Heroes Of Self-Publishing: Authors Go It Alone (PHOTOS)

Self-publishing hero Amanda Hocking's extreme success earning her $2 million turns out not to be the only case. The world's literature is filled with self-publishing heroes who have made their mark on history. From Thomas Paine to Stephen King, From Virginia Woolf to a romance writer, maverick writers have introduced now classic works to the public themselves because no publisher wanted to take on their books.

The following people have all self-published at least one of their works.

Did we forget a favorite self-published author of yours? Let us know in the comments!

1 of 12

Thomas Paine

1 of 13

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Paine anonymously published "Common Sense" in 1776. Within 3 months, he sold 100,000 copies, making it the best-selling work in 18th-century America.

What Are The Most Well-Read Cities In America?

The First Athletes Ever And 7 Other Moments In Sports History

On the Resurgence of Occupy Wall Street: Five Must-Read Books

7 Things You Need To Know Before You Get Married

Processed Food: 9 Nasty Truths About The Meals You Eat (PHOTOS)

9 Fantastic Prep School Novels

Paine anonymously published "Common Sense" in 1776. Within 3 months, he sold 100,000 copies, making it the best-selling work in 18th-century America.

comments(173)

featured comment

Reply | Share

52tucker said on 15 Tuesday 2011 pm31 12:55 pm: Good point- as long as she's got fans and is making a living, I hope she keeps writing and doing well. My point is that the big publishing houses are making poor choices in some cases by not paying attention to what is going on in the world of digital publishing more. They should be seeing these stories as opportunities to move their business in new ways, instead of fearing the change and suffering the fate of many newspapers.

Total comments: 173 | Post a Comment

1 of 13

This Self-Published Author

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Horrible! Fantastic!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Self-Publishers

loading...

Top 5 Self-Publishers

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[Shelly Santiago]

12:29 PM on 04/24/2011

I'm glad to see this posted. I have seen so many posting about how people are tired of seeing self published authors on the bestsellers list, or how some of the author have errors in their work. I just finished posting on this topic on another site. My book The Vampire's Salvation was ranked within the top 100 for children's Literature Action & Adventure for the UK now I'm not doing that well I'm ranked 11983, and in the states I'm ranked #37,495. The point is we are not horrible writers because we didn't find publishers. I can't wait to show them this link...Thank you Huffington Post!! You proved my point.

[Mary Daugherty]

11:07 PM on 04/13/2011

Wow, I need to finish my books.

[rabidchihauhau]

08:01 AM on 04/07/2011

Just because anyone 'can', does that mean they should?

Self-publishing ("indie" is for small press, not self-pubbers) is like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars; or perhaps a closer analogy is a dancing bear. They can't really dance, but the novelty captures attention.

There are thousands (tens of thousands) of bears that never get the chance to dance (for which I'm sure they are grateful).

Those dancing bears do make a lot more money than their non-dancing counterparts. But does that mean the bear is happy, or successful? I think not.

Hocking, Konrath and a few others are OUTLIERS. Chances are, if they had had the fortitude and real desire, they'd have ended up with a traditional book contract. Self--pubbers are flooding the market, largely with trash, making it nearly impossible to find decent works.

But fortunately the law of supply and demand will eventually rectify things: When supply exceeds demand, value drops. It won't be too much longer now before self-pubbed e-books are so prevalent that they won't be worth even the 99 cents some are asking for a copy.

Unfortunately, they're doing to be dragging publishing down with them,

There's something to be said for making things 'hard' to accomplish. In the main, such systems force the best to rise to the top. Self-pubbing enables mediocrity.

No surprise - we're living in an era in which everyone believes they're automatically entitled to whatever they desire.

[Bianca Befana]

07:46 PM on 04/01/2011

I think it's wonderful that writer's are bucking the system of traditionalist, corporate bilge that publisher's only want to print. Writer's continue doing things your own way! Good Luck to All of You!

[Martin Eldred]

06:54 PM on 03/30/2011

Wasn't the first edition of Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising" self published? Or was it just a very small press? I remember a certain Cold Warrior 1980's President that referenced this unknown boo, and suddenly it was all the rage.

[LivJamesBooks]

10:12 PM on 03/20/2011

This is a nice tribute to the spirit of authors. Writing a novel (or any book for that matter) takes great commitment and passion (and skill and a little luck). The jump in self-publishing is possible because of technological advances, but it's also a natural outgrowth of the entrepreneurial attitude writers have anyway. We pave our own way.

[ChrisRoberts]

10:22 AM on 03/23/2011

Keeping on saying that, "We pave our own way" and eventually you''ll believe it.

[Emily O]

10:30 PM on 03/19/2011

Christopher Paolini, who wrote the Eragon books, should definitely be added to this list. He first published Eragon with his own publishing company and marketed the book by appearing in libraries and dressing up. All at age 15!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Paolini

[Felicity Heaton]

03:39 PM on 03/18/2011

Sure, self-publishing is nothing new, and we're always going to have people who believe that indie authors can't write, but I don't see the problem with it. I admit, there's a lot of poorly written stuff out there, but reading a sample will help you filter it out. Oh, and there's a lot more successful authors out there than you'd think.

It's not all about Amanda Hocking and anyone who shouts loudest. I'm making a living off my independently published books. I now earn almost three times the pay of my previous full time job as a highly skilled web developer, and I'll continue writing e-books for as long as I can. I love writing, and I take pride in my work and try to produce a high quality product that is indistinguishable from a published book. Believe me, I've read plenty of books published by big houses that have had grammar or word errors in them. No one is perfect. I don't think self-publishing is a threat to publishing houses, but I think the two can co-exist peacefully, and I think most readers don't care if it says indie on the label.

[John Kirsch]

07:36 AM on 03/17/2011

Publishing is a trade like any other. I can fix a toilet, but I'd rather a plumber. who has the tools and skills, did it. I'd rather write than try editing myself (or depending on friends and relations to do so), designing books, or covers, or printing or selecting typefaces, or distributing, or preparing royalty statements, or...

I happen to work for my publisher, but started after my second book came out... I hapen to write in a niche field, but would not publish nearly as polished prose without going though a few dozen revisions and editorial rewrites and about a year of work with the editor and the associated trades — book designer, etc. — nor would it have sold nearly as well. If I were self-published, I would be spending all my time selling ONE book, and probably not working on anything else. As it is, though I have to work a day job, I can write with confidence that, should it be "good enough", it will be developed into a useful "product." without me having to learn several new (and not necessary) skills that might detract from more productive work (like the next book).

Certainly the technology exists to allow for what used to be called "Vanity Press" publication to be done at relatively inexpensive cost, but quite frankly, even the good books that come out of those presses are taken less than seriously, and often end up costing more than traditional publication.

[keene]

04:17 PM on 03/16/2011

I WANT to go it alone. I'm such a bad typist and fairly inept at computers. I've been writing by hand foe most of my life.I have managed to type them into the computer. But believe me, I barely know what I'm doing. It would take me forever to know how to understand how Amazon/Kindle works. And if I had the money, I'd pay them to do it for me.This is so agoniing.

[Shari Hodges]

12:02 AM on 03/17/2011

Get Mavis Beacon's typing course for your computer

[Cleo Creech]

01:31 AM on 03/17/2011

Find you a friend that can do the typing and editing and handle the uploads. They can probably also handle your books facebook promotion and setting up a simple website, as well as getting out press releases, local readings, and lining up some press and reviews. I've done that for a number of my friends for just a cut of the proceeds or a standard fee on the front end of a premiumed fee on the back end.

[Ump Al]

04:08 PM on 03/16/2011

I'm going it alone. I tried the 'traditional' way and got rejected by the pub's and then released by my agent after 18 months. With modern technology, going it alone doesn't have to break the bank. I actually have a chance to get out there and find a following and get noticed.

My debut has received a number of 5-star reader reviews and is available online at the locations listed here: http://bit.ly/BuyGame7 -- includes Kindle, Nook, iBooks and more.

You can learn about my writing at my website: http://bit.ly/allenschatz

I invite everyone to visit me on Twitter and Facebook as well -- raschatz on both.

Support indie writers. We are the new revolution in publishing.

[iwritereadrate]

11:08 AM on 03/16/2011

Just posted a new blog article. It's called 'The eBook Revolution - what does emerging technology mean for the writing and reading of literature'. Hopefully worth a look:

http://blog.iwritereadrate.com/?p=246

[Alicia Anabel]

09:39 AM on 03/16/2011

We can spend all day debating the ways the business of publishing is changing. Here is a grassroots way I am self-publishing this year. Kickstarter: http://kck.st/f7mZOs follow me on twitter @diosadominicana

[XFilesTheTruthIsOutThere]

08:16 AM on 03/16/2011

I have a new review of my new novel at New Book Journal!

Author link music each chapter heightened reading experience | New Book Journal
newbookjournal.com

[ChrisRoberts]

10:12 AM on 03/22/2011

New Book who? Ha, ha, ha...

[XFilesTheTruthIsOutThere]

10:48 AM on 03/22/2011

Wow, your mom only allows you to come here to post a comment once a week? A 6 day old comment and you felt the need to reply? I can see why you're a failed author. Didn't you learn from your spanking from Valda? LOL!!

[iwritereadrate]

05:23 AM on 03/16/2011

We had better get writing to get some current Indie Publishers up on this list...!

All the best
Adam Charles
www.iWriteReadRate.com