Thread: Why the Amanda Hocking Story is the Worst Thing ...

Kinda seems like a lot of things though. A market is discovered, people make a lot of money from it but then others find out and it gets flooded. Now with the internet and the speed of connections, it happens a lot faster.

Reminds me of when everyone caught onto niche internet sites, or "google-snipers."

I got on the ass-end of that and made about $10 in six months. Too bad I didn't have The Millionaire Fastlane.

Great post MJ, as you pointed out in your book under "The warning signs of everyone". I personally have seen this in other industries and it also happened to a relative of mine, who made millions in construction; when the word got out that big money was to be made in his market niche, boom competition and market noise up the wazoo; it really hurt the business.

I'd like to also clarify, at the intent at keeping the video less than 5 minutes, I think EPUB is great for the publishing business ... just that the story will cause a lot of entrants that have no business being there.

Great video MJ.

This is another fantastic article. It's VERY long but worth spending a few minutes to read. Basically about an author who turned down $500,000 advance to self publish.

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Ebooks and Self-Publishing - A Dialog Between Authors Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath

Secondly, I wonder how much of Amanda's success was attributed to the proportionally small marketplace compared to say walking into a book store. Was her book regularly featured on the homepage of Kindle etc? Or at least in her genre? I completely agree with you that this will mean a flood of new titles into the Kindle market and it'll become harder and harder to be seem as the best.

I have huge admiration for her success; would just like to understand it more.

I know a few guys who have had great success with iOS apps. Like Momento - diary writing for iPhone and iPod touch for instance (great app by the way!). Their traffic sky rocketed when they were featured on the Apple recommended list for instance.

It would be interesting to see a graph of Amazon publicity vs her book sales on a day by day basis. Purely to understand the marketing side of her. If I go to Amazon now, her Switched book is on the Kindle eBook homepage under "young adult", was this the case before her fame?

It'll end up going back to normal marketing methods. So the people like you MJ who build up a community, publish regular videos and blogposts in your genre, will be the ones who succeed.

What's the best way to profit in an overcrowded market ? Let's say your writing is as good as Amanda Hocking's. How do you get noticed with all those droolers tarnishing the reputation of kindle books ? Do you just wait for the market to recognize your talent ? How do you differentiate yourself when you're writing books ?