A rare person has not heard of the dizzying success of the queen of "electronic" samizdat - Amanda Hawking. E-books, which can only be earned on food, according to many authors, brought her a millionth fortune. The whole publishing world started talking about her. And for good reason. Who is she? A symbol of a new world of readers and writers who have freed themselves from the mediation of the publishing house? Or the person who turned over the traditional book publishing culture?
At the beginning of the journey
Amanda Hawking was born on July 12, 1984 in Austin , Minnesota. According to the author, she always wrote. When she was very small, she told stories. As soon as I learned to hold a pen in my hands, I began to write. Filling notebook after notebook. But at 11 years old she had her first computer, she began to “create” there. It had never even crossed her mind that she could do anything else.
Writing skills, of course, Amanda received in college. I took private English lessons. Then she attended a writing workshop in her city. For eight years, she tried to publish her books. But in all publishing houses she was refused. Everyone said about self-publication that in this way it is impossible to earn a living. But somehow I heard that for some authors, e-books bring little money. Amanda Hawking decided to take a chance.
First publications
At that time, as she was going to publish her works, she had 12 books written. According to Amanda, in any case, there was nothing to lose. What is the difference where they are located - on a computer or on a site if they are not read? At that time, she still worked full time in a home for people with disabilities. To pay the bills, she had to work hard. I wrote in my free time from work.
That was until August 2010. In April, she posted her books on Amazon, priced between $ 1 and $ 5, and books began to be sold a little. In August, Amanda Hawking is shy, she earned enough money to allow herself not to work and to devote herself completely to literary work. The number of copies sold in August amounted to 185 thousand.
First difficulties
The first book she published was from the Call of Blood series. Amanda recalls that before publishing the novel, she watched it fifty times. About twenty acquaintances read it, checking for any errors. It seemed that there simply could not be grammatical errors. I hired editors for this, but readers continued to find oversights. Amanda is sure that a writer needs a professional editor who could remove mistakes that were not noticeable at first glance and “comb his books”.
Amanda Hawking World
Amanda's first novels from the My Blood Approves series were published electronically by the writer herself. The novels included in the cycle: “Call of Blood”, “Fate”, “Thrill”, “Wisdom” and the novel “Letters to Elise”. The world invented by Amanda is quite simple: there are people here and there are vampires who know how to love.
This series may well compete with many "vampire" cycles, not only in the book world, but also in the cinema. Currently, the novel is preparing to go on the big screen, adaptation is being done by the famous screenwriter Terry Tutchell. Amanda sold books of this series for 200 thousand dollars. The rights to the next cycle were sold for $ 2 million.
The Trilogy trilogy is written in a relaxed, simple language. She will be interested in fantasy lovers. Each book of the series is a continuation of the previous one: “Foundling”, “Throne”, “Kingdom”. The cycle presents to us in the first novel the main character, who was the foundling of the trille people.
She goes to the kingdom of her people in order to learn more about herself. And it falls into a completely different world in which its own rules. But her young heart does not obey them. A wonderful series about love, friendship, devotion and betrayal.
Amanda's work
Now Amanda has over 100 novels and short stories. The difficulties are left behind. She is currently a recognized reader and a successful author. Her books are presented not only in electronic form, but also in the traditional (printed) version. But the writer assures that electronic versions are sold much more successfully. In the first paper version, only 2000 copies were sold in a year, Amanda Hawking recalls.
Books are translated into various languages. Amanda's work is represented by more than one literary agent. Novels diverge in millions of copies. At the time of the release of the Trille series in Russian, she made her debut in the first lines of bestsellers. This is the rapid success of a young writer who did not despair and continued to do what she loved.
2010 for Amanda was marked by the fact that, unexpectedly for herself, she became a famous author. Several publishers offered cooperation at once. She only says about her plans for the future that she plans to continue self-publishing. He believes that the initial goals exceeded all expectations. She has many projects that she is currently working on.
Amanda Hawking gives novice authors advice - write a lot, but read even more. Be open to criticism. And most importantly - to believe in yourself, in your strength, not to be afraid of anything. The Internet is filled with information that not only helps to become a good writer, but also teaches you to weigh everything and take the first step to publication.