Making it Big by Being Your Own Publisher

One of the best examples of a success story is that of author Amy Fisher with her work “If I Knew Then”. Her work sold over 32,000 copies to date. But an aspiring self publisher should know that Amy Fisher is an unusual case. The main problem with self-published authors is finding a market outside their own personal cicles of family and friends. Friends and Family may rake in on average, the sale of 200 books but not sales in the thousands.

Amy Fisher is an exceptional book sales success because she was already a well known and award winning newspaper columnist with the Long Island Press. She already had a readership following in the circulation of the new paper she worked for. Another big difference is that Amy Fisher led an extraordinary life.

Everybody thinks their autobiography is interesting enough for publishing but that is not usually true. Most people live rich, but ordinary lives that would bore a reader and should not be bothered with a publisher. When Amy published her autobiography, she was only 30 years old, but in reading her story, it seems as though she has lived more than three lifetimes. When she was 16 years old she was known as the “Long Island Lolita” by the media. It started with her having an affair with a married man. That came to an abrupt end when she tried to kill her lover’s wife by shooting her in the head.

Once her first self-published book became a success, she began a career in adult entertainment and even had two other authors write a sotry about her and having their books published. The author Pier Dominguez wrote a book on Amy Fisher in 2001 and there was an earlier book that was written by the author Maria Eftimiades in 1992.

Fisher was not new to publishing when her autobiography came out, before then, she had co-written another autobiography with Sheila Weller in 1994, “Amy Fisher: My Story”.

The publishing success of Amy Fisher’s autobiography cannot be so easily followed by other authors. Her book sales were driven by her personality and the scandals that were associated with her name. She was a natural for getting attention and self promoting herself. It’s quite clear that most authors wouldn’t want that kind of reputation tacked on to their name. For anyone wanting to succeed by being their own publisher should remember that it will not be an easy task to promote yourself or get your novel recognized, but hard work and the determination to succeed will certainly make sales that much sweeter.

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Maria Eftimiades, a journalist for more than a decade, is was the New York City bureau chief for People magazine. Maria Eftimiades has also written five books including Sins of the Mother, The Susan Smith Story and Lethal Lolita, The Amy Fisher Story. Maria Eftimiades has worked as a reporter, columnist and community editor for the New York Times, New York Newsday, Stamford Advocate, Bergen Record and Dallas Morning News. Maria Eftimiades

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Books written by Maria Eftimiades

Garden of Graves: The Deadly Passion of the Long Island Serial Killer
by Maria Eftimiades

Lethal Lolita: A True Story of Sex, Scandal and Deadly Obsession
by Maria Eftimiades

My Name Is Katherine: The True Story of Katie Beers, the Little Girl Who Survived an Underground Dungeon of Horror
by Maria Eftimiades , Joe Treen

Secrets from the Grave
by Maria Eftimiades

Sins of the Mother
by Maria Eftimiades

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Links to books written by Maria Eftimiades:

Books Written By Maria Eftimiades

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