So I just finished the second book in Amanda Hocking’s Trylle trilogy this week and loved it. For those of you who don’t know her story, Hocking began writing short stories before the age of 12. She wrote her first novel at age 17. Nine years later, at age 26, she had written a total of 17 (yes, you read that right –seventeen) novels, all unpublished.
After 9 years of novel writing, and after facing rejection from oodles of agents and publishing houses, Amanda Hocking decided to epublish on Amazon. Hocking has said the motivation was partly financial (she really wanted to go see a Jim Henson exhibit in Chicago, which would have cost her a few hundred dollars for the travel and motel, and she couldn’t afford it) and partly out of a self-imposed goal that she would be published by age 26 (the same age Stephen King was when he was first published).
In February of 2010, Hocking received her last rejection letter; by April of 2010 she hit the “publish” button on Amazon for the first time. Hocking sold over one million copies of her books in the first year alone. It’s something of an eBook Cinderella story. When things didn’t work out for her through the traditional route, Hocking proved that a writer could e-publish her own work and still make the New York Times best seller list. Regardless of your stance on epublishing and/or traditional publishing, Hocking’s story is nothing short of amazing.
Hocking is now published through St. Martin’s Press.
Since I’m in awe of Amanda Hocking this week, I’ve decided to post a video series where Hocking gives advice to new and unpublished writers. Enjoy!
Great story – hers and the ones she writes! :+)
I can’t wait to try some of her others after the Trylle series!
This is a great resource! Thanks for posting and sharing
Hi Erin, this was great! I’ve been following Amanda’s success but hadn’t seen her tips. Thanks so much for bringing them to my attention.
Good to hear from you, Kristin! I hope the 2013 writing’s going strong!
What an amazing story. And, of course, she provides sound advice.
That really is amazing and inspiring. How could the “traditional” publishers have got it so wrong.
Amanda is one of the reasons I self-published. Not because I thought I’d be a huge best seller, but because she decided she just wanted to get her words out to people and just went for it. Thanks so much for passing along her tips. Her suggestion to read all genres really hit me. I tend to stay within my favorite genres, but in order to improve all facets of my writing it probably would be a good idea to learn from all genres.
I know. *hides face behind hands* I really need to make an effort to branch out more than I do.
OooOoh –I forgot — that is so cool Hocking’s story is one of the things that inspired you to self publish!
What an inspiring story! Can’t wait to hear what Amanda has to say. Thanks for sharing, Erin.
I know.
It’s a total bootstrap story, but it still makes me feel warm and fluffy. And she really does have good advice!
Reblogged this on Writing Your Destiny and commented:
I so enjoyed this blog from Erin at Writerlious . . . hope you do too!
Thankies for the reblog, Karen!
Thank you for this excellent post.
Amanda Hocking’s advice was very good, especially #4 on plotting.
I liked that tip too. As much as I hate outlining, it has helped immensely on my current WIP. Scenes are so much easier to write when you know what’s going to happen first!
She is truly an inspiration. I really want to publish my own book…finding the time is the issue.
Ah, I remember reading about her. She’s one of the many people I bookmarked so I’d have something to remind me to hang in there. Still not doing as good as she is
Amanda is a great success story… love it.