Selling the First 5000 Copies

An Award-winning writer finds her own way to readers

Imagine this: It's ... 1960. You're 16 and live in Detroit's inner city. One day, a newspaper ad catches your eye. You're fascinated as you read about an Exchange Program that sends inner city youth to live in the outer areas of suburban Michigan for one year. You call the number and within a few months, find yourself moving to Traverse City, Michigan, a sprawling, affluent white community. You live with a family with seven children in a 12-room house and on weekends you accompany the family to their cottage on the lake where the children water ski....

This may sound like the start of a synopsis for a novel, but it is the experience of Maxine Thompson, self-published author of The Ebony Tree and No Pockets in a Shroud. That year away from home was the most terrifying, inspiring, traumatic, uplifting year of her life and is one of the reasons why Maxine writes today.

Thompson had been writing self illustrated short stories since she was a child, but was never encouraged--that is, until she moved to Traverse. Her foster mother saw Thompson's writing and provided the support that Thompson needed. After a year of living in an environment that until then she was sure never existed, Maxine wrote a short story called "The Hidden Sword," about her experience in Traverse.

In 1989 Thompson took a major step, entering Ebony Magazine's first Writing Contest with her short story, "The Rainbow." To her surprise, Thompson received the $1,000 first prize.

"I thought everything would take off from there," Thompson said. "So, I started writing more and kept my eye on the phone waiting for that life-changing literary call."

The call never came, but her stories continued to flow. In 1995 Thompson won two literary awards--the International Black Writers Association Award (IBWA) for "The Rainbow," and the PEN Award for another short story, "The Ebony Tree."

The positive, public response for "The Ebony Tree" inspired Thompson to turn the story into her first self-published novel.

"I decided that I couldn't wait around for someone to call and offer me a book contract. If I wanted this to happen, I had to make it happen myself." The Ebony Tree is about a mother/daughter relationship impacted by their family's slave history.

While Thompson was self-promoting and marketing her first book, she completed her second book, No Pockets in a Shroud, about a minister and the secrets his family kept hidden for over 100 years. She self-published that book as well.

All the time Thompson was self-publishing, she still searched for validation from a mainstream publisher. After personally selling over 5,000 copies of her books, Thompson finally realized that she had all the validation she needed. Since her revelation, Thompson's career has taken off, not only as an author, but as an advocate for self-published authors. "I want to build a platform for self-published authors where they realize that books can be sold and profits can be made without the assistance of mainstream publishers," Thompson explained.

To this end, Thompson has started a column, "On the Same Page," which appears on her website (www.maxinethompson.com). The column is designed to provide advertising and promotional support to new and self-published authors through book reviews and other publicity tools. Also included on the site is a literary service, which can take an author from manuscript to a market-ready product. "This is the first time self-published authors have a place where they can get support and be promoted," Thompson explained. "There is just not enough support out there for us, so we have to support each other."

Though Thompson continues to write and has just completed her third novel, she plans on spending an equal amount of time supporting and promoting other self-publishers. "My writing is important, but so is my commitment to helping self-published authors get exposure and recognition." Thompson now writes for numerous sites across the Internet--all with the intention of promoting authors. One author she recently promoted became the number-one selling Christian author on Amazon.com. What's next for the author/online-publisher/promotional specialist?

"Someone told me a year ago that mainstream publishers would be coming to me for on-line promotion for their authors. Well, that's started. A publicist contacted me for promotional assistance for one of her authors," said a smiling Thompson.

But no matter how many mainstream publishers come her way, Thompson's heart will always be with the self-published author. Her mission: to coach and promote as many self-published authors to success as possible.

RELATED ARTICLE: Dear Dr. Rosie:

I am a self-published author who has published three books. As a speaker, I have been able to create an even greater demand for my books. However, I cannot afford to keep more than one book in print at a time. I am extremely frustrated. Can you offer any suggestions?

Many authors find themselves in this position because conventional printing methods are cost-prohibitive when printing smaller quantities. For example, if you wanted to print just 500 copies through conventional printing, it would cost almost $14.80 per copy for a 250-300-page trade paperback. The challenge is that most books retail in the $12.95-$14.95 range, so there is no room for profit. You would have to print 2,000-plus books to get a good price break on printing costs.