Managing publisher/editor and author Lane Diamond discusses the past, present, and future of Evolved Publishing.
Growth breeds success; success breeds growth–2015 will be a good year.
Thank you!
We thought it was important to start with that, because were it not for you, our loyal fans and readers, we would not be where we are today. It all happens because you buy and read our books, and post reviews, and tell friends about us, and spread the good word about Evolved Publishing. We appreciate you more than we can say, so we’ll keep it simple: thank you.
We wanted to share with you some of our good news to date, as well as some of our plans for the future. Why? Because we want you to trust Evolved Publishing to be your consistent source for great books, a place you can come back to time and time again to pick up that next great escape from your daily grind. Whatever your genre preferences, there’s a good chance we have multiple selections that are right up your alley. So without further ado, let us tell you a little about our business, and about why we should be your preferred publisher of fine books.
With recent additions, here’s how our current/active team now looks:
Authors: 32
Editors: 12
Artists: 9
Translators: 7
Those numbers will continue to grow, of course, as talented people continue to express an interest in EP.
With our upcoming releases on March 23rd, here’s how our current/active catalog now looks:
Awards Won: Over 70
Novels: 43
Novellas: 3
Chapter Books: 9
Children’s Picture Books: 20
Anthologies: 4
Box Sets & Omnibus Editions: 5
Memoirs: 1
Short Stories: 11
Foreign Language Translations: 13
Audiobooks: 26
These numbers grow with each month’s new releases. Additionally, we published 15 titles for which we have now returned the rights to the authors.
When we started a little over 3 years ago, we never expected to grow so quickly. Our first major book launch was actually in March of 2012, and we’ve come a long way since then. As a new small press, we began with authors who, like us, were just getting started. That continues to be the case for the vast majority of our new authors now. However, we now have some established authors who are really hitting their stride, and who are either enjoying real success now, or will be soon.
Let us spotlight 3 of those authors for you here:
Amelia James: Later in 2015, she’ll be releasing Destined for Genius, a contemporary romance. At that point, Amelia will have 5 books in the romance genre, 5 books in the erotica genre, and one paranormal romance short story. She has enjoyed intermittent success with her first romance, Tell Me You Want Me, which has been on the bestseller list a couple times, and with her books that have been translated into French, which spent several weeks atop the charts at Amazon.FR.
Amelia’s romances offer what far too many (in our humble opinion) romances don’t: strong plots, memorable characters, and solid, well-crafted prose. Oh yeah… and the sex is pretty darned steamy too! Although Amelia has enjoyed some remarkable spurts of success, we think 2015 might be the year the world truly discovers her and launches her career. She has already sold over 30,000 copies of her books, and had over 70,000 free downloads, but that is only the beginning.
Ruby Standing Deer: None of our authors has been a greater example of the power of word-of-mouth than Ruby. Her books have captured the imagination of readers who have been happy to spread the word of their experience. Her characters and the culture of which she writes have touched the hearts of almost 17,000 readers, and they’ve wanted to share that joy.
Her readers have also been remarkably loyal. Now that her 3rd book is out, readers who’ve read her 1st book are returning to read her 2nd and 3rd books, keeping them rock steady. I fell in love with these characters early on, and I’m so pleased that readers have reacted in the same way. To date, Ruby’s 3 books have sold over 12,000 copies, and another 8,000 copies were downloaded during a free promotion.
Angela Scott: With the release of her 7th book, Anyone?, in December, Angela has shot up the charts at Amazon. She’s won multiple awards for different books, and to date has sold over 9,000 books, and had another 60,000 downloads of her books while on free promotion. Her The Zombie West series is beloved of readers, and her The Desert series is an emotional powerhouse that leaves readers thinking about them long after they’ve finished reading. We think Angela sits on the cusp of stardom. Watch for Zia the Teenage Zombie and the Undead Diaries, coming in September 2015.
Although Anyone? has been the big star as of late, I must say that Desert Rice and Desert Flower, long among my personal favorites, are finally being discovered by readers. It’s long overdue, but we’re pleased to see folks discovering these wonderful books.
The Long Slow Grind
As everyone trying their hand at this business knows, this is a difficult business in which to achieve success. Actually, everyone defines success a little differently, but if we narrow it to the number of books sold to readers, it’s a long road indeed. It’s not uncommon for authors to have to publish 3, 4, 5 or more books, before the sales numbers start to really move. This isn’t anything new in the business, as authors have long joked about their “overnight success” after publishing their 4th or 5th book. However, it might be more difficult today than ever before, simply because of the sheer volume of new authors entering the field and competing for those readers. Most authors sell less than 1,000 copies of their first book (at regular price), a significant percentage sell less than 500, and an alarming number sell less than 200.
So how do authors like Amelia James, Ruby Standing Deer, and Angela Scott do it? Simple: they stick to it. They keep the quality books coming, continuing to build their catalogs even in the face of the inevitable frustration spawned by this industry. It ain’t easy! Yet all things are possible when one is determined to produce quality work.
Ah yes, quality–we talk about that a lot here at Evolved Publishing. We think the three authors we’ve highlighted have gotten to this point by producing one quality work after another–written well, professionally edited, great covers, professional formatting and presentation.
And we think that’s why several more of our authors, each of whom are in earlier stages of their career, will achieve that success over the next year or two. We have three authors who’ve sold over 2,000 copies of their 1st book, as an example, which is pretty good for having only one book out. The sooner they get their 2nd book out, and then their 3rd, the sooner they will reach their professional goals as an author.
This brings us full circle to you. Thank you! You are the reason our authors are gradually making their dreams come true. We hope you will continue to find the books you love here at Evolved Publishing, and that you’ll tell your friends about us. Those of us in this business do what we do for any number of reasons, but reason number one remains simple: we love reading good books. Now, we love bringing you those good books.
We think 2015 will mark another step forward for our team of dedicated professionals–not just our authors, but the committed editors, artists, and translators who support their efforts. We have some exciting books coming in 2015 and 2016, and we’re thrilled about the new authors who’ve joined our team in recent months. The future looks bright, promising some truly entertaining and fun books, some provocative reading, some stories that will stretch the mind, tug at the heart, or just make you laugh or cry or yearn or experience a full range of emotions. We love reading! And we love you for your support.
And speaking of great books coming, these new offerings are now available for pre-order, and will officially launch on March 23rd. Just click on the covers for more info at Amazon.
