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Shannon Mayer writes great urban fantasy—she hovers just behind George R. R. Martin on Amazon’s Kindle Fantasy charts. She’s another triumph for self-publishing, but the real beneficiary of the DIY book boom is the publishing industry itself. We talked to Mayer about why.
More engaged authors. Mayer spends an hour every day interacting with fans on Facebook—a big difference from reclusive novelists who might meet readers only at book signings.
More productive authors. Tired of waiting for the next Game of Thrones? Mayer has published 25 books since Martin came out with A Dance With Dragons in 2011. Almost all of them have earned 4.5- or 5-star ratings.
More affordable books. Most of Mayer’s books are $3 to $4—cheap enough to keep people buying them but profitable enough that she was able to leave her day job years ago.
Fewer vampires. After True Blood and Twilight, fantasy was besieged by the befanged. Thankfully, indie authors aren’t slaves to trends. “My vampires are part of the background, not main characters,” Mayer says. (Well, we didn’t say no vampires.)
