PUBLISHING WORKSHOP

LESSONS LEARNED FROM 8

YEARS IN PUBLISHING
By Tanner Walling
 WELCOME!
You're taking the first steps in writing and publishing,
which is half the battle!
Who Am I?
■ You may be asking yourself
who is this guy and why is he
teaching me about publishing?
Let me tell you!
■ I'm the 5x Amazon bestselling
author of the Fury of the Storm
Adventures series of middle-
grade disaster thrillers
■ Sold hundreds of copies
across the world
■ I have been publishing for 8
years, writing for almost 10
■ Senior at Stonehill College
double majoring in
Communication and History
 ACTIVITY TIME
Before we get going, let's get some context on the
state of publishing with a little activity!
How much of the
Mystery/Thriller/Suspense genre is Indie?
A. 11%
B. 17%
C. 39%
D. 52%
How much of of the
Mystery/Thriller/Suspense genre is Indie?
- Answer: A – 11%
- Small/Medium: 5%
- Amazon: 16%
- Big 5: 68%
How much of the Fantasy and Romance
genres are Indie?
A. 13%
B. 21%
C. 49%
D. 61%
How much of the Fantasy and Romance
genres are Indie?
- Answer: C – 49%
- For Fantasy:
o Small/Medium: 7%
o Amazon: 7%
o Big 5: 37%
- For Romance:
o Just like fantasy, 49% of the Top 100 Romance novels are indie
o Small/Medium: 11%
o Amazon: 9%
o Big 5/Harlequin: 30%
How much of the Sci-Fi genre is Indie?

A. 43%
B. 56%
C. 29%
D. 77%
How much of the Sci-Fi genre is Indie?

- Answer: B – 56%
- Small/Medium: 7%
- Amazon: 5%
- Big 5+Baen: 30%
Takeaways

■ Going indie is far more common than ever before

■ Out of the 4 biggest genres, 3 of them are dominated by indie authors
■ Keep in mind: That was the share of the bestsellers, not just the whole market
■ TLDR: Indies are selling – big time!
■ Source: Self-Publishing’s Share of the Kindle Market by Genre | Edward W.
Robertson (edwardwrobertson.com)
INTRODUCTION TO
THE INDUSTRY
Time to look at indie, traditional, and everything in
between!
Traditional
Publishing
▪ Go through a publisher,
get an agent
▪ Monetary advance then
~10% royalties
▪ 2 years to market
▪ Editor, etc provided
Indie Publishing
▪ Go through a distributor
▪ No advance, 60-70%
royalties on books
▪ Publish as soon as done
▪ Freelance editors or self-
editing, cover design, etc
▪ Only worry about KDP for
indie publishing – it's the
best!
Boutique Publishers – NO GO!

- Pay to have your book published

- NEVER do this option, it is just to scam people who want their books in print
- You should never need to pay a fee for publication in either traditional or indie
publishing. There are costs associated with marketing, editors, etc but you should
never pay for the actual publication of a book
Takeaways

■ Ask yourself what's important to you when it comes to publishing

■ Many authors want to find an agent, query, etc to find a traditional publisher
because they want the publishing house behind them
■ Just as many authors publish independently and retain more freedom, money, etc
■ For me, I chose independent publishing because I am not publishing in line with
industry trends but have the work ethic to publish and promote my own work
MY JOURNEY AS AN
INDIE AUTHOR
Before we dive into the tools of the trade, here is a look,
from 2014 to today, at my journey as an author and
lessons learned from the past ten years
The Early Days

■ Started writing with my science education website in 2013

■ Told in elementary school I knew what I wanted to say but
didn't know how to say it: assumed writing wasn't for me
■ Focused on programming and science for years until my
website
■ Began writing again in the 7th grade – anecdote
■ First book, Fury of the Storm, published in 2016
■ Takeaways
– LOTS of self-learning
– Still managed to publish without tools I have now
– The more you write, publish, and market, the better
you get
Road to Book Two

■ My second book, Aftershock, wouldn’t be published for another four years

■ What happened in that time?

– High school
– Sports
– Clubs + Student Government

■ Other Projects That Taught Me A Lot

– Masquerade short & Publishing with Pronoun/Macmillan
– Shatter Point free giveaway novelette

■ Role of COVID in Second Book

■ Takeaways
– If you don’t make time for writing, you’ll never finish your project
– Free can build an audience but paid is the way to go
College Years to Today

■ With the publication of my second book, my advertising increased

dramatically
– Amazon > Facebook
– Know your target audience: eBook sells high, but paperback
has sold better for me
■ Series help sell more than stand-alones
– If a reader likes one of your books, they’re likely to buy the rest
– At the same time: law of diminishing returns
– Again: know your audience. Series is great for romance and
thrillers, not for literary fiction
■ Vortex Core published in 2022, Lost Horizons published in 2023
Takeaways

- Indie is disrupting the book

industry
- Don’t follow conventional
wisdom: my book series
shouldn’t have sold but it did
- Publishers expect you to market
yourself anyways, so might as
well keep most of the money by
going indie
- It’s a lot of work but a lot of
reward
WORKSHOP: TOOLS
OF THE TRADE
Take out your laptops/computers/etc and I’ll show you how
to use the tools I wish I knew about when I started writing
and publishing
What Tools Do I Use?

■ The world of independent publishing can be pretty daunting at first

■ There's so much to do and so many ways to do it!
■ Here, we'll walk through 3 tools I've used that you can use to publish easier
o Kindle Direct Publishing (distribution)
o Reedsy (interior formatting)
o Canva (cover design)
Kindle Direct Publishing (kdp.amazon.com)

■ Kindle Direct Publishing, commonly referred to

as KDP, is Amazon's self-publishing platform
■ Can publish in paperback, hardcover, and
eBook/Kindle
■ If priced between $2.99-$9.99, royalties are
70% on Kindle
■ Paperback royalties are around 60%
■ Expanded Distribution puts your books at
B&N, Walmart, Abe Books, etc
■ KDP Select: exclusivity deal – explain more
■ Walkthrough
Reedsy (reedsy.com)

■ Reedsy is a very under-looked, but excellent,

site for independent publishing
■ Reedsy is a non-profit aimed at helping writers
■ While there is a section of the website to hire
professionals, it also offers tools for formatting
your interior
■ It formats your interior both for Amazon and
other publishing platforms, chapter titles and
all
■ Let's take a look at how it works!
Canva (canva.com)
■ Most people by now have heard
of Canva, the online graphic
design service changing the
communication industry
■ It can also be used to create
covers!
■ Used it to create my first cover
(my brother did all of mine after
since he's a graphic designer)
■ Is best for Kindle covers,
possible to do paperback covers
but takes some more skill
■ Let's take a look!
 COMMON
QUESTIONS
Before we wrap up with a Q&A, let's take a look at the
answers to some common questions I get.
How much does indie publishing cost?

■ It varies, but it can be done for nothing!

■ Editing and cover design services can cost you, as well as ad campaigns
■ However, the actual cost of publishing should always be free
■ Companies make their money off of royalty cuts
How much work is it?

■ It very much depends on the length of your book

■ While juggling school and activities, my average time-to-market for my previous
books was about 1-2 years
■ Can be longer if what you're writing is longer
■ The actual publication process is much shorter, especially once you get the hang of
it
■ Once I had my interior and cover for my last book, it was only two weeks because I
was waiting for a proof copy and after that I published by the end of the day I got the
proof copy
How do you do marketing?

■ This could be a presentation in of itself!

■ I use Amazon Ads a lot because they capture a captive audience
■ Facebook Ads are also good if you know the exact audience you want to target
but not similar authors
■ I haven't run Facebook Ads as often because of my lack of experience with them and
success with Amazon Ads, but they can work very well for some
■ I also do in-person events, craft fairs, social media, and utilizing local connections
but most of my marketing is ad-driven
 Q&A
What questions do you have?
FEEDBACK
https://forms.gle/ZzcJrE
mWEr3Cv4Wt6
Image Sources

■ Big 5
Publishers: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmspublishing.blogs.pace.edu%2F2017%2F10%2F
09%2Finternships-with-the-big-
5%2F&psig=AOvVaw3hV4eTf9qyEaueu1ejzlTF&ust=1710015085509000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ve
d=0CBUQjhxqFwoTCJiO1-K85YQDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ
■ KDP Logo: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Famzbookpublishing.com%2Famazon-kindle-direct-
publishing%2F&psig=AOvVaw36nKunmn7NI_tdGQ6N4lGv&ust=1710015294095000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89
978449&ved=0CBUQjhxqFwoTCKC7o8a95YQDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAQ
■ Reedsy
Logo: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2F%40Reedsy&psig=AOvVaw1EKLXA
xVmEJrzXYjrCi06g&ust=1710536478146000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBUQjhxqFwoTCLC81I7T
9IQDFQAAAAAdAAAAABA4
■ Canva
Logo: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.m.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3ACanva_Logo.svg&
psig=AOvVaw1Cayke2NIUrQTPGNKyNeDy&ust=1710536697085000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0C
BUQjhxqFwoTCPC__fbT9IQDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE
■ .