff that people usually do and don't realize can be skipped, right? So if most people spend too much time on their covers, editing, re-writing despite not knowing whether their series will even find an audience, then his way is "hacking" in a sense, right?

Not so sure about the use of the word myself actually, but just trying to justify it.


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## Marti talbott (Apr 19, 2011)

AsianInspiration said:


> Hacking is basically a smart process that skips most of the useless stuff that people usually do and don't realize can be skipped, right? So if most people spend too much time on their covers, editing, re-writing despite not knowing whether their series will even find an audience, then his way is "hacking" in a sense, right?
> 
> Not so sure about the use of the word myself actually, but just trying to justify it.


I see, thanks for the answer.


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## KL_Phelps (Nov 7, 2013)

definitely need to check this out, thanks


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