Stephanie McAfee – Ebook sales Leads to Three Book Publishing Deal
A little while ago Stephanie McAfee had a half finished book and a dream. A few months later, her book was completed and she had signed up for a three book publishing deal with a major American company. Her first book is “Diary of a Mad Fat Girl” and it has already sold many thousands of ebook copies.
She recently revised and expanded the book and it now features an exciting new cover.
How did all this happen? This is how.
Darrell - Where did you get the idea for your book "Diary of a Mad Fat Girl"?
Stephanie - It came in pieces, actually, one character at a time. I was having a "wouldn't it be funny if...." moment when I came up with Ace Jones back in 2005. I created most of the characters and several of the scenes in '05 and '06, then put it all aside until last year when I opened that old word doc and got to work.
Darrell - Can you describe a typical day of writing?
Stephanie - I wrote this book around my son's sleeping schedule. Sometimes I would get up early, sometimes I would stay up late, but most of the work was done during his afternoon nap. Now, however, I have a much better situation. I get up early and head to the library at the University of West Florida where I set up shop at a secluded cubby desk situated between some rarely used book stacks. It's total silence and I love it.
Darrell - You self published the book on Amazon in December of last year and you have now received a 3 book deal with New American Library. Can you describe the events that led to this wonderful event?
Stephanie - I got serious about writing Diary in March of last year. Sometime in October, I noticed that a Kindle ad was on the back of almost every magazine in print and was obviously being marketed as the Big Christmas Gift of 2010. I did a little research and when I found out that it cost absolutely nothing to list a book for sale on Amazon, I stopped wasting time on query letters (all of which always got rejected anyway) and shifted my focus to completing the book. I wanted to be finished by Thanksgiving, but that didn't happen and I had to rush to get it done by December 25.
It sold nine copies that first week and I was beside myself. In January, it sold 1991 copies. I could not believe how well it was doing, so on February 4, I listed it with Barnes & Noble. Things really took off at Amazon in February, then Barnes & Noble caught on in March, and no one was more surprised than me when it found its way onto the New York Times Bestsellers List. Rick Wales (http://squidoo.com/MobyD) was kind enough to post that news on Diary's facebook page March 18 and that's actually how I found out. As you might imagine, that's when things really got interesting. I accepted an offer of representation from LJK Literary Management on March 28 and now I'm working with Danielle Perez at NAL and looking forward to a release in Feb, 2012. It's been an amazing experience and there are still times when I stop and think, "I cannot believe this."
Darrell - The book has been priced in that .99 cent zone. How important has that been to sales and to everything that has followed?
Stephanie - I am certain that was a major factor in my success.
Darrell - How have you gone about marketing yourself?
Stephanie - I created a blog, after which I discovered that most writers create a blog, then write a book, so I guess I got that one backward. I also created a Facebook "like" page that I linked to my product pages on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and that worked like a charm. I also created a Twitter account and though I'm far from being Twitteriffic, I have managed to post a few tweets @stephaniemcafee. My most recent endeavour has been to unleash Ace Jones on Twitter at @Mad_Fat_Girl. That has definitely been the most fun.
Darrell - What advice would you have for someone about to self publish their own book?
Stephanie - 1) Take your time and make sure you have everything just like you want it. 2) Have your manuscript professionally edited by someone with good credentials and a good reputation. 3) Sell it for 99 cents. 4) Have a little faith in yourself. Had someone told me this time last year that this is where I'd be today, I would've laughed in their face. But here I am. In a total state of disbelief. :)
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