Sony Computer Entertainment America Liquidlibrary SECTION D In...

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In 2009, Michael Prescott’s dream died, or so he thought. After graduating from college in 1980, Prescott had labored for almost three decades to become a best-sell- ing novelist, writing more than 20 books under various names. He enjoyed critical praise and some successes. But when 25 publishers passed on buying his thriller Riptide, Prescott thought the gig was up. Then, on a whim, he decided to self- publish it as an e-book. Today, the soft-spoken Prescott, 51, is living his dream. He is one of 15 self-published authors whose e-books, often selling for just 99 cents, have cracked the top 150 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list this year, threatening to change the face of publishing. For Prescott and a handful of oth- ers, the numbers add up. Prescott says he has earned more than $300,000 before taxes this year by selling more than 800,000 copies of his self-published e-books. Five of Prescott’s thrillers have logged a total of 42 weeks on USA TODAY’s best-seller list. “If someone in this year had told me I was going make a lot of money with e-books, I wouldn’t have be- lieved him,” Prescott says. “I thought maybe a couple of hundred dollars.” E-books are changing the way authors and readers connect. Today, authors such as Prescott can bypass traditional publishers. They USA TODAY SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS HIT IT BIG WITH E-BOOKS By Deirdre Donahue USA TODAY COVER STORY Please see COVER STORY next page u ' Life SECTION D LIFE.USATODAY.COM TUESDAY , DECEMBER 13, 2011 ‘LAST OF US’ IS BORN BEST OF ALL WORLDS VIDEO GAME, 7D TOYS CAN BE CHEAP, FUN, EDUCATIONAL, 4D your Life Sony Computer Entertainment America Liquidlibrary An all-star lineup for BET Honors Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Spike Lee and Maya Angelou are among the recipients of the 2012 BET Honors. The honor- ees, who also include he- roic Tuskegee Airmen and inspirational coach and mentor Beverly Kearney, will be the focal point of a gala hosted by actress Gabrielle Union on Jan. 14 at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.. BET Honors celebrates lifetime contributions to African-American culture in music, literature, entertainment, media, service and education. The event will air in early 2012 on BET. Barry Manilow has hip surgery Barry Manilow was hos- pitalized in Los Angeles Monday for hip surgery. Manilow waited until after he performed his 1,000th Las Vegas concert to un- dergo the procedure, which removed fluid and repaired torn muscles in his hips. It marked the end of his seven-year run at two resorts in the city. Manilow, 68, is expected to be in recovery for six weeks until a concert Feb. 2 in Chicago. ‘Survivor’ winner Hatch out of prison Reality TV star Richard Hatch was released from a Rhode Island prison Monday after serving a nine-month sentence for failing to pay back taxes. Hatch, who won $1 million on the first season of CBS’ Survivor in 2000, served six weeks at a state facility after spending most of his sentence in federal prison. By Cindy Clark with wire reports E-mail [email protected] Getty Images for LACMA Wonder: Among 2012 honorees. USA TODAY Manilow: Back to work in six weeks. For entertainment news as it happens, visit the blog at lifelinelive.usatoday.com. Lifeline USA TODAY Snapshots ® By Michelle Healy and y Paul Trap, USA TODA A Y AY A Which time of year is hardest to get kids to eat healthfully? t get kids to eat healthfully? to get kids to eat healthfully? Winter Summer Fall Spring 55% 38 38 38 38% % % % 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% Nutrition Abbott for Research Wakefield Source: survey of 1,001 mothers with children ages 2-10 Note: Does not total 100% because of rounding es n D b 00 di ng Scan with any QR reader or download the code scanner at scan.mobi. (Available on nearly every U.S. smartphone.) New code: See celebrity photos of the day on your smartphone There are still weeks to go before revelers flock to New York’s Times Square to watch the ball drop, but that didn’t stop moviegoers from seeing New Year’s Eve. It made $13 million, finally ousting Twilight from the top spot. ‘New Year’s Eve’ counts up $13M Source: Rentrak Corp. Lea Michele by Warner Bros. Pictures Wknd Total Avg. Pct. Weeks Film (in millions) per site chg. out 1 New Year’s Eve $13.0 NEW $3,714 1 2 The Sitter $9.9 NEW $3,582 1 3 Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 $7.8 $259.4 $2,170 –53 4 4 The Muppets $7.0 $65.7 $2,097 –37 3 5 Arthur Christmas $6.5 $33.4 $1,990 –12 3 6 Hugo $6.1 $33.4 $2,320 –20 3 7 The Descendants $4.4 $23.6 $5,000 –9 4 8 Happy Feet 2 $3.7 $56.8 $1,299 –38 4 9 Jack and Jill $3.1 $68.5 $1,107 –42 5 10 Immortals $2.5 $79.9 $1,071 –45 5 Steve Harvey jokes that he can easily count all the money he has made in the movie business. It’s his self-help book for women, however, that might be his biggest big-screen splash. Scheduled to open March 9, the ensemble comedy/drama Think Like a Man is based on Harvey’s 2009 book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, which topped USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list. “The idea of my first authoring endeavor being turned into a movie — that’s a big jump, man. I don’t know anybody who can plan that,” Harvey says. In Think Like a Man, directed by Tim Story (Barbershop), characters played by Taraji P. Henson, Michael Ealy, Gabrielle Union, Jerry Ferrara, Meagan Good and others depict Harvey’s principles in different situations. “A lot of the rules they go by, a lot of the ideologies and their personal- ities and opinions are shaped by the book,” Story says. (Some of Harvey’s highlights: how to deal with “ma- ma’s boys,” how many dates should there be before a guy is invited to a woman’s place, and five questions to ask to see whether your man is serious.) The comedian-turned-author is the narrator, the omnipresent voice of reason, Story says. “You always know these are the words of Steve.” Harvey, who also has a role in the movie, filmed all of his on-screen work in one day. “I think I’m Oscar- worthy myself. And I probably have the smallest role in the movie!” he says with a laugh. Kevin Hart plays a recently di- vorced man who has soured on the idea of marriage and makes it known to his friends. “I’m the voice for men in this movie,” Hart says. Adds Story: “Guys are guys, and guys and girls fall in love and fall in like. He’s trying to keep them from going down the same disastrous road he has gone down.” A divorced man him- self, Hart has taken Har- vey’s advice to heart as he negotiates the dating scene. “What I learned was what you give out is what you receive. I think a lot of men don’t understand that. In my first marriage, I wasn’t aware of that,” Hart says. “Now that I’m a man, I’ve learned that the way you treat a woman is the way you’ll be treated back — if you’re dealing with a quality woman.” In a man’s world, there are rules Steve Harvey is your guide By Brian Truitt USA TODAY By Alan Markfield, Screen Gems “Guys are guys,” and it goes on from there: Michael Ealy, left, Kevin Hart, Gary Owen, Terrence J, Romany Malco and Jerry Ferrara offer insight into a man’s mind. Will 2012 be the year for electron- ic dance music? With dubstep artist Skrillex nab- bing five Grammy Award nomina- tions and superstar DJ deadmau5 landing three, all indicators say yes. “Skrillex is a purely electronic art- ist, and getting a best-new-artist nomination is Grammy’s way of ac- knowledging the rise of EDM (elec- tronic dance music),” says Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard. The awards “have over- looked EDM artists in the past, like David Guetta and Moby. Skrillex is the face of all EDM at the Grammys.” Who is Skrillex? With his eerie, spine-tingling samples and grinding bass lines, 23-year-old Sonny Moore — a diminutive, bespectacled Los Angeles-based DJ and producer — is the undeniable leader of dubstep. “What makes this an incredible achievement is that he has been so successful by being off the radar,” Caulfield says. “Sure, kids know who he is, dance fans know him.” But when the awards show rolls around Feb. 12, “your average music fan won’t have the foggiest idea who he is.” EDM is having its moment, says electronica pioneer Moby, who broke through to mainstream audi- ences in 1999 with album Play, which sold 3 million copies. “For pop stars, their main cur- rency is youth and the record label. For rock stars, their currency is songwriting and their ability to play live,” Moby says. “Electronic music artists are only as good as the last record they played, and their ability to play other people’s records. Luck- ily, there are a lot of good records out there.” Last summer yielded a bumper crop of electronic dance festivals, from Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, which pulled in 250,000 attendees, to Live Nation-backed IDentity, the first elec- tronica touring festival, which made 20 stops. Dozens more such fests are slated for 2012. “If you go to a rock concert, there are four people standing onstage playing songs that sound nice,” Mo- by says. “You go see Skrillex or dead- mau5 live, and there’s a huge pro- duction value, the lights, the sound. It’s hard not to be impressed.” The audience for such spectacles is almost certain to get bigger. “Pop music has become so aggres- sively uptempo, when people go to search for more of this kind of mu- sic, they’re discovering this whole world that exists,” Caulfield says. Electronic dance music hits a groove Grammys cast a spotlight on genre By Korina Lopez USA TODAY More breakout stars, EDM glossary, 3D By Bruno Postigo, AP Skrillex: The electronic dance music producer is up for five Grammys. 446364 (4INFO4) with BDAY. And in the process, they’re revolutionizing the publishing industry Think Like a Man Sneak peek Opens March 9 See this week’s top 150 list at books.usatoday.com.

Transcript of Sony Computer Entertainment America Liquidlibrary SECTION D In...

In 2009, Michael Prescott’s dreamdied, or so he thought.

After graduating from college in1980, Prescott had labored for almostthree decades to become a best-sell-ing novelist, writing more than 20

books under various names.He enjoyed critical praise andsome successes.

But when 25 publisherspassed on buying his thriller Riptide,Prescott thought the gig was up.Then, on a whim, he decided to self-publish it as an e-book.

Today, the soft-spoken Prescott, 51,is living his dream. He is one of 15self-published authors whosee-books, often selling for just 99cents, have cracked the top 150 onUSA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books listthis year, threatening to change theface of publishing.

For Prescott and a handful of oth-ers, the numbers add up. Prescottsays he has earned more than$300,000 before taxes this year byselling more than 800,000 copies ofhis self-published e-books.

Five of Prescott’s thrillers havelogged a total of 42 weeks on USATODAY’s best-seller list.

“If someone in this year had toldme I was going make a lot of moneywith e-books, I wouldn’t have be-lieved him,” Prescott says. “I thoughtmaybe a couple of hundred dollars.”

E-books are changing the wayauthors and readers connect.

Today, authors such as Prescott canbypass traditional publishers. They

USA TODAY

SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORSHIT IT BIG WITH E-BOOKS

By Deirdre DonahueUSA TODAY

COVERSTORY

Please see COVER STORYnext page u

'Life

SECTION D

LIFE.USATODAY.COM

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011

‘LAST OF US’IS BORN

BEST OF ALLWORLDS

VIDEO GAME, 7DTOYS CAN BE CHEAP,FUN, EDUCATIONAL, 4D

your

Life

Sony Computer Entertainment America Liquidlibrary

An all-star lineup for BET HonorsStevie Wonder, Mariah

Carey, Spike Lee and MayaAngelou are among therecipients of the 2012BET Honors. The honor-ees, who also include he-roic Tuskegee Airmen andinspirational coach andmentor Beverly Kearney,will be the focal point of agala hosted by actressGabrielle Union on Jan. 14at the Warner Theater inWashington, D.C.. BET

Honors celebrates lifetime contributions toAfrican-American culture in music, literature,entertainment, media, service and education. Theevent will air in early 2012 on BET.

Barry Manilow has hip surgeryBarry Manilow was hos-

pitalized in Los AngelesMonday for hip surgery.Manilow waited until afterhe performed his 1,000thLas Vegas concert to un-dergo the procedure,which removed fluid andrepaired torn muscles inhis hips. It marked the endof his seven-year run attwo resorts in the city.Manilow, 68, is expectedto be in recovery for six

weeks until a concert Feb. 2 in Chicago.

‘Survivor’ winner Hatch out of prisonReality TV star Richard Hatch was released

from a Rhode Island prison Monday after servinga nine-month sentence for failing to pay backtaxes. Hatch, who won $1 million on the firstseason of CBS’ Survivor in 2000, served six weeksat a state facility after spending most of hissentence in federal prison.

By Cindy Clark with wire reportsE-mail [email protected]

Getty Images for LACMA

Wonder: Among2012 honorees.

USA TODAY

Manilow: Back towork in six weeks.

For entertainment news as it happens,visit the blog at lifelinelive.usatoday.com.

Lifeline

USA TODAY Snapshots®

By Michelle Healy andBy Michelle Healy Paul Trap, USA TODAA YTODAYTODA

Which time of year is hardestto get kids to eat healthfully?t get kids to eat healthfully?to get kids to eat healthfully?

Winter

Summer

Fall

Spring

55%

38383838%%%%

3%3%3%3%

3%

Nutrition Abbott for Research Wakefield Source:survey of 1,001 mothers with children ages 2-10

Note: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of roundingNote: Does not total 100% because of rounding

Scan with any QR readeror download the codescanner at scan.mobi.(Available on nearlyevery U.S. smartphone.)

New code: See celebrity photosof the day on your smartphone

There are still weeks to gobefore revelers flock toNew York’s Times Squareto watch the ball drop,but that didn’t stopmoviegoers from seeingNew Year’s Eve. It made$13 million, finally oustingTwilight from the top spot.

‘New Year’s Eve’counts up $13M

Source: Rentrak Corp. Lea Michele by Warner Bros. Pictures

Wknd Total Avg. Pct. WeeksFilm (in millions) per site chg. out

1 New Year’s Eve $13.0 NEW $3,714 — 12 The Sitter $9.9 NEW $3,582 — 13 Twilight Saga:

Breaking Dawn— Part 1

$7.8 $259.4 $2,170 –53 4

4 The Muppets $7.0 $65.7 $2,097 –37 35 Arthur

Christmas$6.5 $33.4 $1,990 –12 3

6 Hugo $6.1 $33.4 $2,320 –20 37 The Descendants $4.4 $23.6 $5,000 –9 48 Happy Feet 2 $3.7 $56.8 $1,299 –38 49 Jack and Jill $3.1 $68.5 $1,107 –42 5

10 Immortals $2.5 $79.9 $1,071 –45 5

Steve Harvey jokes that he caneasily count all the money he hasmade in the movie business. It’s hisself-help book for women, however,that might be his biggest big-screensplash.

Scheduled to open March 9, theensemble comedy/drama Think Likea Man is based on Harvey’s 2009book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like aMan, which topped USA TODAY’sBest-Selling Books list.

“The idea of my first authoringendeavor being turned into a movie— that’s a big jump, man. I don’tknow anybody who can plan that,”Harvey says.

In Think Like a Man, directed byTim Story (Barbershop), charactersplayed by Taraji P. Henson, MichaelEaly, Gabrielle Union, Jerry Ferrara,Meagan Good and others depict

Harvey’s principles in differentsituations.

“A lot of the rules they go by, a lotof the ideologies and their personal-ities and opinions are shaped by thebook,” Story says. (Some of Harvey’shighlights: how to deal with “ma-ma’s boys,” how many dates shouldthere be before a guy is invited to a

woman’s place, and fivequestions to ask to see whether yourman is serious.)

The comedian-turned-author isthe narrator, the omnipresent voiceof reason, Story says. “You alwaysknow these are the words of Steve.”

Harvey, who also has a role in themovie, filmed all of his on-screen

work in one day. “I think I’m Oscar-worthy myself. And I probably havethe smallest role in the movie!” hesays with a laugh.

Kevin Hart plays a recently di-vorced man who has soured on theidea of marriage and makes itknown to his friends. “I’m the voicefor men in this movie,” Hart says.

Adds Story: “Guys are guys, andguys and girls fall in love and fall

in like. He’s trying to keepthem from going down the

same disastrous road hehas gone down.”

A divorced man him-self, Hart has taken Har-vey’s advice to heart as

he negotiates the datingscene.“What I learned was what

you give out is what you receive.I think a lot of men don’t understandthat. In my first marriage, I wasn’taware of that,” Hart says.

“Now that I’m a man, I’ve learnedthat the way you treat a woman isthe way you’ll be treated back —if you’re dealing with a qualitywoman.”

In a man’s world, there are rulesSteve Harveyis your guideBy Brian TruittUSA TODAY

By Alan Markfield, Screen Gems

“Guys are guys,” and it goes on from there: MichaelEaly, left, Kevin Hart, Gary Owen, Terrence J, RomanyMalco and Jerry Ferrara offer insight into a man’s mind.

Will 2012 be the year for electron-ic dance music?

With dubstep artist Skrillex nab-bing five Grammy Award nomina-tions and superstar DJ deadmau5landing three, all indicators say yes.

“Skrillex is a purely electronic art-ist, and getting a best-new-artistnomination is Grammy’s way of ac-knowledging the rise of EDM (elec-tronic dance music),” says KeithCaulfield, associate director of chartsat Billboard. The awards “have over-looked EDM artists in the past, likeDavid Guetta and Moby. Skrillex isthe face of all EDM at the Grammys.”

Who is Skrillex? With his eerie,spine-tingling samples and grindingbass lines, 23-year-old Sonny Moore

— a diminutive, bespectacled LosAngeles-based DJ and producer — isthe undeniable leader of dubstep.

“What makes this an incredibleachievement is that he has been sosuccessful by being offthe radar,” Caulfieldsays. “Sure, kids knowwho he is, dance fansknow him.” But when the awardsshow rolls around Feb. 12, “youraverage music fan won’t have thefoggiest idea who he is.”

EDM is having its moment, sayselectronica pioneer Moby, whobroke through to mainstream audi-ences in 1999 with album Play,which sold 3 million copies.

“For pop stars, their main cur-rency is youth and the record label.For rock stars, their currency issongwriting and their ability to playlive,” Moby says. “Electronic musicartists are only as good as the lastrecord they played, and their abilityto play other people’s records. Luck-

ily, there are a lot of good recordsout there.”

Last summer yielded a bumpercrop of electronic dance festivals,from Electric Daisy Carnival in Las

Vegas, which pulled in250,000 attendees, toLive Nation-backedIDentity, the first elec-

tronica touring festival, which made20 stops. Dozens more such fests areslated for 2012.

“If you go to a rock concert, thereare four people standing onstageplaying songs that sound nice,” Mo-by says. “You go see Skrillex or dead-mau5 live, and there’s a huge pro-duction value, the lights, the sound.It’s hard not to be impressed.”

The audience for such spectaclesis almost certain to get bigger.

“Pop music has become so aggres-sively uptempo, when people go tosearch for more of this kind of mu-sic, they’re discovering this wholeworld that exists,” Caulfield says.

Electronic dance music hits a grooveGrammys cast aspotlight on genreBy Korina LopezUSA TODAY

More breakout stars,EDM glossary, 3D

By Bruno Postigo, AP

Skrillex: Theelectronic dancemusic produceris up for fiveGrammys.

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And in the process,

they’re revolutionizing

the publishing industry

Think Likea Man

Sneak peek

Opens March 9

See this week’s top 150list at books.usatoday.com.

can digitally format their ownmanuscript, set a price and sell itto readers through a variety ofonline retailers and devices.Amazon sells e-books via itsKindle device and on its Kindleapp for smartphones and com-puters. Barnes & Noble sells e-books through its Nook elec-tronic reader device and app.There is also the Sony eReader,Apple’s iPad and Kobo, whileOverdrive provides e-books tolibraries.

Almost every day brings moredigital modes for readers to ob-tain books in non-print forms,creating more choices for read-ers, opportunities for self-pub-lished writers, and challengesfor traditional publishers.

E-book business is boomingAccording to the Association

of American Publishers, e-booksgrew from 0.6% of the total trademarket share in 2008 to 6.4% in2010, the most recent figuresavailable. Total net revenue for2010: $878 million with 114million e-books sold. In adultfiction, e-books are now 13.6% ofthe market.

“It’s a gold rush out there,”Prescott says. “Forty acres and amule. It’s the best time for anindependent writer to get outthere.”

Forget the sensitive auteurwaiting for the muse. Self-pub-lishing an e-book requires anentrepreneurial spirit. For each99-cent e-book sold, Prescottreceives 35 cents. The onlineretailers — Amazon, BN.com,Apple, Sony — take the rest.

In traditional publishing, anunknown first-time authormight get an advance of as littleas $5,000, and then receive roy-alties from sales.

Prescott symbolizes how theWeb can empower an author tocircumvent the traditional busi-ness model, in which an authorsigns with an agent, who thensells the manuscript to a pub-lisher, who edits, prints and dis-tributes the book to stores andpromotes it to the media in ex-change for a share of the profits.

In the past, if the manuscriptwas rejected, it usually sat un-read in a writer’s desk drawerbecause the alternative — self-publishing one’s book — carrieda stigma. A writer would pay avanity publisher to print thebook, but stores rarely stockedthem and critics rarely reviewedthem. (There were exceptions:E. Lynn Harris, for example,became a star selling his self-published Invisible Life out of hiscar before signing with a tradi-tional publisher.)

Prescott was never willing toself-publish his print books.“From the start of my career, Iwas published by major pub-lishing houses,” he says. In 2000,Prescott’s The Shadow Hunter —a thriller about a woman on thetrail of a stalker — hit USATODAY’s list at No. 140. His 1992book Shiver was made into a2011 movie.

But in the new world of “indiepublishing,” with its opportuni-ty for self-published authors tosell hundreds of thousands ofe-books, the stigma is disap-pearing. Plus, there are fewerfixed costs: no paper, no print-ing press, no warehouse, notrucks.

“It’s a whole new world,”Prescott says. “You’re eliminat-ing the middleman.”

One reason Prescott is able tocapitalize on the e-book revolu-tion is that he already has a backlist of novels previously editedand released by traditional pub-lishers. (When his publisher letthe book go out of print, therights reverted to Prescott.)

‘It’s a paradigm shift’Barbara Freethy, a top ro-

mance writer for 20 years whohas written 30 novels, says thatthis year, she has sold 1.3 mil-lion self-published e-book ver-sions of 17 of her out-of-printnovels. Nine hit USA TODAY’stop 150.

“There have been morechanges in the last two yearsthan in the previous 18 years Ihave been in publishing,” saysthe San Francisco writer, who isconsidering self-publishing hernew book, A Secret Wish. Shefinds it satisfying to see the bal-ance of power shift within pub-lishing, with authors gainingmore control over their work.

“It’s a paradigm shift and arevolution,” says J.A. Konrath,who is considered the guru ofthe self-publishing movement.“It’s a huge win for readers,”who now have easier access tomore writers from around theworld, he says.

Konrath, 41, who had modest

success writing mysteries pub-lished by several traditionalpublishers (who still publishhim), is now also a best-sellingwriter of self-published e-books.He also runs the influential web-site The Newbie’s Guide to Pub-lishing.

“I am a guy who had his buttkicked by the industry for 20years, and now I’m showing oth-er authors what they can do sothey don’t have to go throughthe same thing,” he says. “Tradi-tional book publishers are justserving drinks on the Titanic.”

Konrath has seen his income

from his self-published e-booksales go from $1,400 in April2009 to $68,000 in April 2011.

But before you quit your dayjob to become a best-sellinge-book writer, Konrath pointsout that the vast number ofbooks released in any form,print or e-book, don’t sell. Tobecome a successful writer, tal-ent, hard work and self-promo-tion are important. But publish-ing remains, at heart, a lottery.“I’ve always had that caveat. Youhave to get lucky,” he says.

Meet attorney and debut nov-elist Darcie Chan, 37. This year,she self-published her debutnovel, The Mill River Recluse, af-ter being rejected by more than100 literary agents. Set in asmall Vermont town, the moodymystery centers on what hap-pened to a beautiful youngbride. It spent 16 weeks on USATODAY’s best-seller list, peakingat No. 6. Chan says she has sold416,000 copies of the 99-cente-book.

Despite the success of someself-published e-book authors,it’s premature to write the finalchapter for traditional publish-ers. In an ironic twist, severalself-published e-book super-stars — most famously AmandaHocking — have landed head-line-making contracts with ma-

jor publishing houses, whichwill be releasing their titles inprint and digital formats.

Hocking, 27, a life-long Min-nesotan from a working-classbackground, has been tellingstories almost since she couldclimb out of the crib and waswriting full-fledged novels at 17.

Unable to find an agent, shebegan self-publishing heryoung-adult paranormal ro-mances in 2010. They becamehuge hits; seven of them havespent 50 weeks on USA TODAY’slist this year.

Steppingstone to successHer addictive Trylle trilogy —

Switched, Torn and Ascend, star-ring a raven-haired royal beautynamed Wendy — has surged tothe top with an intensity thatsuggests Twilight’s Bella has arival for the hearts of femalereaders.

This is when things get weird.Already wealthy from her self-published e-books, Hocking inJune signed a $2 million con-tract with St. Martin’s Press. In

January, the Trylle trilogy willhit stores — brick and mortar aswell as online — in trade pa-perback. The movie rights al-ready have been sold.

With technology enablingeveryone to be his or her ownJohannes Gutenberg, whywould an author sign with atraditional book publisher?

“I wanted to reach more read-ers,” Hocking says. She pointsout that most people — partic-ularly the young teens shewrites for — do not own iPads ore-readers. Hocking says it’sabout the story, not the device.“I wanted to write a fun book,not start a revolution.”

C.J. Lyons also appreciateswhat traditional publishersbring to the table. A formeremergency-room pediatrician,Lyons, 47, has published morethan a dozen medical suspensenovels with traditional publish-ers, as well as nine self-pub-lished titles, two of which hitUSA TODAY’s list this summer.

Now she has signed with atraditional publisher, Minotaur

Press, a division of St. Martin’s. “Ienjoy working with an editor,and I think my writing is readyto go to the next level,” she says.

Her new publisher, AndrewMartin, says, “I’m not buying abook, I’m building a career withan author.” He says an estab-lished publishing house lets theauthor do what he does best —write — while the publisher of-fers expert marketing, editing,production and aggressive pro-tection against e-books being il-legally pirated.

In the midst of this revolution,Martin sees a silver lining fortraditional publishers. In thepast, editors, agents and pub-lishers depended on their gutabout whether a book wouldconnect with readers. Now thestories are being pre-tested inthe online marketplace. “It’s likethe old-fashioned slush pile be-ing road tested — with thecream rising to top.”

In the end, Martin selectedLyons for the oldest reason of all.

“She is a storyteller. I thinkthat speaks most to me.”

E-books reduce costs for writers, readersContinued from 1D

“There havebeen morechanges in thelast two yearsthan in theprevious 18years I havebeen inpublishing.”

— Romance writerBarbara Freethy

Self-published authors on USA TODAY’s Best- Selling Books list

MichaelPrescott

BarbaraFreethy

DarcieChan

AmandaHocking

C.J.Lyons

Number of self-published e-books in the top 150:

5 9 1 7 2Total number of weeks in the top 150:

42 41 16 50 9

2D COVER STORY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011 USA TODAY

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