Hocking Inks Multi-Million Dollar Deal: A “Risk” Worth Taking

In a world gone mad, a bestselling author walks away from a half-million dollar publishing deal in order to sell his own books electronically. The very next, another bestselling author signs a multi-publishing deal so she doesn’t have to. The common denominator here is e-books, how they fit and what to do about them.

Amanada Hocking is a 26-year-old Minnesota-based writer who has sold more than a million copies of her self-published books in less than a year. In a posting on her blog yesterday, Hocking announced she had a four-book deal with St. Martin’s Press for a brand new young adult paranormal romance series. According to Hocking, SMP may be debuting the Watersong Series fall 2012.

For Hocking, taking the “risk” to publish with St. Martin’s is worth the possible loss of income because, as she said, “it’s a calculated risk, and if it works out, the payoff could be enormous. But I’m making enough money on my other books -- and I will continue to make enough on my self-published books -- that I can afford to take this risk.”

Which is a perspective that could make the heads of many traditionally published authors just spin. Those same spinning-headed authors would completely understand something Hocking blogged about a few days ago when her deal with SMP was still just a strong possibility. “I’m [a] writer. I want to be a writer. I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling emails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full time corporation.”

The more things change, right? But everything stays the same.