Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame — This book features the stories of hundreds of self-publishers who have gone on to great success. It also features tips from many of the hall of famers on how to do what they did. I publish this book as an ebook because I’m continually adding new heroes to it. February, 2008. 225-page ebook download. $20.00.
Visit http://www.SelfPublishingHallofFame.com for more detailed listings of selected honorees. Or read the book above for the most detailed and complete listings.
Self-publishing was once considered as bad as vanity publishing, but with so many self-published successes in the past few years, it is now possible to self-publish with respect. Publishers Weekly will now look at self-published books, something they would never have done five or ten years ago. “Gone are the days,” wrote Publishers Weekly rights columnist Paul Nathan, “when self-publishing was virtually synonymous with self-defeating.”
And now with the advent of print-on-demand publishing, it's possible to self-publish at little cost. POD publishing or self-publishing (Please Note: they are not the same thing) are excellent ways to test the market for a book, establish that market, and even build the market to such an extent that an author can sell the reprint rights to a much larger book publisher for a very good advance. Indeed, many larger book publishers now scour the shelves and the Internet for self-published and POD books that could fit their publishing program. Self publishing has become respectable again.
You could stock a superb college library or an incredible bookstore just from the books written by the some of the authors who have chosen to self-publish at some point in their lives: Margaret Atwood, William Blake, Ken Blanchard, Robert Bly, Lord Byron, Willa Cather, Pat Conroy, Stephen Crane, e.e. cummings, W.E.B. DuBois, Alexander Dumas, T.S. Eliot, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Benjamin Franklin, Zane Grey, Thomas Hardy, E. Lynn Harris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, Robinson Jeffers, Spencer Johnson, Stephen King, Rudyard Kipling, Louis L'Amour, D.H. Lawrence, Rod McKuen, Marlo Morgan, John Muir, Anais Nin, Thomas Paine, Tom Peters, Edgar Allen Poe, Alexander Pope, Beatrix Potter, Ezra Pound, Marcel Proust, Irma Rombauer, Carl Sandburg, Robert Service, George Bernard Shaw, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Upton Sinclair, Gertrude Stein, William Strunk, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoi, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Woolf.
Below is a list of many other amazing authors who have chosen to self-publish at some time in their careers. You would do well to be among this honored group.
One romance author's critique of the following list: “When these example names get brought up over and over, it gives the impression that it happens all the time. But when you have to dredge through the millions of authors who have produced work over the past TWO HUNDRED years, just to make up a list that contains fifty or sixty, then it's the equivalent of saying that a person can strike oil in their back yard while digging a swimming pool. It's probably happened. But it doesn't happen often, and it's unfair to lead people to believe that they're the NEXT SURE-FIRE MULTI-MILLIONAIRE AUTHOR of the publishing game because a few people over a few centuries have accomplished it.”
I didn't dredge this list up. It is a list of several hundred creative and noble people who at some point in their careers chose self-publishing as a legitimate option. I don't recommend self-publishing to most authors, but for some it is and has been a viable and productive option. This list tells the stories of these people. I will continue to honor them.
Please note that the full story for many of the contemporary self-publishers are included in the book version of this hall of fame.
If you would like to nominate a self-publisher to this Self-Publishing Hall of Fame, please send an email message to John Kremer. I know that I have missed some self-publishers I truly would like to add to this list. Your name might be one of those. Here are a few of the things that can qualify someone for inclusion in this Self-Publishers Hall of Fame: big sales, significant rights sales, impact on society, growth as a publisher, an innovative marketing strategy, or a very good story.
Click here for the Independent Publisher Bestsellers List.
Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
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Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and book series, self-published an original ebook, God's Debris, early in 2001 as a way of testing the market for a new book. As a result, he was able to get an “unusually good deal” from his regular publisher, Andrews McMeel, when he sold them the book rights.
In 1998, Arthur Agatston, author of The South Beach Diet, began by self-publishing several hundred pamphlets outlining his diet ideas for patients. Several years later, with the help of an agent, he sold rights to Rodale. Within a year, the book had sold almost seven million copies.
Julie Aigner-Clark founded the Baby Einstein company to produce early-learning videos, DVDs, and audio CDs for babies and toddlers. Many of the products feature poems written by her. The company has won many awards for its products and has sold more than 8 million copies of its videos and other products. In November 2001, she and her husband sold the company to Disney for $25 million.
Nigerian writer Christopher Albani was jailed in his home country for publishing some of his books. A number of his books were banned in Nigeria before he sold right to his first U.S. novel, GraceLand, to Farrar Straus Giroux with the aide of agent Sandy Dijkstra.
Craig Alesse began Amherst Media by self-publishing his own how-to photography books. His company is now one of the premiere how-to photography publishing companies in the world, distributing to photography stores across the country.
Debbie Allen sold 40,000 copies of her Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters and then sold reprint rights to McGraw-Hill. In addition, she sold rights to a new book, Positively Fearless Selling, to Dearborn Trade. An international speaker and consultant, she helps businesses to out-market, out-sell, and out-profit their competition.
Marc Allen, publisher of New World Library, chose to publish his own book, Visionary Business, after publishing many other bestselling titles, including Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra, and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
In 1962, trumpeter Herb Alpert and his partner Jerry Moss formed A&M records with $100 apiece. One of the first albums they produced was the gold-selling Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass's Whipped Cream & Other Delights, a classic record of the mid-60s. They built A&M into the nation's largest record company not owned by a conglomerate before finally selling out to Polygram in 1989 for $500 million.
Judith Appelbaum originally self-published How to Get Happily Published, then sold the rights to Harper Collins. The book has now been through many editions and has sold more than 500,000 copies.
Mary Appelhof self-published Worms Eat My Garbage. Her first edition sold more than 100,000 copies. In 1997, she published her second edition.
Mawi Asgedom self-published his memoir, Of Beetles and Angels, which told the story of his journey from war-torn Ethiopia at age three to a refugee camp in Sudan, a childhood on welfare in an American suburb, and eventual triumph as a Harvard graduate, where he gave the commencement address in 1999. In 2001, he sold rights to that book and another nonfiction book (featuring advice for teenagers drawn from his motivational speeches), to Little, Brown for six figures.
Stephanie Dircks Ashcraft never expected to sell thousands of copies of the book of recipes that she and her husband once assembled by hand in their small living room in Utah. She created the first copy of 101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix as a college class project, then a few months later began teaching a cooking class based on the book at a local supermarket. Her students pleaded with her to put all the recipes together in a book, which led to her first print run and several subsequent reprintings. Over 7000 copies of Stephanie’s self-published version sold locally in Utah, the Intermountain West, and on the web. In August 2002, Gibbs-Smith published a new edition of the book and gave it national distribution. By mid-October 2002, the book had hit #9 on the New York Times paperback advice bestseller list.
Tami Oldham Ashcraft former her own publishing company, Bright Works Publishing, to self-publish her story of surviving Hurricane Raymond out in the Pacific Ocean (Red Sky in Mourning). After selling more than 8,000 copies of her edition, a literary agent discovered the book while biking on the San Juan Islands. Several months later, the agent sold the reprint rights to Hyperion for half a million dollars.
Bestselling Canadian author Margaret Atwood self-published her first volume of poetry Double Persephone in 1961, the year she graduated from college. The print run was only 200 copies. Atwood has gone on to become a bestselling novelist and short story writer.
Please note that the self-publishing of Atwood's first book did not necessarily lead to her becoming a bestselling novelist. A sad, sad critic seems to think that's what I was implying.
In 1838, John James Audubon completed his monumental The Birds of America, which was “large and nearly as heavy as flagstones, large enough to require two people, one at each end, to turn the thick, luxurious pages.” The world had never seen anything quite like Audubon's drawings which presented life-size birds in their habitats—soaring, swooping, singing, and killing. Audubon self-published his book by selling subscriptions and then issued the book in four installments. While he spent years camping out, making the drawings, and compiling his great work, his wife supported him with her teaching.
Douglas Austin, president of Austin Financial Services, has sold more than 125,000 copies of five editions of his Financial Institution Directors’ Liabilities and Responsibilities since 1984.
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In the fall of 2004, Joe Babcock, winner of the Writer's Digest International Self-Published book award, sold rights to his novel The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers to Carroll & Graf with the help of agent Michael Mancilla of Greystone Literary Agency.
After promoting his self-published book, The Truth about Relationships, on more than 800 radio shows, Dr. Greg Baer and his agent Wendy Sherman sold rights to Gotham for its debut list where the book was published as Real Love.
A scrapbooking enthusiast, Wendy Bagley self-published a collection of funny essays on the subject called Scraps. Later with the help of literary agent Jenny Bent of Trident Media Group, she sold the reprint rights to Hyperion for six figures.
After selling 7,000 copies of her self-published first novel A Little Piece of Sky, Nicole Bailey-Williams sold reprint rights to Harlem Moon, the African-American imprint of Bantam Doubleday Dell.
African-American author Michael Baisden has been self-publishing his own hardcover novels and then selling paperback reprint rights to Simon & Schuster's Touchstone imprint. The trade paperback edition of his novel The Maintenance Man hit the USA Today bestseller list.
In 1983, Phyllis Balch self-published her first book Nutritional Outline for the Professional and the Wise Man with her then-husband James F. Balch. That book was later titled Prescription for Nutritional Healing when it was picked up by Avery in 1990.
Cheryl and Peter Barnes started up Vacation Spot Books by self-publishing Peter's children's book, Nat, Nat, the Nantucket Cat, in 1992. They sold the first edition of 5,000 copies within a year and continue to sell about 5,000 copies every year since that time. In 2001, Cheryl met Mattie J.T. Stepanek, a child poet suffering from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, while working as a volunteer at Washington, D.C.'s Children's Hospital. Inspired by his spirit and poems, she went on to publish several collections of his poems. Heartsongs and Journey Through Heartsongs both made it to the New York Times bestseller list after Mattie appeared on Oprah.
John Bartlett financed and published the first three editions of Familiar Quotations, the bestselling quote book on the market.
L. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz series, self-published pamphlets on chicken farming early in his career.
Jonathan Bayliss, a mainstay of Gloucester, Massachusett's literary inner circle since the 1950's, began self-publishing three innovative novels in his Gloucesterman series starting in 1992. In 1999, the Boston Globe called him “one of the great self-published authors of our time.”
John Bear self-published Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning in 1972 and sold more than 200,000 copies by direct mail before he sold rights to Ten Speed Press in 1983.
In the spring of 2004, attorney Philip Beard was about to write a check for the printer to self-publish his novel Dear Zoe when Clare Ferraro, president of Viking Press, called to make an offer on his book. Beard's bookseller friend, John Towle of Aspinwall Bookstore, loved his book and had recommended it to a visiting sales rep, John Gobble of Penguin. Taking a chance on a self-published title, Gobble read the book and loved it. He, in turn, recommended the novel to Ferraro, who promptly bought the book.
In 1993, Barry Beckham wrote and published the first Black Student's Guide to Colleges. In addition, he developed the Black Student's Guide to Scholarships. These books and others helped him to create the Beckham Publications Group.
Impressionist artist Guy Begin, the Painter of Perfumes, created his own first break by self-publishing his artwork as lithographs, serigraphs, and note cards. He now licenses his artwork to six companies.
In 1985, Paula Begoun self-published her first book, Blue Eye Shadow Should Be Illegal (now called The Beauty Bible), a how-to book on using the right cosmetics. She followed the success of her first book by writing and publishing a second book called Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me. A few years later, she also published another follow-up called Don't Go Shopping for Hair Care Products Without Me. All told, these three beauty books have sold more than two million copies in the past thirteen years.
In 1928, Peter Beilenson began publishing books from the Peter Pauper Press using a foot-treadle press in his father's basement to publish books “at prices even a pauper could afford.” For more than 75 years, the press has continued as a family business.
James Gordon Bennett self-published the first edition of the New York Herald newspaper on May 6, 1835, using $500 of start-up capital, a basement office, an a sole employee (himself). By 1860, his newspaper had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the country.
Pierre Bennu sold rights to his self-published book Bullsh**t or Fertilizer to Andrews McMeel. Rights have also been sold to digicube and Japan.
Todd Bermont is author and self-publisher of 10 Insider Secrets to Job Hunting Success and 10 Insider Secrets Career Transition Workshop.
In 2000, author ReShonda Tate Billingsley had a story to tell and sent out a flood of query letters trying to interest agents in her novel, My Brother's Keeper. “I tried to go the traditional route and sent out letters to agents,” she said. That didn't work. So she decided to self-publish. Within a year, she and her friends had sold 15,000 copies and one of the larger publishers, Simon & Schuster, came calling. Now she has a contract with them to publish nine more books in the next two years.
Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson originally self-published The One-Minute Manager so they could sell the book for $15.00 at a time when all the experts were telling them that they'd never sell the book for such a high price. In a three month time, they sold over 20,000 copies in the San Diego area alone — and then sold the reprint rights to William Morrow. The One-Minute Manager has sold more than 12 million copies since 1982 and been published in 25+ languages.
31-year-old British author Marc Blaney self-published Two Kinds of Silence to the sound of silence. So he decided to submit his book for the Somerset Maugham award (for young authors) so he could tell booksellers that his book had been entered for the award. Well, he won. He was flabbergasted: “I didn't expect in a million years to win.”
In 2000, after getting 70 rejections for his comic novel, screenwriter John Blumenthal self-published a trade paperback of What's Wrong with Dorfman?, which was selected by January magazine as one of the 50 best books of 2000. He went on to get more major reviews and finally sold the book to St. Martin's Press for a nice sum of money.
In the 1970's, American poet Robert Bly self-published many of his poetry books and translations through his own publishing company.
Richard N. Bolles originally self-published What Color Is Your Parachute as a small typed guide for Episcopal priests who needed to readjust after leaving the priesthood. Later he sold the rights to Ten Speed Press. The book has now spent 288 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and returns to other bestseller lists (such as Business Week's) each year when a new edition comes out.
Since 1973, Australian dietician Allan Borushek has sold more than 11 million copies of his self-published calorie counter books and other products in the U.S. and Australia. About 8 million copies were sold in Australia, which is an amazing feat considering that Australia has a population equivalent to Texas.
Former Major League baseball pitcher and bestselling author Jim Bouton decided to self-publish Foul Ball through his Bulldog Press in 2003. The book, an account of his efforts to preserve the oldest minor-league ballpark in the U.S. (at Pittsfield, Massachusetts), was originally sold to Public Affairs but after an editorial dispute, Bouton decided to self-publish.
Ruby Ann Boxcar, Trailer Park newspaper columnist and website host, self-published her first book, Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook, via POD through iUniverse.com. The rights were quickly snapped up Kensington/Citadel Press which has since gone on to publish Ruby Ann's holiday cookbook. Ruby Ann is known as the Dame Edna of the double-wide world. She is a crowd pleaser. At regional bookshows, she autographs and kisses every book before handing them over to booksellers.
“I self-published my book The Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook: A Twister Of Tasty Treats through the iUniverse print-on-demand program and took it to the BEA in Chicago in 2001. After several offers on account of that trip, I decided to take up the two-book offer from Kensington Publishing. They re-released it last May under its new title, Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook, and the second book, Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Holiday Cookbook, comes out around the middle or end of October, 2002. And after the last BEA in New York, I signed a new three-book deal, which allowed me to quit my job and work as a writer only. Everything is goin' great, and I have to give you credit for some of this. When I first decided to self-publish, I picked up your book, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, which iUniverse recommended, and read it from cover to cover, markin' the sections that I felt would be good for me. I took a lot of your ideas and crafted 'em so they ! best fit me and my book. It was on account of you mentionin' the BEA that I asked my rep at iUniverse about goin'. They finally said that if I paid for my way there and paid for my hotel and expenses, they'd get me and my assistant a pass to get into the BEA. So anyways, thanks for the tips, thanks for allowin' me to realize a dream, and thanks for changin' my life.” — Love, Kisses, and Trailer Park Wishes, Ruby Ann Boxcar
Stewart Brand self-published the first editions of The Whole Earth Catalog before selling the rights to a larger publisher. The Catalog, famous for widely disseminating the first photograph of the earth from space, was the bible of the back to the land movement. More than one edition of the Catalog hit the New York Times bestseller list.
Hilery Bradt self-published her first award-winning guidebook and now publishes a growing list of travel guides by other writers under her imprint, Bradt Travel Guides.
Engineer Marshall Brain began by publishing his work as a hobby on his website http://www.HowStuffWorks.com. This site features colorful easily understood illustrations and simple explanations to describe how things work, from how a black hole works to an expresso machine to plasma TV to Christmas lights. The site has grown to a business with more than 20 staff, numerous spin-offs, and $20 million in annual revenue. Two volumes of How Stuff Works have been published by John Wiley.
Jeff Brauer started On Your Own Books in the basement of his parent's house. He had begun working on his first book, Sexy New York (a Zagat-like guide to the kinky places in New York) while still in law school. In 2002, while still running his Brooklyn-based publishing company, Brauer also ran for Congress from a district on the east side of Manhattan.
David Brody self-published his book Unlawful Deeds via iUniverse's print-on-demand program. He sold almost 3,000 copies in his home area of Boston, Massachusetts while doing 26 bookstore appearances. At one point, his book hit #8 on the Boston Globe bestseller list. His book is probably the first print-on-demand book to hit a bestseller list.
Amanda Brown used First Books to publish her first novel Legally Blonde as a print-on-demand book. Her self-published book was made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon. A year and a half after the movie was made, Plume published her book, with an additional chapter on what's next for Elle Woods. Yup, her self-published edition came out before the movie, but the New York publisher waited another year and a half before publishing its edition.
H. Jackson Brown originally self-published his Life's Little Instruction Book. Soon thereafter, the book was bought by Rutledge Hill, a local publisher, who went on to sell more than 5 million copies. The book made the bestseller lists in both hardcover and softcover and continues to be a great seller around graduation time every year.
In 1984 Steven E. Browne self-published The Video Tape Post Production Primer and sold more than 3,000 copies in two years. He then sold the rights to an established publisher where the book went through four additional editions. He is now finishing work on his fifth self-published book, Getting That Job in Hollywood, and his sixth self-published book, his second novel.
The father of English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, author of Sonnets from the Portuguese, paid for the publication of the first 50 copies of her first book. She was 14 at the time.
After being dissatisfied with the results of regular publishers, Dorothy Bryant and her husband Bob established Ata Books to self-publish her next four novels, all of which didn't fit the acceptable mold of current publishers. Here's what Pat Holt of Holt Uncensored has said about Bryant: “With Ella Price's Journal, for example, Bryant anticipated the movement of middle-aged women returning to college in droves; The Kin of Ata was the first of many spiritual-mentor novels by such writers as Carlos Castaneda, Lynn Andrews, Dan Millman and others; with Prisoners, Bryant foresaw the trend by liberals such as Norman Mailer of sponsoring the release of convicts they knew nothing about, and didn't want to; her novel, The Test, was among the first books to recognize the dilemma of middle-aged baby boomers caring for both their own kids and their own aging parents; A Day in San Francisco was her portentous 1983 novel about a mother's concern over her gay son and what Dorothy calls ‘a liberation movement gone astray’ (only a year before gay bowel syndrome was recognized as a disease called AIDS).”
Nick Bunick, an Oregon businessman, self-published The Messengers by Julia Ingram and G.W. Hardin. This nonfiction book tells the true story of Bunick and his experiences with angels and reincarnation. Self-publishing the book at the end of 1996, Bunick spent $160,000 promoting it. Through his marketing efforts, more than 20,000 copies were sold in a few short months in the Portland and Seattle areas alone. A few months later, he sold the rights to that book and a sequel for $1,000,000 to Pocket Books. Did his efforts pay off? You do the math.
After Edgar Rice Burroughs became rich and famous as the author of the Tarzan books, he formed a publishing company where he published more books including some of his own.
William Byham self-published the bestselling business book, Zapp: The Lightning of Empowerment. The book has sold more than 2.5 million copies in self-published and Crown Publishing editions.
John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame — This book features the stories of hundreds of self-publishers who have gone on to great success. It also features tips from many of the hall of famers on how to do what they did. I publish this book as an ebook because I’m continually adding new heroes to it. A great motivational and educational tool! November, 2007. 225-page ebook download. $20.00.
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In 1975, Ernest Callenbach self-published his counterculture classic Ecotopia. The book was reprinted by Bantam in 1977.
Before selling rights to Putnam, Julia Cameron self-publisherd her bestselling The Artist's Way. The book has sold more than a million copies now.
Professional gambler Avery Cardoza built a publishing empire writing and publishing gambling advice books. In 2003, he took it a step further by publishing a new magazine, Avery Cardoza's Player, for the amateur gambler.
Richard Carlson, author of the bestselling Don't Sweat the Small Stuff series, began his book career by self-publishing The Business of Bodywork.
Ricki Carroll and her then-husband Robert self-published Cheesemaking Made Easy in 1982, four years after starting the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. Later they sold the rights to Storey Publications. That first book sold more than 100,000 copies. In 2002, Ricki brought out a new edition with Storey Publications called Home Cheese Making.
Cindy Cashman, with her then partner Alan Garner, self-published Everything Men Know about Women (using the pseudonym of Dr. Alan Francis) and sold more than half a million copies of the blank book before selling rights to Andrews-McMeel. The book has now sold more than 1.5 million copies.
In 1977, student teacher John Cassidy joined with two college pals to self-publish Juggling for the Complete Klutz as a stapled little book, which had come out of a mimeographed high school lesson plan. The book went on to sell more than 2.5 million copies and led to the establishment of Klutz Press, which has published fifty books.
Novelist Willa Cather paid for the publication of her first book. Her novel, One of Ours, won the Pulitzer Prize.
When Dave Chilton self-published The Wealthy Barber in 1989, he took a long-term view to building the book. He dedicated himself to doing hundreds of interviews during that first year. By 1990, his book was selling ten to fifteen thousand copies a month. By 1991, his book had made the Canadian bestseller list. By 1996, it was still on the Canadian bestseller lists. With more than a million copies sold (in a country of 29 million!), his book is the bestselling book in Canadian history, excluding the Bible.
Deepak Chopra vanity published his first book and then sold the rights to Crown Publishing. The book went on to become the first of many New York Times bestsellers for this author.
British journalist Stephen Clarke originally self-published in France his travel adventures, A Year in the Merde. Since publishing the book, he and his agent Susanna Lea of Susanna Lea Associates have sold U.S. rights to Bloomsbury, for publication in spring 2005, as well as French rights to Laffont, Australian rights to Random House, and UK rights to Transworld.
Will Clarke self-published his first novel, Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles. It got the attention of a film writer, Grant Morris, who persuaded Will to give him a free option. The movie is now getting made at Paramount, and the book is being published by Simon and Schuster (with the help of agent Jenny Bent of Trident Media Group), as is Will’s second novel, also self-published, The Worthy.
With the help of his agent Jimmy Vines, Dr. Will Clower sold his self-published book The Fat Fallacy to Crown.
After selling over 20,000 copies of his self-published novel Before I Let Go in less than four months (primarily via independent bookstores on the East Coast), Darren Coleman with the help of agent Jimmy Vines sold rights to that novel as well as another to Amistad/Harper.
After self-publishing three chick lit crime novels, Jennifer Colt sold rights to all three novels (The Butcher of Beverly Hills, The Mangler of Malibu Canyon, and The Vampire of Venice Beach) to Broadway Books with the help of agent Jenny Bent of Trident Media Group.
Bestselling novelist Pat Conroy self-published his first book, The Boo. He spent thousands on printing and promoting the book. Now, of course, his advances run much, much higher. His bestselling books include The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, Beach Music, My Losing Season, and The Water Is Wide.
Wade Cook, through his various companies, has self-published many of his bestselling books, including Stock Market Miracles and Wall Street Money Machine (500,000 copies).
Nick Corcodilos self-published Ask the Headhunter. For the first two years he made a profit in the mid-six figures. In the third year a major publisher offered him a high five-figures advance and he sold the rights.
Laura Corn self-published 101 Nights of Grrreat Sex and several other books. She sold 100,000 copies of 237 Intimate Questions Every Woman Should Ask a Man from the trunk of her car. Total sales for 101 Nights was 525,000 copies as of March 1999.
Steve Crist, owner of The Daily Racing Form, self-published under DRF Books his memoir, Myself: Adventures of a Horse-player and Publisher.
American poet e.e. cummings self-published No Thanks, a volume of poetry financed by his mother. On the half-title page, he listed the thirteen publishers who had rejected the book, which became one of his classics.
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Norman F. Dacey self-published the bestseller, How to Avoid Probate.
In 2001, Lisa Daily self-published Stop Getting Dumped. With the help of publicist Sherri Rosen, she got so much publicity for the book that she was able to sell the rights to Penguin for a very nice sum.
Diana Dalsass, author of five cookbooks published by NAL, Norton and Contemporary, self-published The Butterscotch Lover's Cookbook, under her Buttercup Press imprint so she'd have more control over its design.
In 1973, Bill Dalton self-published A Traveler's Notes: Indonesia. By the time he sold the company he had founded, Moon Publications, it had published almost 100 titles and was the largest American publisher of guidebooks for independent travelers.
Half African-American, half-Blackfoot Jamise L. Dames sold more than 30,000 copies of her first novel Mamma's Baby, Daddy's Maybe. The novel even made the Essence bestseller list.
Dennis Damp founded Brookhaven Press to self-publish The Book of Government Jobs, which has now been through 8 editions.
After Craig Danner made a big impression at regional trade shows in the Pacific Northwest and northern California, booksellers began ordering his self-published novel Himalayan Dhaba. The book was then named as a Book Sense 76 pick. In a heated auction, Dutton won the right to republish the book as a hardcover for a high-altitude six-figures.
Renny Darling of Royal House Publishing sold more than a half million copies her first cookbook, The Joy of Eating.
In 1933, Charles Darrow invented the game of Monopoly. Parker Brothers had originally rejected the game because of “52 design flaws,” so Darrow produced the game himself and quickly sold 5,000 games to a Philadelphia department store. The rest is history. Parker Brothers changed their minds and took on the production and marketing of the game. More than 200 million copies of Monopoly have been sold thus far.
Mary Janice Davidson began by publishing her romance novels as e-books at www.ellorascave.com, a website featuring saucy romantic fantasies. A friend of hers brought her novels to the attention of Cindy Hwang, an editor at Berkley, who liked one of them enough (Undead and Unwed) to offer a three-book deal.
Max Davis originally self-published his book, Never Stick Your Tongue Out at Momma, then sold the rights to Bantam Doubleday Dell. As a self-promoter, he sold more copies of the BDD edition than the publisher did. He sold the rights to his next book to Penguin Putnam.
In 1998, Verna Burger Davis self-published her memoirs, My Chosen Trails, at the age of 96. Her granddaughter, Amy Martin, and son, Jim Davis, with financing by Verna, set up the publishing company, Deep Creek Press. Verna did all of the writing about her life through the 20th century. The first printing sold over 2,000 copies and, in 2003, she was preparing to go to a second printing with an additional chapter, detailing the ensuing five years and the changes that being an author brought in her life.
Afrikadzata Deku has self-published 40 books, including Sacred Verses for My Afrikan Queens, The Power of Afrikan-Centricity, and The Afrikan Truth.
When Kathleen Dexter self-published her fairy tale love story, Fifth Life of the Catwoman, it was chosen as a BookSense 76 pick. The book was then sold to Berkley where it once more became a BookSense 76 pick.
Don Dible originally self-published the New York Times bestselling book, Up Your Own Organization.
In 1978, train buff Chuck Ditlefsen self-published his first calendar, Those Magnificent Trains. Since then, he has built his company, Cedco Publishing, into one of the fastest-growing companies in America (it made the Inc. 500 list in 1998).
Ben Dominitz self-published several books, one on free travel (Travel Free) and another on romance, before completely establishing Prima Publishing, one of the largest of the independent small publishers. In less than fifteen years, he built a company that had published well over 1,500 titles, had more than 140 employees, and competed with New York publishers on an equal standing. Prima was sold to Random House in 2001.
Jim Donovan sold 85,000 copies of his Handbook to a Happier Life in 1997 and then, in 2002, sold reprint rights to New World Library who continues to sell it today. Additionally, his second book, This is Your Life, Not a Dress Rehearsal, is published in over 20 countries with more than 200,000 copies in print. A sought after motivational speaker, he helps people realize that within them is the power to change their lives.
Laura Doyle originally self-published The Surrendered Wife. Once it became the bestselling book in Washington state, she sold reprint rights to Simon & Schuster. The book went on to become a New York Times bestseller.
After Canadian writer Oriah Mountain Dreamer's prose poem The Invitation appeared on dozens of websites, agent Joe Durepos helped her to sell the rights to the poem in book form to Harper SanFrancisco in 1999, where it became a bestseller and has been translated into more than 15 languages around the world. Prior to that poem, she had also self-published a small chapbook of poetry, Dreams of Desire, in 1995.
American civil rights leader William E.B. Du Bois, co-founder of the NAACP, self-published The Moon in 1906. He went on to edit the Crisis journal from 1910 to 1932 as well as write other books, including Color and Democracy, that promoted the concerns of African-Americans.
Doug DuBosque and his wife Susan Joyce started Peel Productions to publish and promote several children's picture books that Susan wrote and Doug illustrated. In the process of promoting those books via author visits to schools, they uncovered the how-to-draw market. Since then they've expanded into publishing Doug's drawing books for kids, including Draw 3-D, Draw Cars, Draw Ocean Animals, Draw Rainforest Animals, Draw Desert Animals, Draw Grassland Animals, Draw Insects, Draw Dinosaurs, and Learn To Draw Now. They have sold more than 6 million copies of the 60 tiles they have published, both their own books and those of other authors and illustrators.
In a little over two years, author Laura Duksta and illustrator Karen Keesler sold 179,000 copies of their first book, I Love You More. Available now in 46 states, the book sells best through eclectic gift shops, art galleries, children's boutiques, and great independent bookstores. In March 2008, their book, now published by Sourcebooks, hit the New York Times bestselling book.
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of such swashbuckling romances as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, self-published some of his first books.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, the first African-American poet to achieve national prominence, published his first poetry collection at the age of 21 after being invited to read his poetry at the 1893 World's Fair. Before that he had published an African-American newsletter, the Dayton Tattler, with the help of his classmates Wilbur and Orville Wright. He went on to publish many more collections of poetry, several novels, librettos, and scripts. He is known as the poet laureate of African Americans.
In 1989, Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick began C & G Publishing by self-publishing Colorado Cookie Collection, a collection of favorite recipes collected over ten years from cookie exchanges held in their homes. During their years of publishing, they have won eight Evvy Awards (from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association) and a Benjamin Franklin award for Nothin' But Muffins.
Hale Dwoskin and Lester Levenson sold more than 20,000 copies of their self-published book, Happiness Is Free: And It's Easier Than You Think, via their website and various online bookstores. To promote the book, Dwoskin began by emailing thousands of his former students at Sedona Training Associates. Their response was to propel the book to the top of the list at Amazon.com.
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With the help of six friends, Betty J. Eadie self-published Embraced by the Light, which went on to become a New York Times bestseller (on the list for two years as a hardcover and paperback).
Mary Baker Eddy, founder of The First Church of Christ, Scientists, originally self-published her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, in 1875. That book is now published in 17 languages and has sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Eddy also founded her own publishing company which today publishes weekly and monthly magazines as well as the Pulitzer Prize award-winning daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor (founded in 1908).
Bob Easter wrote and published two books on buying and selling homes. He has sold thousands of copies via his website at http://www.easterhome.com.
With the help of agent Anna Ghosh, India Edghill sold the rights to her self-published novel Queenmaker to St. Martin's which offered her a big advance and full-page ads in the New York Times Book Review.
In 2002, best-selling author Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) published his first novel through his own publishing company, McSweeney's.
Arlene Eisenberg self-published What to Do When You’re Expecting before Workman went on to republish it and sell 8 million copies (and counting) plus millions more copies of other titles in the series.
Nobel Prize-winning poet T.S. Eliot, author of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land, paid for the publication of his first book.
In 2002, bestselling author Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) published his first novel through his own publishing company, McSweeney's. He sold 10,000 copies as a limited edition through his website mcsweeneys.net. Books published by McSweeney's are printed in Iceland.
Paulette Ensign's success in selling 500,000 booklets (110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life without Advertising) shows you can have success in self publishing without needing to write a full length book. Her website is www.tipsbooklets.com.
John Erickson founded Maverick Books to self-publish the first book in his Hank the Cowdog series in 1982. To make sales, he loaded his pickup with copies and sold them at cattle auctions, rodeos, schools, Rotary meetings, and anywhere else he could find a crowd. He later sold the series to Texas Monthly Press, which was later bought by Gulf Publishing.
Steve Eunpu has sold more than 650,000 copies of The 20 Gram Diet book.
Due to demand from many friends, Richard Paul Evans self-published 8,000 copies of his little holiday story, The Christmas Box, in August 1993. That fall he sold many thousands of copies in the Salt Lake City area alone. When the major publishers became interested in the book, dozens of them participated in a two-day auction. Simon & Schuster came out the winner. They only had to pay Evans a $4.2 million advance (which included the rights to a prequel as well). He retained the rights to his softcover edition. The next year, both editions ended up on the bestseller lists. The book has sold more than 7 million copies in 17 different languages.
When Jim Everroad lost his job as a high school athletic coach, he decided to become a sportswriter. The first job he tackled was to write an article describing the exercises he had developed to tighten his pot belly. After selling the article to a newspaper, he expanded it into a full book called How to Flatten Your Stomach and printed a first edition of 3,000 copies. Later the book was discovered by Price/Stern/Sloan who published a national edition of the book, which became a bestseller. The book has since sold over 2 million copies.
Twenty-five years ago, Helen Exley self-published the first of her many illustrated quote gift books. Since 1976, Exley Publications has sold more than 41 million copies of her gift books.
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New Harbinger's president, Patrick Fanning, conceived of founding the company over a box lunch with publisher Matthew McKay. The first book they published, The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook, was one they co-authored. It has now sold over 450,000 copies. New Harbinger grew slowly, with McKay and Fanning writing many titles themselves.
In 1951, Howard Fast couldn't find a publisher for his novel Spartacus because he was a member of the Communist Party and therefore blacklisted at that time. So he published the book himself. It became a bestseller and went on to be made into an incredible movie. In 1956, Fast broke with the Communist Party after revelations of Stalin-era atrocities.
Father and son team Jim and Charles Fay, along with Foster Cline, formed the Love and Logic Institute to self-publish an entire line of self-help parenting books, including Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood, Grandparenting with Love and Logic, Oh Great! What Do I Do Now?, Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers: Love and Logic Parenting for Early Childhood, Hormones & Wheels, Developing Character in Teens, Parenting Teens with Love and Logic, Trouble-Free Teens, and more.
In 1953, Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights Bookstore. Soon thereafter, he self-published Pictures of the Gone World, his classic book of poems, as the first of many books published by City Lights Books, including such books as Allan Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems. About 30 years later, he became the first living writer to have a San Francisco street named after him.
Nature and environmental photographer John Fielder founded Westcliffe Publishers, which has published 31 of his exhibit format books and guide books, including John Fielder's Best of Colorado and Colorado 1870 - 2000 (Colorado's bestselling book ever).
Canadian lawyers Barry Fish and Les Kotzer sold more than 15,000 copies of their self-published book on wills and estates, The Family Fight: Planning to Avoid It, within the first nine months of publication. Most of those orders were generated via mail order from publicity in publications like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Books by writing groups do sell. For example, Wednesday Writers: Ten Years of Writing Women's Lives, edited by Elizabeth Fishel and Terri Hinte, hit #7 on the San Francisco Chronicle's bestseller list, right behind Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit.
Bill Fisher began his publishing career by self-publishing performance car manuals in 1947. Later, in 1963, he and his wife Helen founded HP (horse power) Books, which they sold to Knight-Ridder in 1979. Eight years later, they founded another company, Fisher Books.
British poet and translator Edward Fitzgerald paid to have the first copies of his translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam published in 1859. The book has sold millions of copies since its first publication.
Besides selling 7,000 copies of her novels, Renee Daniel Flagler also founded the Self-Publishing Symposium and the Divas of Literature Tour.
E. Randall Floyd founded Harbor House in 1998 to self-publish his Civil War novel Deep in the Heart, which has since sold 100,000 copies. The company now publishes five to ten titles per year. In 2003, Harbor House was named one of the 15 small publisher standouts by Publishers Weekly.
In hopes of getting another bestseller like those from the Delaney sisters, Warner Books paid 98-year-old Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux more than $1 million for the rights to her self-published reminiscences, Any Given Day. The book had been only a modest self-published success.
Les and Sue Fox self-published The Beanie Baby Handbook in 1997. By July of 1998, they had gone back to press eight more times for an in-print total of 3 million copies while the book established itself in the #2 spot on the New York Times bestseller list (under advice, how-to, and miscellaneous). Later in 1998, they published the Beanie Baby Cookbook.
At the age of 26, Ben Franklin, using the pen name of Richard Saunders, self-published his Poor Richard's Almanack in 1732 and continued to produce the almanac for another 26 years. Many of his famous sayings came from the Almanack. Because of the success of his printing and publishing business, Franklin was able to retire at the age of 42. He became one of the world's greatest scientists and inventors (inventing bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod). He ended his life as a statesman and one of the key founders of the United States of America as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Criswell Freemen has compiled and self-published more than 70 books of quotations, including such titles as The Book of Stock Car Wisdom, The Fisherman's Book of Wisdom, The Wisdom of Women's Golf as well as Friends Are Forever, Fathers Are Forever, Mothers Are Forever, etc. He published his first three quote books in 1994: The Book of Country Music Wisdom, Wisdom Made in America, and The Book of Southern Wisdom. Since then, he has sold more than 6 million copies of these gift books.
In 2002, former journalist Mister Mann Frisby sold over 10,000 copies of his self-published urban thriller Blinking Red Light in Philadelphia alone. Then with the help of Los Bravos Management in the fall of 2003, he sold reprint rights to Riverhead for that book as well as a second novel.
In 1985, Ron Fry began Career Press by publishing several career directories that he edited. He went on to publish his classic 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions and his How to Study program (a series of six books that have sold more than 2 million copies).
Sonia Pressman Fuentes was born in Berlin, Germany, of Polish parents, with whom she came to the U.S. in 1934 to escape the Holocaust. In March 2000, she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame because of her work for women's rights. She was a founder of NOW and other nationwide women's rights organizations as well as the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After she retired as an attorney with the federal government, she wrote a memoir, written with a light touch, called Eat First—You Don't Know What They'll Give You: The Adventures of an Immigrant Family and Their Feminist Daughter. The book became an Xlibris bestseller, received rave reviews, and has been used as a textbook at Cornell University and American University.
Louisiana chef John Folse spent $200,000 to self-publish his 800-page Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cooking. So far he has sold over 35,000 copies at $50 a copy for gross sales of $1,750,000.
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Judith Galbraith started up Free Spirit Publishing by self-publishing her first book. Since then she has built up a company that has published 75 titles and also publishes a catalog that features books from other publishers (Free Spirit had 174,000 direct customers last year!). Free Spirit is one of the Top 101 Independent Publishers.
Because Italian scientist Galileo Galilei published his astronomical findings in his first book The Starry Messenger just ten days after his final observations, he got the major credit for studying the moon and planets with a telescope, even though English scientist Thomas Harriot had first used a telescope to look at the moon four months before Galieo.
Twenty years ago, Margie Garrison self-published an initial print run of 1,000 copies of I Cured My Arthritis & You Can Too!. Since then, she's sold more than 240,000 copies through speaking engagements, media attention, and specialty stores.
In 1977, Marc Allen and Shakti Gawain started New World Library in their Oakland, California kitchen by publishing a mimeographed edition of Gawain's Creative Visualization. The first $800 in sales from that edition helped to keep the company going. When they approached Bookpeople about selling the book, the wholesaler said “Get a spine and typeset the thing, and we'll sell it.” In 2002, New World released a 25th anniversary edition of that book.
In 2001, Mike Gerber self-published Barry Trotter, a parody of the Harry Potter series. With the help of Michael Cader of Cader Books, he soon sold rights to Orion/Gollancz in England and Hodder Headline in Australia for several hundred thousand dollars.
Years after self-publishing his fable The First Forest, John Gile discovered that the National Wildlife Federation had excerpted without his permission 96% of his story along with illustrations in the December 2002 issue of their children's magazine, Your Big Backyard. With the fable generating a largest portion of income for his small publishing company, he had to sue the federation. They paid $350,000 for the infringement. In the meantime, Gile has now sold more than 120,000 copies.
“Nan Talese, senior vice president of Doubleday and the publisher and editor-in-chief at the Nan A. Talese imprint of Random House, sought to acquire rights to The First Forest, but I refused to sell. My ultimate goal is to follow in the footsteps of Bennet Cerf, an author who started a small publishing company which went on to become known as Random House.”
Michael and Marilyn Gilhuly always had a dream to be authors. They thought they had the excellent story, a historical fiction novel based on stories Marilyn had been told by her grandmother. Unable to get the book published, they self-published their manuscript, Call to Glory: The Life and Times of a Texas Ranger. Traveling across Texas, they sold over 4000 copies. One of the copies made it into the hands of the publisher of Longstreet Press, who made them an offer.
John Gindick has sold more than 2 million copies of his self-published music instruction books on blues and country harmonica.
Dr. Roy E Gingrich was a pastor and Bible college professor for over 50 years. He wrote and self-published 100 Bible commentaries that sold over 1 million copies. His sales were achieved by word of mouth though the Southern Baptist Convention and other fundamentalist circles. He also lectured and spoke at hundreds of Bible conferences where he sold thousands of his books.
After poet Nikki Giovanni sold 10,000 copies of her first self-published book, Black Feeling Black Talk, Morrow offered her a contract for future books. Since then, they've sold more than 500,000 copies of eight volumes of poetry and five books of essays.
Collier published a paperback edition of Joshua, a parable originally self-published by Fr. Joseph Girzone, a retired priest. The book, which sold 45,000 hardcover copies in its self-published edition and 100,000 more copies in Collier's trade paperback edition, spawned an entire series of popular novels.
Greg Godek sold more than 750,000 copies of his 1001 Ways to Be Romantic before selling the rights to Sourcebooks Trade. His book has sold more than 1.9 million copies thus far and has spawned a series of related titles.
Author of a previous bestseller (Permission Marketing), Seth Godin self-published his book Unleashing the Ideavirus. First, though, he gave away the book on the Internet, including a tell-a-friend link. More than 200,000 people downloaded the book from his website alone; another 300,000 were exposed to his book from other websites. He then self-published a $40 hardcover. Within a week, his book was #5 on the Amazon.com bestseller list.
Dan Goggin, a little-known actor and composer, wrote the first Nunsense play after some related greeting cards sold well. To date, Nunsense and four sequels have grossed $300 million in ticket sales and earned Goggin $7 million.
Thaddeus Golas originally self-published his classic The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment in 1972. He has since sold the rights to Gibbs-Smith.
In 2000, Good Books, a family-owned publisher of books on Amish and Mennonite cooking, published the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook by Phyllis Pellman Good and Dawn Ranck. Good is the wife of Merle Good, publisher of Good Books. The slo-cooker cookbook sold more than 300,000 copies in its first year and hit the New York Times bestseller list.
English poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale and author of such classics as Childe Harold, The Prisoner of Chillon, and Don Juan, paid for the publication of his first book. He died at the age of 36 while fighting for Greek independence from the Turks.
Bill Goss, sef-publisher of Luckiest Unlucky Man Alive, wrote the just released There's a Flying Squirrel in My Coffee: Overcoming Cancer with the Help of My Pet from Simon & Schuster. Goss now hosts a regular 30-minute show on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet called “Bill Goss & Rocky the Flying Squirrel” that airs in 120 million homes around the world twice a month every month. The show always promotes both of Bill's books.
Since 1992, Kim Gosselin has sold more than 1.5 million copies of her self-published books, largely via premium sales. Having no money to publish her first book, Taking Diabetes to School, she sought out pharmaceutical companies that might want to use her book as a premium. Her first sale of 15,000 copies allowed her to cover all her costs of publishing as well as set up her publishing company, JayJo Books. As of the end of 2000, she had 16 titles in print.
Lynn Grabhorn sold 18,000 copies in six months of her book, Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting, out of her garage — with no returns. Rather than go out and speak on the road, she sent letters to 400 metaphysical bookstores offering each 20 free copies of her book. Most took her up on her offer. Then, when they sold out, they had to reorder. After selling 18,000 coipies, Lynn sold the rights to Hampton Roads, who gave the book a national launch.
John Graden, publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine and author/publisher of Black Belt Management: How to Open and Operate a Successful Martial Arts School and The Martial Arts Q & A Book, grew his business into $4 million annual sales in less than five years.
In 1995, Michael Graham self-published his first book, Banned from Public Radio. Since then, he's self-published another book, Clinton & Me: How Eight years of a Pants-Free Presidency Changed My Nation, My Family and My Life, which Warner Books picked up as an ebook.
Thomas Greanias originally published his adventure novel Raising Atlantis as a popular web series and then as a bestselling ebook on Amazon.com. In 2004, with the help of agent Simon Lipskar at Writers House, he sold the rights to that novel and one other for six figures to a major publisher.
Greenleaf Book Group grew out of the success of Clinton Greenleaf III's self-published book, Attention to Detail: A Gentleman's Guide to Appearance and Conduct, which sold out two printings before being purchased by Adams Media. Since then, Clint has written several more books in the series for Adams, including A Gentleman's Guide to Etiquette. After other self-publishers approached him for advice, he founded Greenleaf Book Group in 1997. This distribution and marketing company now represents more than 150 presses.
Zane Grey, the father of the adult western novel, originally self-published. His first successful novel, The Heritage of the Desert, earned enough money that he was able to move his family to California from Ohio. Grey wrote more than 60 westerns, nine fishing stories, three chronicles of his ancestors, and a biography of young George Washington as well as juvenile fiction and baseball stories.
Susan Griffith self-published the leading book on work abroad, Work Your Way Around the World, before going on to publish a line of books about working, studying, and volunteering abroad under the imprint of Vacation Work Publications: http://www.vacationwork.co.uk.
According to one source, John Grisham self-published his first novel, A Time to Kill. The truth is that the novel was published by a smaller publisher. Nonetheless, Grisham was actively involved in promoting his first novel, selling many copies out of the trunk of his car as he traveled around the South.
After selling 5,000 copies of her self-published first novel Like Boogie On Tuesday in a single month, Linda Dominique Grosvenor sold reprint rights to Black Entertainment Television's African-American women's fiction imprint Sepia.
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Maia Hagg self-published her first children's book, My Very Own Name, created a business plan to sell it, and sold $338,000 worth of books in the first year.
Gary Halbert, famous for his copywriting skills, self-published a number of books and was one of the first authors to encourage buyers of his books to sell his books to others (and give them a great deal in the bargain).
In the 1920's, E. Haldeman-Julius, publisher of the Little Blue Books, sold more than 100 million copes of these little books primarily through newspaper and magazine display ads. Each book sold for 5 cents, but you had to buy at least 20 with any order. After selling the 100 million copies, Haldeman-Julius wrote and published The First Hundred Million to tell what he learned from the publishing venture. A complete digital copy of The First Hundred Million is available from http://www.thefirsthundredmillion.com.
In 1995, Canadians Rosemary and Graham Haley self-published Haley's Hints with a printing of 5,000 copies. That edition went on to sell 191,000 copies. Its revised edition, published in 1999, has sold more than 685,000 copies and hit the bestseller lists in late March 2003.
Dawn Hall sold 650,000 copies of her self-published cookbooks Down Home Cooking Without the Down Home Fat, Busy People's Low-Fat Cookbook, and 2nd Serving of Busy People's Low-Fat Cookbook. With the help of agent Coleen O'Shea, she sold the rights to all her titles plus a new book on crockery cooking to Rudledge Hill Press.
M.C. Hammer (Stanley Burrell), the most popular rap star of the early 1990's, began his career by producing his first album, Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, for $10,000. Hammer took his name from Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron when he was a clubhouse kid for the Oakland Athletics. Players on the team thought that the young Hammer looked a lot like Aaron so they took to calling him Little Hammer. When Hammer needed money to get started, two Oakland players, Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy, invested $40,000 in him, with a promise of 10% of Hammer's future earnings. A few years latter, Hammer was able to buy them out. One of Hammer's biggest hits was “U Can't Touch This.”
British novelist Thomas Hardy, author of such classics as Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Tess of the d'Urbervilles, paid for the publication of his first book.
John F. Harnish, using the pen name of John Franklin to honor his ancestor, Benjamin Franklin, self-published his illuminated essay, The Immortalization of F * * k, in 1972. This is the first time the “F” word was used in the title of a copyrighted work. The infamous one-page essay was printed as a colorful manuscript on parchment stock suitable for framing. Over a million copies were sold and millions more plagiarized using copy machines around the world that helped to spread the word that f * * k is just a useful word. The story about how this infamous essay came to be written and published is told as one of the stories in his first print-on-demand book, Enjoy Often!!!, published by Infinity Publishing in March of 1999. Harnish's third POD book, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about POD But Didn't Know Who to Ask, was published in April 2002 by Infinity Publishing. His popular 606-page epistle provides an insider's view into the publishing industry through the eyes of an author.
Ken Harper sold nearly 9,000 copies of his self-published book, Give Me My Father's Body: The Story of Minik, the New York Eskimo, primarily through his general store on Baffin Island. In spring 2000, Steerforth Press brought out a new edition of the book for the U.S. market. Paperback rights were sold to Pocket books for six figures.
John Harricharan originally self-published When You Can Walk on Water,Take the Boat in 1986. Sales spread by word-of-mouth and the first three printings sold out. The book was then picked up by Berkeley Books and HarperCollins (UK).
Barbara Harris has sold more than 750,000 copies of her self-published cookbook, Let's Cook Microwave. Every time she goes back to press on the book, she has to order another 50,000 copies.
In 1992, E. Lynn Harris self-published his novel, Invisible Life, and sold more than 10,000 copies through beauty salons and black-owned bookstores. He later sold rights to that novel as well as two others to Doubleday/Anchor. His novels have sold millions of copies thus far, made the New York Times bestseller list six times (and counting).
In 1983, Paul Hartunian became the first person in history to sell the world-famous historic landmark, the Brooklyn Bridge (and do it legally). Since then, he has self-published nine successful books, become the guru of reprint rights, and makes five figures for a 90-minute talk.
After self-publishing her novel Illegal Affairs, Shelia Dansby Harvey sold rights to that novel plus another to Kensington Books with help from agent Elaine Koster.
Unable to find a publisher for Good Soldier Svejk in his native Czechoslovakia, Jaroslav Hasek published it himself and sold it primarily in the pubs he frequented. Eventually an international bestseller, it is consdiered by many a classic of 20th century literature.
C.F. Hawthorne self-published her first novel, For Every Black Eye — Revenge: When Nothing Else Works. She's sold 6,000 copies of a self-published novel by lots of hands-on personal marketing.
Novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The House of the Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter, and other American classics, paid for the publication of his first book.
Louise Hay originally self-published You Can Heal Your Life, then sold rights to another company, and finally went on to found her own publishing company, Hay House, which is now one of the Top 101 Independent Publishers.
Naura Hayden self-published How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time and Have Her Beg for More and made it a New York Times bestseller (63 weeks on the list!). She has sold more than 2.6 million copies.
Australian Susan Hayward founded Hayward Books in 1983 to publisher her bestselling series of gift books, A Guide for the Advanced Soul, Begin It Now, and Bag of Jewels.
Hugh Hefner self-published the first issue of Playboy magazine on December 1, 1953. Since then, his Playboy empire has grown to include TV shows, a mansion, many Playmates, calendars, videos, and more.
In 2003, two Hollywood screenwriters, brothers Justin and Jason Heimberg, self-published The Official Movie Plot Generator, which contains 30 pages of 3 flaps that allow anyone to generate 27,000 different movie plots. Some potential plots include: A cop who doesn't play by the rules becomes a nanny for an aristocratic family in the feel-good comedy of the year. Or: Bigfoot fights crime shown in spectacular 3-D images. Or: The ultimate crime-fighting indestructible cyborg raises a baby and, in the process, learns the true meaning of Christmas. It allows you quickly to pitch your own bad movie.
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Ernest Hemingway, author of such classics as The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and the Sea, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, paid for the publication of his first book.
Keith Herrell, one of the nation's top motivational speakers, self-published his first book, Attitude Is Everything, to excellent sales. He went on to sell his second title to HarperCollins for an upper-six-figure price.
The British novelist Susan Hill has for many years been successfully publishing her own books out of a Cotswold barn.
In 1958, Clifton Hillegass borrowed $4,000 to self-publish a guide for Shakespeare's Hamlet. He sold 58,000 copies of the first Cliff Notes in that year. He went on to publish hundreds of Cliff Notes booklets that high school and college students came to rely on for helping them to study and write reports. He eventually sold his company to John Wiley for millions of dollars.
Michael Hoeye self-published his first children's book, Time Stops for No Mouse, and sold so many copies that he ended up selling rights to that book and two others for $1.8 million to Putnam/Puffin in a heated auction involving three other major publishers.
In 1990, after selling his Bookstop bookstore chain to Barnes & Noble for $45 million, Gary Hoover founded Reference Press (latter renamed Hoover's Inc.) as a reference book publisher, beginning with a book called Hoover's. In 1995, the company moved into the online world with the launch of Hoover's Online. In December 2002, he sold Hoover's Inc. to Dun & Bradstreet for $117 million.
In 1968, after taking eight years to write his novel about the Korean War and after getting more than a dozen rejection letters, Capt. Richard Hornberger chose to self-publish M*A*S*H under his pen name of Richard Hooker. In 1970, his novel was made into a movie, with a screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr. and directed by Robert Altman. The movie was the third highest-grossing film of 1970.
Mr. and Mrs. Hockey, Colleen and Gordie Howe, self-published their sports autobiography and... Howe! in 1995 and have sold almost 135,000 hardcover copies since then, thus raising almost $1 million for charitable causes. Although their book is self-published, it is probably the bestselling hardcover hockey autobiography ever published. Check out their website at http://www.mrandmrshockey.com.
Chris Howell, a retired British schoolmaster from Somerset, produced No Thankful Village, a fascinating study of the Great War's impact on the home front that attracted newspaper attention and sold well.
After his work first appeared in a science fiction magazine in June 1950, L. Ron Hubbard self-published his book, Dianetics, which founded a new church (Scientology) and sold more than 20 million copies in the past 45 years.
In 1988, Cheryl Willis Hudson and her husband Wade Hudson began Just Us Books (http://www.justusbooks.com) to publish books in their Afro-Bets series. Since then, they've built one of the best publishers of children's books for African Americans.
John Hughes privately published his book on Family Wealth about keeping human, intellectual, and financial capital in the family for a hundred years or more. After the book became a word-of-mouth phenomenon among high net worth individuals and investment planners, he sold the rights to an revised expanded edition to Bloomberg Press for a nice sum of money.
After self-publishing his novel, The Hearts of Men, Travis Hunter sold reprint rights to the Strivers Row imprint of Random House. His book, which made the Essence bestseller list, originated as material for discussion at a book group he ran for underprivileged children in Atlanta.
In 1983, Dan Hurley began his career as The 60-Second Novelist when he carried his 1953 typewriter and a director's chair to a spot on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois and began writing 60-second novels “while you wait.” As of 2000, he had written more than 25,000 such novels!
Gary Hustwit started Incommunicado Press in the early 1990s by self-publishing his book How to Release an Independent Record. Since then he's published many more books, created a store in New York City, and co-founded MP3Lit.com, a multimedia Internet company which distributes downloadable digitized spoken word audio.
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The Isley Brothers were the first black music group to start their own successful label, T-Neck Records (named after their adopted hometown in New Jersey). While theyhad recorded with RCA and Motown, their most successful work was released under their own label. In 1992, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of their most famous songs include “Shout (Parts 1 & 2),” “It's Your Thing,” and “That Lady.”
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Bishop T.D. Jakes, the senior pastor at Dallas’s Potter’s House (with 30,000 members), has self-published many of his inspirational books, movies, and other items via his church’s for-profit TDJ Enterprises. He has sold seven million copies of his books.
Jennifer James, a Seattle talk radio personality and local columnist, sold 50,000 copies of her self-published book, Success Is the Quality of Your Journey, in the Pacific Northwest alone. Later, Newmarket Press brought out the book in an expanded paperback edition for national distribution.
John Javna self-published 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth via Earthworks Books just in time to catch the environmental awareness wave of the 1980's — and months before the major publishers came out with other ecology titles. His book got all the press, hit the bestsellers lists for months, and sold over 4.5 million copies, two-thirds of those as premiums. John went on to write and publish the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series of books which sold more than three million copies by 2002.
Robin Jay originally self-published The Art of the Business Lunch: Building Relationships between 12 and 2, then sold it to Career Press and doubled the word count. Included in the expanded edition is a quotation from John Kremer: Your job is to make friends. As she notes, “I think taking a client to lunch is one of the best ways to build relationships and friendships.”
American poet Robinson Jeffers self-published his first book but for the longest time most of the copies sat in a box at his home. Over time, he did send out a few copies to friends. Someone who recognized the value of his poems finally discovered a copy of his book. That's all it took. Soon he was a a nationally recognized poet. He best-known collection is Tamar and Other Poems.
Paul Joannides self-published The Guide to Getting It On! via his Goofy Foot Press. Within the first year, he sold 40,000 copies, won a Firecracker Award, sold translation rights to Germany, and received six-figure offers from major publishers (which he rejected).
John H. Johnson self-published Negro Digest (now Ebony magazine) in 1942. From this meager beginning, he built up a billion-dollar publishing empire.
Danish researchers Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, Johnny Mikkelsen, and Erik Rasmussen dug deep to find out everything they could about rock singer Elvis Presley's early recordings. As they collected information, they began self-publishing pamphlets, which later formed the basis for Jorgensen's exhaustive reference guide, Elvis Presley: A Life in Music—The Complete Recording Sessions.
Irish author James Joyce, author of Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, and many other novels, paid for the printing of Ulysses in 1922 with the help of some of his friends (this is called patronage publishing).
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Lloyd Kahn and friends started Shelter Publications in 1973 with the publication of their namesake book, Shelter. That book has sold more than 250,000 copies since that time. Their bestselling book, Stretching, has sold 3.5 million copies since 1980.
Bernard Kamoroff built his one-person publishing company, Bell Springs Publishing, by selling well over half a million copies of one title, Small Time Operator.
Benjamin Kaplan, author of How to Go to College Almost for Free, turned down several six-figure offers from major publishers before he went on to self-publish his book. By the time he sold 25,000 copies, he was featured in a major story in the Sunday New York Times business section. At the ripe old age of 23, he sold reprint rights for that book and The Scholarship Scouting Report to HarperCollins for seven figures.
Joe Karbo self-published The Lazy Man's Way to Riches, which he sold primarily via mail order and full-page ads in newspapers and magazines. He sold millions of copies of this short book before he died.
In 1981, John Katzman founded the Princeton Review by preparing 15 high school students for the SAT exam with an intensive six-week course offering a systematic approach to achieving higher test scores. The Princeton Review now helps millions of students every year to score better on standardized tests and navigate the college and graduate school admissions process through its courses, books, software, and websites.
As a 19-year-old Harvard student in 1968, Kent Keith self-published a book of aphorisms as a motivational booklet for high school student governments. Under the title of Anyway, his words were often attributed to others, including Mother Teresa, Bishop Abel Muzorewa of Zimbabwe, psychiatrist Karl Menninger, Milwaukee clergyman Guy Gurath, and Cleveland high school wrestling coach Howard Ferguson. Several years ago while attending a Rotary luncheon, Kent heard another speaker quote his words, only to discover that his words had made it around the world and back again. He then wrote a longer book and sold the rights to Inner Ocean Publishing, which in turn collected $250,000 in foreign rights sales to 12 countries and $300,000 in reprint rights to Penguin. His Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments was published with a national publicity and distribution push by Penguin.
In 1918, to make it easier for him to buy used cars for his Kelley Kar Company in Los Angeles, California, Les Kelley began to circulate a list of automobiles he wished to buy and the prices he was willing to pay for them. The other dealers and banks which received his list began to trust his judgement as an accurate reflection of the current real values for the cars that they began asking for updated copies. In 1926, Kelley published the first Blue Book of Motor Car Values. The Kelley Blue Book is now the standard authoritative source for used car values.
After winning the 1999 Writer's Digest National Self-Published Book Award for his book, Dad Was a Carpenter, Kenny Kemp got an agent and sold the reprint rights to the book to Harper San Francisco for a six-figure sale.
Ken Keyes, Jr. self-published The Handbook of Higher Consciousness and many other titles, all of which sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Sisters Ursula Inga Kindred and Mirranda Guerin-William self-published their book Sister Gumbo, which employed first-person interviews to take a frank look at life and sexuality from the female perspective. After the book became an Essence bestseller, they sold rights to that book and a follow-up book, Mister Gumbo to St. Martin's, with the help of agent Jenny Bent of Trident Media Group.
Stephen King became the first big name writer to self-publish a novel via serialized format on the Internet. He published the first installment of his novel The Plant on July 24, 2000 via his web site at http://www.stephenking.com. He posted the second installment four weeks later on August 21st. More than a half a million people viewed the novel.
Robert Kiyosaki sold more than a million copies of his self-published Rich Dad, Poor Dad in less than three years. He went on to have many other major bestsellers in the series. In 2006, he began Rich Publishing to publish his wife's book, Rich Woman, as well as other books including Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men—One Message by himself and Donald Trump. Both books went on to be bestsellers. (Longer story in John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame.)
After graduating from college, Natasha Kogan published a 10-page booklet about her secrets of writing a great college thesis. Several years later, she revised and published her guide, Conquering Your Undergraduate Thesis. Nataly and her husband, Avi Spivak, have gone on to publish other college guides under the Students Helping Students series.
Allan Kornblum, publisher of the nonprofit Coffee House Press, began by publishing his own books. He now publishes books by other poets and literary novelists.
John Kremer, author and publisher of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books and developer of this hall of fame, is not above promoting himself, even in this hall of fame. He has helped thousands of authors and publishers to get their books on or near the bestseller lists. Indirectly, at the very least, he has inspired the sales of more than a billion books.
31-year-old Cambodian refugee Vuthy Kuon self-published his first book, Humpty Dumpty After the Fall, a sequel to the old nursery rhyme, as the first step to launching Providence Publishing, which has published seventeen books.
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In 1939, Louis L'Amour privately published his first book, a collection of poems known as Smoke from This Altar. More than ten years after his book of poetry was published, his first novel was published. His 100 westerns have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide.
Again, for the idiots that are tempted to draw the wrong conclusion, L'Amour's success as a western novelist had nothing to do with his self-publishing a poetry book ten years earlier. I don't know why I have to explain this, but apparently some critics think I'm implying some sort of causal connection. What a silly, silly assumption!
Through his SeaScape Press, Len Lamensdorf self-published his Will to Conquer Series featuring three young adult fantasy novels: The first book, The Crouching Dragon, won the Benjamin Franklin award. The second book, The Raging Dragon, was selected as a Children's Choice for 2003.
26-year-old Nathan Landers self-published A Walking Peace, where he told how he was fathered by a Boston policeman who raped his mother, a 14-year-old runaway working as a stripper. After appearing on Good Morning America, he sold film rights to his story to Marty Katz Productions for six figures.
Vicky Lansky sold 300,000 copies of her self-published parenting title, Feed Me, I'm Yours, and then sold the rights to Bantam, which went on to sell 8 million copies of that title and millions of copies of many more books that Vicky wrote. That first book helped to establish Meadowbrook Press, now operated by her ex-husband, and The Book Peddlers (http://www.bookpeddlers.com). Both Vicky's and her former husband's companies are among the Top 101 Independent Publishers.
Bruce Lansky, now publisher of Meadowbrook Press, has written or edited many of the company's bestselling titles, including The Best Baby Name Book (3.5 million copies sold), 15,000+ Baby Names (1.5 million copies sold), The Very Best Baby Name Book (950,000 copies sold), and 35,000+ Baby Names (1 million copies sold).
Phil Laut sold more than 200,000 copies of his self-published book, Money Is My Friend. He went on to sell mass-market rights to Ballantine Books and foreign rights to Germany, Serbia-Croatia, South Korea, Iceland, Spain, France, and the Netherlands.
Deborah Lawrenson originally self-published her novel, The Art of Falling. This combination of wartime love story and contemporary heroine searching for the truth about her father was later sold to Arrow Books for publication in the summer of 2005.
Medard Laz self-published the first 5,000 copies of Love Adds a Little Chocolate, a collection of 100 stories to brighten your day. He then sold the rights to Warner Books, which went on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies.
Ken Leebow has sold more than 3 million copies of his 300 Incredible Things to Do on the Internet series.
Matthew Lesko has self-published some 60 titles, almost all having to do with getting free things from the government. His forté has been getting publicity via TV shows. In 1999, he began starring in a TV infomercial that continues to sell thousands of copies. For more information, see his website at http://www.lesko.com.
Burt Levy published two novels, The Last Open Road and Montezuma's Ferrari, through his own publishing company, Think Fast Ink. He sold more copies of his first novel than a major publisher (St. Martin's) did when he sold them the rights. He has sold 58,000 copies of his novels, making close to $1,000,000 in gross sales.
Without a literary agents, publicists, or any money spent on advertising, poet and philosopher Mike Levy has been published on many thousands of websites throughout the world. In 2003, after only five years he reached an amazing milestone: If you were to search for his poetry today on Google, you'd find 16,000 websites featuring his work. Levy is the author of four books, What Is the Point?, Minds of Blue, Souls of Gold, Enjoy Yourself: It's Later Than You Think, and Invest with a Genius.
Kelly Link and her husband Gavin Grant began Small Beer Press to publish their twice-yearly fantasy zine, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, since 1996. Link's short story collection Stranger Things Happen was chosen by Salon, Village Voice, San Francisco Chronicle, and Locus as one of the year's best books.
On October 10th, 2002 during National Get Organized Week, Jenny Lovins's The Neat Ideas Daybook was ranked at #614,000 on Amazon. In less than 12 hours it went all the way up the charts to #20. And stayed there for over 24 hours.
“In an early summer Book Marketing Tip of the Week email, you had a tip on Mike Litman who had taken his self-published book to #1 on Amazon.com. Once I read that tip, I decided to contact Mike and invested in his Amazing Book Formula. After a few months of working on my Blast Day, I decided to try my hand at going to bestselling status.”
Michael Losier’s self-published book, The Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t, became a best-seller in Canada.
Joanna Lund self-published her Healthy Exchanges Cookbook after going from 300 lbs. and a size 28 to 170 lbs. and a size 14 using the low-fat recipes collected in the book. Starting out as an inexperienced speaker and promoter, she sold 150,000 copies through her promotional efforts, including 30,000 copies in the state of Iowa alone! She then sold the reprint rights to Putnam for a six-figure advance.
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James D. Macdonald self-published a songbook in 1975 in an edition of 150 copies — as he puts it, “just me, a Xerox machine, and a saddle-stapler.” He went on to become a bestselling novelist and short story writer. He wants people to know, though, that “the latter did not depend in any way on the former.”
Gloria Mallette self-published and sold 10,000 copies of her novel, Shades of Jade, within the first eight months. The book was then sold to Random House's Strivers Row imprint for reprint as a trade paperback. The book went on to become #2 on Essence magazine's paperback fiction bestseller list.
Since 1979, Carole Marsh has self-published hundreds of titles under her Carole Marsh Books imprint as well as Gallopade International. Her publishing company has 12,000 titles in print, with her contributing to or writing many of those titles. Among her titles are The Mystery on the California Mission Trail, The Big California Activity Book, The Coolest California Coloring Book, and California History Projects.
In 1948, Bill Martin Jr. and his brother Bernard Martin self-published children's picture books via their Tell-Well Press. To promote the books, they arranged their own author tours with lots of advance work, including working with bookstores to create effective posters, window displays, ads, and more. In a single day in Milwaukee, they sold more than 1,500 books.
James Conroyd Martin started his novel Push Not the River in 1976. Martin self-published via POD in 2001 to wonderful reviews and great sales based on self-promotion and word-of-mouth. In April, 2002, St. Martin's bought the rights to publish the book in October of 2003.
Jane M. Martin, author of Breathe Better, Live in Wellness: Winning Your Battle Over Shortness of Breath, is the first self-published author selected for Infinity Publishing's Authors Who Make A Difference program. This program “provides ongoing publishing support for chosen Infinity authors of meritorious books that have the proven ability to make a positive difference in improving the quality of life for a major segment of the population.”
In 1976, Nancy J. Martin and her husband Dan founded That Patchwork Place to publish her quilting books. To date, the company—renamed Martingale & Company in 1997—has published over 400 titles and sold 12 million books worldwide. Martin herself has written more than 40 books on the art of quiltmaking. Her titles, including Make Room for Quilts, 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts (with Judy Hopkins), and 365 Quilt Blocks a Year Perpetual Calendar have topped Martingale's bestseller lists.
Mike Martineau self-published his own novel, The Strokers, about the rise to stardom of a British rock musician. He started out by distributing the novel only to bookstores in the Virgin Islands where he lived. Hallmark Press, a Miami publisher, then took over the publication of the book. Meanwhile, Martineau sold movie rights to Joseph E. Levine Presents for a $25,000 option against a final pickup price of $250,000.
Sandra Haldeman Martz self-published When I Am an Old Woman, I Shall Wear Purple, which went on to sell more than 4 million copies.
In 2003, after being turned down by a half-dozen publishers, Jeffery Marx self-published Season of Life. Marx sold 14,000 copies of the book out of his car and his living room before he could convince his previous publisher, Simon & Schuster, to take on his new book. When the S&S edition came out, the book hit the New York Times bestseller list at #10.
Brandon Massey, author of the supernatural thriller Thunderland, made the jump from self-publishing via iUniverse to self-publishing his own edition to being published by a major publisher (Kensington).
Antoinette Matlins and her husband Stuart began Gemstone Press by publishing Jewelry & Gems, which has since sold more than 250,000 copies.
Frances Mayes, author of the wildly popular Under the Tuscan Sun, self-published all of her early books of poetry under the name of Seven Woods Press. To avoid an undercurrent of criticism in the literary community, she began soliciting poet friends such as C.D. Wright to publish her collections. Wright's Lost Roads Press released Mayes's Ex Voto collection in 2000.
Celebrity numerologist Glynis McCants sold 75,000 copies of her self-published book, Glynis Has Your Number. She then sold reprint rights to Hyperion for a major fee.
When Nan McCarthy self-published her first romance novel Chat, she sold out the 2,500 copies she had printed and signed on with a computer book publisher to print another 20,000 copies. In October 1998, Pocket Books heavily promoted her series of three novels, Chat, Connect, and Crash.
Character actor Ron McClarty, best known as Sgt. Frank Belson on Spenser for Hire, had written 10 unpublished novels and 44 unproduced plays before he finally gave up on trying to interest the major publishers in his novels. He decided to take his work straight to the people via the Internet. Since he had also narrated more than 50 novels, he asked his editor at Recorded Books, Claudia Howard, if she would be interested in doing an audio edition of his third novel, The Memory of Running (written first in 1988). With the help of a review of the audiobook by Stephen King, McClarty was able to sell rights to two novels to Viking for $2 million, sell movie rights, and sell foreign language rights in many countries.
Canadian author Peggy McColl, the Diva of Destiny, made $25,000 in 48 hours following her own advice. McColl, self-publisher of On Being...The Creator of Your Destiny, teamed up with Marketability to take a slow-selling title and make it an instant bestseller.
Todd McFarlane formed Image Comics with six fellow artists and proceeded to self-publish the Spawn comic book in 1992. The first issue sold 1.7 million copies!
Linda Watanabe McFerrin and her travel writer friends from the Wild Writing Women group self-published a collection of their wilder stories — about voodoo and buss accidents and pants lost while climbing. The collection, Wild Writing Women: Stories of World Travel, sold out before the book was even printed.
After originally self-publishing her first novel The Expected One, Kathleen McGowan sold rights to that book as well a
