Is Steemit the Future of Self-Publishing? (A Veteran Author’s Opinion)
As you might know I just released my new book on meditation last weekend. This is my eighth published book in the last twenty years. This is an incredibly exhausting endeavor but I never tire of the exhilaration of the process. I released my first novel, Alarm Clock Dawn, in installments on Steemit last fall. Ever since I did this I haven’t been able to shake the idea that Steemit (and future competitors) will play a key role in the future of publishing. Last week’s book launch definitely confirmed the idea.
The purpose of launching my most recent book, The Perfect Pause, was twofold. Of course, my goal was to generate a buzz and get more book sales but I went into it with the intent to experiment and create an easy-to-follow formula for other indie authors to follow. Click through these posts to see how I approached publicizing my book.
A week after the launch it’s been fascinating to compare different metrics between Amazon and Steemit and get an accurate picture of what kind of role Steemit can play in my future projects. I’ve determined that Steemit has definitely proven its worth in terms of enhancing a traditional indie book launch on CreateSpace (paperback) and Amazon Kindle Direct (eBook). After this little experiment, I think Steemit should play an even larger role. I intend on testing this theory with the launch of my second novel, Truth Is Stranger,* later this fall. More on this to come.
Let me break down for you what I learned:
Networking & Pre-Launch
Steemit turned out to be an excellent resource in terms of networking. Each of the following things were accomplished as a direct result of this platform.
- I found a great group of beta readers to help edit the manuscript;
- an incredibly talented book designer (Lubosh Cech) through the recommendation of a fellow Steemian (thanks Ruth; and
- last but not least, a celebrity endorsement of the book (Leon Logothetis).
The community really came together to support me on this project and I thank each and every one of you.
Engagement
In my experience, the level of engagement and support I’ve received from the Steemit community dwarfs all other social media platforms. To get the level of engagement I experience on Steemit on other social media platforms I must pay for access to my own audience though post promotion.
I’ll give you just one example, this week I boosted one Facebook post to advertise my book. On Facebook, twenty dollars bought me 1,723 views and 32 clicks. Absolutely no comparison to Steemit.
Profit
I produced nine Steemit posts about the book in the two weeks leading up to the launch on June 25th. The seven-day voting window hasn’t closed on some of them yet but the payout of these posts likely will dwarf the book’s first week of revenue on Amazon by a large margin (roughly 15x).
This number is staggering to me. Granted, the paperback and eBook version of the book has the potential of creating a longer-term revenue stream but, in my experience, sales generally taper off in 2-3 months unless you release a sequel. There is a real chance that the book sales revenue will take months to equal the income earned from the Steemit posts. Essentially, the Steemit earnings were a kind of crowdfunding that paid for the costs associated with the production of the book. This allowed me to more than break even before the book launched...a rarity for indie authors.
In Conclusion
The way I see it Steemit should play a role in every indie author’s book marketing strategy. The key is to build a steady foundation of followers before you launch your book. Just as the internet has disrupted the entertainment and retail industries, crypto-currency and blockchain have just begun to show us their true potential. It’s up to us pioneers, as members of the Steemit community, to keep pushing these boundaries and experimenting.
I've found the answer to that question up there in the post title to be a resounding YES.
I will have much more to share with you all as the marketing for The Perfect Pause continues and as we get closer to the release date for the sequel to Alarm Clock Dawn. Have a wonderful weekend!
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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Completely agree with you on this. When I finish my next book in July, I'll release it chapter by chapter to help pay for cover design and final proofing.
Plus, it will help pay for any promotions on Amazon and Facebook.
Great, it really helps not to have to dig into your savings or, worse yet, finance a launch on credit. I wish you well on you launch, Martin!
There are a lot of artists on steemit. You may want to try a steem gig for your cover design.
Not a bad idea. But I really liked the designer for my last book. I may go back to him.
An artist that "gets you" is a very valuable asset. (well, as long as their work is up to snuff.) So, if you can afford it, go with who you know works.
I think one of the most tragic stories on this was a friend
Who "won" a free self publishing. And she was really afraid of vanity publishers, so she did her research... but anyway, in a seminar, she one their little raffle, and got the "type setting" for free.
She had her friend artist do a cover... which the friend knocked out in a couple of hours, probably not realizing this was going on the cover of 500 books. Anyway, my friend should have paid for good service.
She basically paid through the nose for a vanity publishing. And got shit for it.
I love this idea. Interested in your book--what's it about?
Wow, that is no comparison. At nearly $1.00 per click that is not a marketing strategy to continue with.
The possibility of launching a book at break even is a game changer. What you have done over these past few weeks is a priceless gift to aspiring indie authors.
WORD. I'm a working writer--I make almost half my living with written words--and I'm just now thinking about how Steemit can play into that.
You explained all stuff in detail
I like the way you put up your income and showed us how much you earned in those post
Thank You @ericvancewalton
You are very welcome. That's what I like about this platform is its transparency. We can all see what everyone is making. Can you imagine how different the workplace would be if this transparency existed?
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if transparency at all workplace exist then the employee will work harder to make it successful and to get paid for their hard work. Like big incentive and bonus.
It also decreases the corruption at some places. Lol !
That's one of the reasons I think that book publishing in steemit is such a great idea.
You introduce a lot of new people to steemit and that's amazing. Thanks for doing that by the way.
I'm certainly wish you all the best for this new book man!
Thanks, man. I'd just like everyone to have the chance to experience what I have, this is why I've recommended so many. So many of the positive things that have happened to my wife and I over the past year can be traced right back to Steemit. I appreciate this community and all of your help more than you know.
Well you deserve all that profit Eric as your meditation advice and exercises has helped me out so much.
If the rewards on steem persist and the community keeps growing, authors will flock to this website to publish and speculate around their new book.
Thanks and I'm happy that the meditation is helping you!
An active blog / podcast with thousands of followers is the only thing that beats steemit. But, in order to have that, you really need to be in a large field, not a tiny niche.
Steemit is a huge return on investment. Especially since it only costs time right now. And the people on steemit are really, truly engaged. If I could bottle that, f-c-book would by me out for billions.
AND! I hates f-c-book. You have a following there. You built it up. And, if you want YOUR fans to see YOUR post you need to pay f-c-book for the privilege. Even still, your post will not be seen by all. I find it is like 1 in 3. You make 3 posts, and I will see one in my feed. FURTHER, when you pay for advertising there, you often get lots of follows by puppet accounts. Who will never care about your content, but cost you because they are the ones that your advertising reached. They are a black hole, with no return.
I couldn't agree more. Facebook did Steemit a favor when they changed their algorithms. Now, there's really no good reason to stay on FB. I actually got great engagement there before they began to so severely limit post outreach. Plus Steemit has the crypto-aspect to it, it wins hands down.
WORD. F-c-book does exactly what it's supposed to do: make money for Mark Zuckerberg. It's not built for US, it's built for HIM. I wish I'd understood this a lot sooner.
Amen, well said.
@ericvancewalton i like your article, i am new on steemit community and i am trying learn more from your blog. thanks
Thanks! Welcome to Steemit and feel free to ask whenever you have a question. We are all here to help.
As long as you can get the traffic, and subsequently active readers, then I think Steemit is a great place to launch a variety of written works. The feedback can be invaluable, but only as long as it pans out into people reading your content. It also helps that you're a heck of a writer too :)
Huge compliment, man, I appreciate that. Yes, you're spot on, you must build a readership base before you attempt a book launch for it to be successful. I know it can be tempting for authors to release a completed book right away but if you have patience and build that following first it pays huge dividends. Thanks!
It's best to worry more about the feedback and critique, than the votes and monetary reward. At least from an author's standpoint. Steemit success will come as long as you're sincere and working on something that entertains, inspires, enlightens, etc. But Steemit can be a valuable means of building a long-term investment and providing funds for taking something you create here to the next level.
Absolutely correct. The feedback I received during the beta reader phase of this book project was so good that I didn't even need to hire a professional editor. Just the act of having an incentive to write every single day makes you a much better writer. Each word you write pays long term dividends.
Success and failure on Steemit can be a confusing endeavor. The mistakes I've made in the past has been to post a new storyline with only the first segment ready. Then I've allowed the votes and money to cloud my judgement and not continue on with what might be the makings of a good book or short story. A good idea might be to have 3 to 5 parts ready first and release them daily. Then look for the positive and negative from what transpires.
This is all over a year old now. There's been so much great yarn spun in that time, it's too bad someone doesn't come up with a brilliant idea to funnel some of it into the right channels and get it published for real. The authors always have the means to do it themselves, but maybe some good ole fashioned publishing could help the writers, as well as shine the light on how great Steemit really is.
Loved this thread. I'm very interested in how all this will play out in this space, and I have the feeling we're just starting to see the possibilities.
You could pimp out your account to other indie writers who do not have a following on steemit and host their content chapter by chapter. Better yet, create a new account that does exactly that, produce content that is only chapters of indie writers.
Thanks Eric! I am enjoying your progress as an author, and am learning from your experiences! Really helpful.
My pleasure, Ann! I'm glad you're finding this helpful. I have much, much more to share. : ) Thank you!
Such a great way to learn! Thanks!
Absolutely, Steemit is already growing into a great platform to publish work. I never liked the results from Facebook advertising, I think they cheat you somehow, plus they tricked people, I grew my following organically to 25,000+ people then boom they started blocking my post and trying to charge me just to show each post to more than 20 people. I'm so done FB and IG... Good post! Resteeming.
I think this is critical for artists to understand. Building a big following is important, but OWNING that following is crucial, and nothing on Facebook is owned by us. Thanks for this perspective. I'll be following.
Good Point! @cristof I've been trying with moderate success to migrate my fb and IG following to my own website and email list. Steemit is good, because I don't see them manipulating traffic for pay. Thanks for the follow, check out my writing on why steemit works well for visual artist, I think you will find it interesting. Link: https://steemit.com/steemit/@nathanjtaylor/9-reasons-why-steemit-is-the-future-online-platform-for-visual-artist
You can bet I will. I think the platform works even better for visual artists than for writers, though it's often pitched as a blog site. I'd expect you'll have solid success here, and I hope you do.
Facebook did the EXACT same thing to me. My author page had huge engagement, they changed their algorithms and I lost 98% of my readership overnight. It was crushing...but then I found Steemit. : ) Thanks for the support, man!
Yeah man, I know, Facebook is a trick... you are welcome, happy to support, let us do big things with steem!
Amen!