Indie publishing successes

Self-published authors who have sold 200,000+

Using a cold search on google, as well as contacts from the authors themselves, Kiwi blogger Vevo has assembled a list of indie bestselling authors.  Unsurprisingly, the blog is called Self Publishing Success Stories.

Have a look for yourself -- the figures are astounding.

The first block lists authors who have reported 50,000 books sold -- a list that includes American Brett Battles, a most promising young crime writer I have mentioned before, and Kiwi Shayne Parkinson, author of an increasingly popular historical novel series.

The second block lists those who have sold in excess of half a million.

1. Barbara Freethy - over 2 million ebooks sold (April 2012)
2. Amanda Hocking - 1,500,000 ebooks sold (December 2011)
3. John Locke- more than 1,100,000 eBooks sold in five months
4. Gemma Halliday - over 1 million self-published ebooks sold (March 2012)
5. Michael Prescott - more than 800,000 self-published ebooks sold (Dec 2011)
6. J.A. Konrath - more than 800,000 ebooks sold (April 2012)
7. Bella Andre - more than 700,000 books sold (May 2012)
8. Darcie Chan - 641,000 ebooks sold (May 2012)
9. Chris Culver - over 550,000 (Dec 2011)
10. Heather Killough-Walden - over 500,000 books sold (Dec 2011)
11. Selena Kitt - "With half a million ebooks sold in 2011 alone"
12. Stephen Leather - close to 500,000 books sold (Nov 2011)
13. CJ Lyons - almost 500,000 ebooks sold (Dec 2011)
14. J.R. Rain - more than 400,000 books sold (Sept 2011)
15. Bob Mayer - 347 sold in Jan to over 400,000 total sold by year's end (Dec 2011)
16. Rick Murcer - over 400,000 ebooks in one year (May 2012)
17. Tina Folsom - over 300,000 books sold (October 2011)
18. J Carson Black - more than 300,000 books sold (November 2011)
19. Terri Reid - 300,000 sold (May 2012)
20. B.V. Larson - over 250,000 books sold (Dec 2011)
21. Kerry Wilkinson - more than 250,000 books sold (Feb 2012)
22. T.R. Ragan - 239,592 books sold (March 2012)
23. H.P. Mallory - more than 200,000 ebooks sold (July 2011)
24. Marie Force - more than 200,000 sold in the last year (March 2012)
25. Scott Nicholson - Just guessing, I'd put my worldwide sales total between 200k-250k
26. David Dalglish - more than 200,000 (May 2012)
27. Jennifer Ashley/Ashley Gardner - crossed the 200,000 sold mark in early June 2012

Evidently the blogger is looking at all self-published books, including print editions. That eBooks are the way of the future is indicated by an addendum quoting amazon's promo for Kindle Direct:

Kindle Direct Publishing has quickly taken on astonishing scale – more than a thousand KDP authors now each sell more than a thousand copies a month, some have already reached hundreds of thousands of sales, and two have already joined the Kindle Million Club. KDP is a big win for authors. Authors who use KDP get to keep their copyrights, keep their derivative rights, get to publish on their schedule – a typical delay in traditional publishing can be a year or more from the time the book is finished – and … saving the best for last … KDP authors can get paid royalties of 70%. ...

With thanks to Shayne Parkinson.