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"Camping & Wilderness Survival," by Paul Tawrell, has sales figures of well over 320,000 copies. This is a 352-page tome with over 3,600 illustrations, which took him five years to write. Tawrell believed so much in his book that he sold his house and paid a Canadian printer $125,000 for 35,000 copies. At a retail price of $24.95, that gutsy move proved brilliant.
"Let That Be the Reason," a gritty hip-hop novel by Vickie Stringer absolutely turned this woman’s life around. Taking the traditional route, she submitted the manuscript to publishers. In 2001, 26 rejections later, family and friends donated $5,000 to her self publishing cause. She, and Triple Crown Publications, were on their way. The book sold 1,000 copies in the first three weeks from the trunk of her car. Street buzz began and by 2005 her estimated sales leaped to 1.8 million! Vicki now publishes 16 other authors. Furthermore, she has a six-figure, two-book deal with Atria Books.
"Rich Dad Poor Dad" offers a whole new slant on family values in finance. Written and published by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter -- who started out with a mere 1,000 copies in 1997, it has topped the one million mark in sales and landed on most of the bestseller lists. Last time we looked it had been on Publishers Weekly's list for no less than 150 weeks. This book became the linchpin of a self-publishing empire. Rich Dad Poor Dad is now at the center of Cash Flow Technologies' line of educational products that encompasses several more books, board games, videos and audio tapes.
"Red Sky in Mourning," authored by Tami Oldham Ashcroft, centers around her story of surviving Hurricane Raymond. While many personal experience stories flounder, hers created a whirlwind of interest. After selling 8,000 copies of her own edition, a literary agent discovered the book and sold reprint rights to Hyperion for a cool half-a-million dollars.
"Wall Street Meat" is written by a Wall Street analyst and offers fun stories about working with the suddenly infamous Jack Grubman, Frank Quattrone, and Mary Meeker. When author Andy Kessler approached his agent with an early draft, she informed him publishers couldn't turn the book around with any speed, that the subject was "too topical." What could be more appropriate for an entrepreneurial soul who can turn and burn? So Kessler finished writing it on January 31, 2003, and had it selling on Amazon.com March 17, 2003. While the traditional media shunned him, he got copies out to old contacts at newspapers, business magazines and TV...and started a strong word of mouth buzz, receiving mentions in articles and on the Internet. Barnes & Noble ordered 10,000 copies and he was off and running. Then over that summer, he sold paperback rights to HarperCollins.
"Eragon," a fantasy novel, accomplished amazing things for it's author, who was a mere 15 years old when he wrote the manuscript. After 13 months of hand-selling his book from town to town, Christopher Paolini vaulted to publishing stardom and a mid-six-figure deal for the novel and two sequels at the ripe old age of 17. His lucky break (after lots of hard work) came when novelist Carl Hiaasen and his family were fly fishing in Montana and his stepson picked up a copy of the self published tale. Dad was so impressed he told his publisher, Knopf, about it and the book captured third place on The New York Times bestseller list just two weeks after its traditional publisher release.
"God's Debris" was originally self published as an e-book by Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip and book series. He took this approach to test the waters. Apparently, the surf was high as he was able to get an "unusually good deal" from his regular publisher when he sold them the book rights.
"You Can Heal Your Life," by Louise Hay captured the #2 spot on the Publishers Weekly's Bestseller List, had a 12-week stint on the New York Times Bestseller List, and lead to the establishment of a small press with more than 150 books and 350 audiotapes by many authors whose names are household words.
"How to Get Happily Published" was birthed by Judith Appelbaum as a self published book before selling rights to HarperCollins. More than half a million copies have been sold in several editions and the book has led to a successful publishing consultancy as well.
"What Color is Your Parachute," by Richard Nelson Bolles is hot again, 30 plus years after its debut. It had an incredible stint of 288 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List originally. Written and published by an Episcopal clergyman, then ultimately sold to Ten Speed Press, this career counseling handbook is updated and revised each year -- and repeatedly lands on bestseller lists.
"The Celestine Prophecy," originally self published in 1993 by James Redfield, leads you on a spiritual and self-discovery adventure. Acquired by Warner books for $800,000, it sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, was translated into 34 languages and spawned many spinoff products in the human potential movement. The initial success of the book is credited to Redfield and his rigorous lecture schedule. It held the record for being the longest-running hardcover fiction bestseller ever on the national charts.
"The Christmas Box," a little story about a struggling young family and a wealthy widow who lost an infant daughter, brought the unheard of advance of $4.125 million for a self published title! Author Richard Paul Evans made publishing history with that huge financial vote of confidence from Simon & Schuster. Following the trend of most best-selling authors, Evans has authored many subsequent bestsellers.
"ZAPP! The Lightning of Empowerment," created by Bill Byham, is a dynamic bestseller written for managers about empowering employees and heralded by the Wall Street Journal as the book that "Redefined the genre of business books." It was so successful, that employees clamored for their own copies! 275,000 copies sold before commercial publication, then Ballentine picked up the rights and the last we heard it had sold with more than 1.5 million.
"How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" was the creation of John Muir. Now in its 19th edition with sales way over 2 million copies, it led to establishing a publishing company that quickly outgrew self-publishing status. John Muir Publications produced scores of books on travel, automotive, parenting, and how-to subjects. The entire company was recently acquired by a major publisher and the 30th-anniversary of the original VW book pushed sales close to the 3 million mark.
"The Lazy Man's Way to Riches" was the brainchild of Joe Karbo. Using full page ads in newspapers, this advertising genius attracted sales from all over the world. Joe's investment was less than $3,000. He sold a whopping nine million dollars worth -- and it was never in a bookstore!
"The One-Minute Manager," by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson is another intriguing success story. The authors self-published this book for their seminars, perfecting it based on feedback from seminar participants. After sales of 20,000 copies, they allowed a trade publishing company to turn the book into a bestseller. The book truly "launched" both their careers. Johnson's parable Who Ate My Cheese was on Publishers Weekly's bestseller list for more than 64 weeks in the original hardcover version, then landed there again when the paperback edition arrived.
"Feed Me, I'm Yours" is a collection of kid-tested recipes. It was rejected by 49 publishers before author Vicky Lansky decided to self-publish. It sold 300,000 copies in the self-published version. Bantam took it over and merchandized a whopping 8 million more! Vicky now has a total of more than 30 books to her credit and a very successful small press operation.
"Small Time Operator," an accounting and tax guide for small businesses, has built-in obsolescence. (It's now in its 56th printing.) Author/publisher Bernard Kamoroff, CPA, frequently revises it, then spends the rest of the time loafing. With sales of over 600,000 copies, many trade publishers have tried to woo Kamoroff into selling the rights. He flatly refuses, much preferring the freedom and financial rewards of self publishing.
"The Encyclopedia of Associations," a highly respected set of reference books found in most libraries, was given life by Frederick G. Ruffner. He founded Gale Research Company in his bedroom. Today, the company has some 500 employees and is a leading publisher of library reference works of all kinds.
"The Elements of Style," that timeless little book most writers adore, was originally self published by William Strunk, Jr. for his classes at Cornell University. It is a living example of "find a need and fill it" and continues to sell well today.
"Mary Ellen's Best of Helpful Hints" was created by Mary Ellen Pinkham. At one time she had 50,000 spiral bound books stored in her basement. With a goal to sell 500 a day, she developed gift shop accounts across the nation. When Warner bought the rights she retained these accounts -- which were buying 30,000 copies a month! Mary Ellen has authored several more bestsellers.
"The Personal Computer Book," revised and updated by author Peter McWilliams, is one of a series he privately published with over 1.6 million copies sold. McWilliams also had other books on the bestseller list and sold 3.5 million copies of his self published poetry books. (Yes, you read right.) Before he died, he was rumored to have refused a one million dollar offer for his publishing company.
"Butter Busters," a health reference/cookbook title by Pam Mycoskie, has sold over 400,000 copies from her one-woman company located in Dallas. After she sold the rights to Warner, the book captured a spot on PW's bestseller list.
"Mutant Message Down Under" was written by Marlo Morgan and sold to HarperCollins publishing company for a cool $1.7 million. This supposed fictional account of a woman's trek through the Australian outback has captured millions of literary hearts with the message of a life unencumbered with "material things."
"Addicted," an erotic suspense thriller by a woman known only as Zane, sold 50,000 copies in the first six months. With that kind of record, it wasn't hard for an agent to convince Pocket Books to offer the author a lucrative two-book deal. Once again, an author uses self publishing to broker a lucurative traditional publishing deal.
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