Amanda Hocking

Oh, the internet is saying so many things about me. I don’t understand why the internet suddenly picked up on me this past week, but it definitely did. My inbox has been flooded and I jumped up over 1,000 followers on twitter. Which was just in time for all my Charlie Sheen retweets.

The past few days have mostly been spent with me answering emails (and not writing – which makes me sad).

Meanwhile, I’ve been reading things written about me here and there, and hearing what everybody thinks this all means. I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to say about everything. Well, I’ve come up with it, and I have a feeling it will be a very long post.

I am not going to rehash things I’ve already talked about. Like how this happened. If you actually read back in my old blog posts, I was blogging as everything happened. I’ve publicly written down exactly what I’ve done. So if you’re really curious about all that, check out my FAQs and scroll through some older blogs. I’ve got it all laid out.

What I’m about to say next is something I’ve been debating how to say. I think it needs to be said, but I know that I need to word it carefully. I want you all to know that I don’t think I’m super awesome special or anything like that.

Everybody seems really excited about what I’m doing and how I’ve been so successful, and from what I’ve been able to understand, it’s because a lot of people think that they can replicate my success and what I’ve done. And while I do think I will not be the only one to do this – others will be as successful as I’ve been, some even more so – I don’t think it will happen that often.

Traditional publishing and indie publishing aren’t all that different, and I don’t think people realize that. Some books and authors are best sellers, but most aren’t. It may be easier to self-publish than it is to traditionally publish, but in all honesty, it’s harder to be a best seller self-publishing than it is with a house.

I don’t think people really grasp how much work I do. I think there is this very big misconception that I was like, “Hey, paranormal is pretty hot right now,” and then I spent a weekend smashing out some words, threw it up online, and woke up the next day with a million dollars in my bank account.

This is literally years of work you’re seeing. And hours and hours of work each day. The amount of time and energy I put into marketing is exhausting. I am continuously overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do that isn’t writing a book. I hardly have time to write anymore, which sucks and terrifies me.

I also have this tremendous sense of urgency, like if I don’t get everything out now and do everything now, while the iron is hot, everything I’ve worked for will just fall away. For the first time, I truly understand why workaholics are workaholics. You can’t stop working, because if you do, it unravels all the work you’ve already done. You have to keep going, or you’ll die.

Or at least that’s how it feels.

There is so much stress in doing it all yourself. The editing is never good enough. And finding an editor isn’t as easy everyone thinks. People thinking an editor is just having someone read through it a few times, checking for basic grammar and spelling, and while that is part of it, it’s also much larger than that. It’s helping tighten up sentences, watching repeated phrases, helping with flow, etc.

And it is really, really hard (or at least, it has been for me) to find an editor that can do all that. My books have all been edited – several times, by dozens of people with varying backgrounds – and people still find errors.

Here’s another thing I don’t understand: The way people keep throwing my name around and saying publishers are “terrified” of me and that I really showed them.

First of all, no publisher is afraid of me. That’s just silly. I’m one girl who wrote a couple books that are selling well. That doesn’t scare them – they just want to be a part of it, the same way they want to be a part of any best seller.

And just so we’re clear – ebooks make up at best 20% of the market. Print books make up the other 80%. Traditional publishers still control the largest part of the market, and they will – for a long time, maybe forever. Ebooks will continue to gain ground, but I would say that we have at least 5-10 years before ebooks make up the majority.

Saying traditional publishing is dead right now is like declaring yourself the winner in the sixth inning of a baseball game when you have 2 runs and the other team has 8 just because you scored all your runs this inning, and they haven’t scored any since the first. 

And all ebooks aren’t self-published. Even if ebooks end up being 80% of the market, at least half of those sales will probably come from traditionally published ebooks. So publishers will still control the majority of the market.

I just don’t understand writers animosity against publishers. So much of what I’ve been reading lately has made me out to be Dorothy taking down the Wicked Witch.

Publishers have done really great things for a really long time. They aren’t some big bad evil entity trying to kill literature or writers. They are companies, trying to make money in a bad economy with a lot of top-heavy business practices.

Almost all of my favorite books were traditionally published. All my favorite authors – Kurt Vonnegut, J. D. Salinger, Jane Austen, Richelle Mead, Chuck Palahnuik, Bret Easton Ellis, Jeph Loeb – were all traditionally published with the exception of one – J. L. Bryan.

Which brings me to another point.  As much as my name has been thrown about, I haven’t seen J. L. Bryan’s name mentioned. He’s the author of a fantastic young adult paranormal romance called Jenny Pox. Like my books, his is priced at $.99 EDIT: It’s $2.99 now. But it was $.99 earlier. Like me, he has several other titles out. Also, like me, he has paperback versions of his book available and he reaches out to book bloggers. In fact, he just did an intensive blog tour for the release of his latest book The Haunted E-book. I even included an excerpt of Jenny Pox at the end of my book Ascend, because I like his writing so much, and I want other people to read it.

With all of that said, Bryan sells less books than I do. I don’t know how many exactly, because I haven’t asked, but I can tell from his rankings that it’s not as many.

What’s my point in all of this? By all accounts, he has done the same things I did, even writing in the same genre and pricing the books low. And he’s even a better writer than I am. So why am I selling more books than he is?  I don’t know.

That’s the truth of it. Nobody knows what makes one book a bestseller. Publishers and agents like to pretend they do, but if they did, they would only publish best sellers, and they don’t.

I guess what I’m saying is that just because I sell a million books self-publishing, it doesn’t mean everybody will. In fact, more people will sell less than 100 copies of their books self-publishing than will sell 10,000 books. I don’t mean that to be mean, and just because a book doesn’t sell well doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. It’s just the nature of the business.

Self-publishing and traditional publishing really aren’t that different. One is easier to get into but harder to maintain. But neither come with guarantees. Some books will sell, some won’t.

Don’t get me wrong – I am excited about the world now. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished, and humbled that so many people have embraced my books. I think it’s a really great time to be a writer. We have more control of our destiny before – or at least, it feels that way.

I love what I am doing now. I hope to continue self-publishing for a long time to come. I am immensely grateful to all my readers, book bloggers, and to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Apple for all the work they’ve done publishing my books and getting the word out there.

But I just think everyone should be realistic about this. When J. K. Rowling became the world’s first billionaire author, I didn’t go, “Ha! I will publish now, now that I see an author can make that much money doing it.” (Admittedly, I was trying to get published when that happened, as I had been for the past seven or eight years).

That’s all I’m saying. Self-publishing is great, but it’s not easy. Most people who do it will not get rich, just like most authors signed up at Scholastic books aren’t billionaires.  Traditional publishers are not evil any more than Amazon or Barnes & Noble are evil. Things are changing, hopefully for the better, but it is still hard work being a writer.

Julie at A Tale of Many Reviews tweeted this link to a really great post about how book bloggers can help writers. It gives a lot of tips on how to reach bloggers, and it’s much more helpful and specific than anything I’ve said. So if you’re a writer, and you want some ideas on how to get the word out about your book, I would highly suggest checking this out. Read: here.

The one thing the blog doesn’t mention is what happens after your book is reviewed. If you submit a book for review, no matter how they review it – even if its a scathing 1-star review – your only response should be: “Thank for you taking the time to read and review my book. I appreciate the time and work you put into it.” That’s it. That’s all you can say.

I meant to write more, but Charlie Sheen is on 20/20 right now. And he just referred to beating up his hookers and porn stars as “tomfoolery and skulduggery.” And Ambien made him do it.

So yeah… I gotta go. Read the book blogger tips. Be nice. Have fun. Don’t do drugs or hurt porn stars.

The internet is filled with misinformation. Some of that is about me.

So, I’m going to set the record straight by saying a bunch of things about me and my books that are true, so if you read things other places, you can be all, “Nah, that’s not true. Here. Check out Amanda’s blog.”

• I’m twenty-six years-old, not twenty-seven, twenty-five, or any other age. 
• I live in Austin, Minnesota, not Minneapolis. I like Minneapolis a lot. I just don’t live there. 
• I have published eight books and one novella, so there are nine works that you can purchase from  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Smashwords. 
• I’ve written 19 books. 
• All of my published full-length novels are available in both ebook and paperback. 
• Three of my full length novels are priced at $.99 in ebook, and my novella is priced at $.99. The other five books are priced at $2.99. All my paperbacks are priced at $8.99 and $9.99. 
• I was never traditionally published. I still have not been traditionally published. 
• A few books have foreign deals in place, but the books have not been published yet.
• I have an agent – Steve Axelrod – and I’ve had him since August.  
• I first published two books in April 15, 2010. Since then, I’ve sold over 900,000 copies of over nine different books. 
• I have been on the USA Today Bestseller list but not the NY Times List. (I suspect the Times hates me).
• I’ll be in the April issue of Elle magazine. If my understanding of the magazine industry is correct, that issue should be out sometime in March.
• The syndicated television program Better TV is interviewing me at the end of March. I have no clue when that will air, and I’m not sure what channel will it air on, because it depends on where you live.
• My trilogy has been optioned for a film. 
• I really like sushi. 
• Michael Wincott is phenomenal.

I’m currenly watching The Social Network for the first time after a long time of avoiding it. Eric is obsessed with it, but my feelings on Jesse Eisenberg are quite complicated. I enjoy neurosis very much, though. The score is enjoyable, although I still believe that Hans Zimmer should’ve won for Inception. 

I like to obsess over things that don’t matter because it’s more fun obsessing over things that do.

The Social Network sorta feels like a music video inter-spliced with rapid fire snark and legalese. I understand why Eric enjoys it.

I’m not sure if I approve of this fella from The Social Network as Spiderman. I’m not sure I don’t approve either. I enjoy him. But I don’t know if he screams Peter Parker to me. But then again, Peter Parker isn’t the kind of guy to scream thing anything, is he? He’s Peter Parker.

I digress. If I ever had a point, I’ve probably made it by now.

Every year, Eric tries to force everybody he’s ever met into Oscar bets with him. I’m pretty sure that I’m the only who’s ever beaten him, but every time we got against each other, we’re like a point or two away from each other. We love the Oscars.

Here are my picks for the evening:

Best Actor: Colin Firth
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo
Best Director: Darren Affronsky (Black Swan)
Best Picture: Black Swan (Eric says it will be The King’s Speech, and he’s probably right, but I already locked in my vote)
Best Original Screenplay: Inception (I’m not convinced this will win – but it should win)
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Original Score: Inception (this is actually the win I’m most excited about – the Inception score is totally and completely brilliant and NEEDS to win)
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Foreign Film: Biutiful 
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Art Direction: Inception

I voted on the other categories too, but I really hate voting for them because they’re hard to pick. It all feels like guessing to me. I mean, all my picks are guesses, but they’re educated guesses at least.

I would love to see an upset with Inception for Best Picture, but I know that won’t happen.  Because the academy hates Christopher Nolan. I don’t know why. But it’s true. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Inception walked away with zero Oscars tonight. But I’m still voting for it.

Also, I’m crazy excited to see what Franco does with hosting. I’m sure it will be a hoot. So… that’s that.

What you may not know about me is that I love rodents. Hamsters are my favorite, but I love rabbits, chinchillas, guinea pigs, mice, gerbils, and rats. I watched an episode of Hoarders tonight, and this neat place called North Star Rescue took in over a thousand rats. They’re working to find them all homes. Also, on the main page of their site, they say the recently took in a lot of hamsters as well.

I’ve secretly harbored a fantasy for years of running a hamster sanctuary, and it’s great to see a place like North Star Rescue working like they are.

I’m too far away to adopt an animal from them or volunteer my time (they’re in California), but they have a PayPal button where you can donate money. They also have a list of supplies they need and an address to ship them.

So, if you’re an animal lover, and if you can, please donate or send supplies. And if you’re nearby, I encourage you to volunteer or adopt a rat or hamster. They really do make excellent pets.

Here’s the link for North Star Rescue: click here.