Local Authors Find Success in Self-Publishing, eBooks

Port Washington resident Robert Brumm struggled in his goal to become an author for nearly a decade before he finally found the answer that would allow him to publish four books, and counting.

Brumm, a native of Grafton who moved to Saukville in 1996 and has lived in Port since 2007, had been writing for fun for about 10 years, submitting short stories to magazines and agents in hopes of being published.

"After getting nothing but rejection letters or getting completely ignored, I got discouraged and gradually stopped writing," Brumm said. "A little over a year ago it dawned on me I might be able to publish my work independently and affordably now that eBooks are all the rage. I was pleased to find how easy it is to publish on Amazon through the Kindle program and other platforms like Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Smashwords and dozens of others."

Though Brumm said he has gotten some sales from print versions of his books, most purchases are of his eBook versions.

In 2011, eBooks were the No. 1 purchased format for readers of adult fiction — a mark hit for the first time ever, according to statistics released by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group.

"(Self-publishing) certainly is bigger than ever — probably more people doing it through e-books first ... than they would do print," Jim Milliot, co-editorial director of Publisher's Weekly said. "Obviously you could do e-books cheaper, so it’s a good way to test it out.

"There's been some authors you've heard of who have (just) done self-publising … but there's really been just as many self-publishers that have been picked up by traditional publishers."

One example of self-publish to traditional publishing success is E. L. James, who wrote the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy, Milliot said.

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