E-books and print books and Amanda Hocking

On Friday a friend tweeted me a link titled, "This 26-Year-Old Is Making Millions Cutting Out Traditional Publishers With Amazon Kindle."

The article explained how Amanda Hocking has made millions by selling her novels through the Amazon Kindle store for between $0.99 and $2.99.

Of course, I was intrigued. Any author looking to be published would pause for at least a second upon hearing the money being made, the immediacy in getting your work out there, and the fact that Hocking's work is reaching something like 100,000 readers a month.

I moseyed over to Amanda Hocking's blog, where she kindly explains the phenomenon of her success from her perspective, as well as warns that, like JK Rowling or Stephanie Meyer, her success is not something that can be easily or intentionally replicated. Amanda's post about the internet picking up on her and essentially going viral in entrepreneurial/business/publishing circles is even-handed, fair, and very interesting. I recommend you check it out.

Nathan Bransford also blogged about Ms. Hocking and the 'Kindle millionaires' today, so please check out his informative, thorough breakdown of why self-publishing via e-books makes sense, and why it doesn't.

As for me, I think Amanda Hocking and other quality self-publishers are captains of industry, not robber barons. Hocking took a chance in self-publishing her novels. She could have sold only a handful of copies, made just a few dollars, and lost the time, energy, and emotional effort she put into writing each of her books. She took a chance, and as luck or fate or whatever else had it, she became a successful trailblazer.  It's something she should be proud of, and no doubt something she is working extremely hard to maintain.

But in the end, her route is not my route, nor, as I take it from her very gracious blog, does she expect it to be.

If I can't get published via the traditional route, it's not worth it to me. Maybe that sounds harsh, but I don't have the time nor the expertise to handle copyediting, design, distribution, publicity, marketing, and all other countless yet incomparable perks of having a publisher.

Plus, publishing a book means something specific to me: drafting, critiquing, editing, querying, accepting representation, revisions, being on submission, getting a book deal, revisions, receiving your ARCs, (hopefully minor at this point) revisions, and finally... seeing your novel in print on a shelf at a brick and mortar store.

If I am ever published, it is important to me to have physical copies of my book. It's important to me to be able to run my hand across my cover, to hear the crack of the new spine as I open it, to smell the pages, to feel the texture of the paper, to see my name on something I can hold and jump around with and show to everyone who will look.

What can I say? I'm a traditionalist. But I am not afraid of the competition or companion business or whatever the e-book and self-publishing industries are or will become to traditional publishing. Amanda Hocking is offering something people want. It's her right to sell it, it's the people's right to buy it, and any time people are reading, I think that's a good thing.

What's your opinion of all this? Would you consider Amanda Hocking's route?

[also: I will be answering the questions left for me last week tomorrow!]