Read the text below about self-publishing. First decide whether the statements (1–6) are true (T) or false (F) and put a cross ( ) in the correct box. Then identify the sentence in the text which supports your decision. Write the first four words of this sentence in the space provided. There may be more than one correct answer; write down only one. The first one (0) has been done for you. Statements True False First four words 0 Rachel is happy about her sales. 1 Only two agents said they wanted to publish Rachel’s first book. 2 Rachel says it’s hard to find time for both writing and marketing. 3 She had to invest a lot more time at first than she does now. 4 Literary festivals usually don’t take Rachel seriously. 5 Rachel thinks her readers are unhappy that she self-publishes. 6 Rachel has always wanted to self-publish. 40 14 HOUR DAYS, MARKETING AND DEALING WITH SNOBBERY: MY LIFE AS A SELF-PUBLISHED BESTSELLER Rachel Abbot Last week I looked at the spreadsheets I use to track my ebook sales and gave a whoop of delight: I had just sold my two-millionth book, something I would never have considered possible just over four years ago, particularly as most of those sales were achieved through self-publishing. Initially my most ambitious target had been to sell a thousand copies. It’s been quite a journey, and totally unexpected. I have to admit that I became self-published because I wasn’t able to interest an agent in my first book. I had originally written Only the Innocent for my own pleasure, but I was encouraged by my family to try and publish it. I contacted 12 literary agents, and they weren’t all negative. At least two said they enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t the type of story publishers were looking for. So I put my novel on a virtual shelf, and it was only when I was researching another book – yes, I enjoyed the experience so much that I was writing a second novel, again with no thought of publishing it – that I discovered it was possible for writers to upload their work to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing website. I decided to give it a go and the rest is history. The self-publishing model can look attractive because the author can take up to 70% of each sale – which is more than they would get through a traditional publisher. But it takes a lot of work to make those sales: when I started to follow my marketing plan for Only the Innocent, I was working 14 hours a day, seven days a week. For three months, not a word of a novel was written. Even now, with my fifth fulllength novel, Kill Me Again, released on Kindle less than a month ago, I am still working similar hours – but I love the variety and the challenge. I’d like to say that there has been a change in attitude towards self-publishing since I released my first novel. But sadly there are still some influential people who believe that, first, self-published authors sell a lot of books because they are cheaper and, second, that if the writing was good, the author would be offered a traditional deal. Despite sales of over two million, most literary festivals still believe I don’t have as much to say about writing and selling books. But that’s a small complaint, and I am happy not to get much serious attention as an author because I get such unbelievable support from my readers. I love hearing from people who have read and enjoyed my novels – readers who probably don’t know, and couldn’t care less, how I am published. In the end, it doesn’t matter how a writer is published as long as readers enjoy their work. Although self-publishing was never part of my original plan, it’s been an amazing experience and not one that I could possibly regret. Last week I looked 80 Language skills Extras Explore 6 The story of stuff Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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