A self-published author crosses over

On Sunday, I wrote a piece about how some authors are finding success with self-publishing, thanks to technology that makes it easy, especially with e-books, to publish and distribute. This self-publishing revolution has some folks predicting the demise of traditional publishing.

But not so fast. The New York Times reports that self-publishing superstar Amanda Hocking has decided to give traditional publishing a spin. She has sold a four-book series to St. Martin's Press.

Hocking, a 26-year-old from Minnesota, has made about $2 million selling her young-adult novels as e-books. She told the Times she was tired of hearing from readers who couldn't find her books in stores and tired of spending time "formatting her books, designing covers and hiring freelance editors — all tasks that fall to the self-publishing author."

She explained her decision on her blog: “I want to be a writer,” she said. “I do not want to spend 40 hours a week handling e-mails, formatting covers, finding editors, etc. Right now, being me is a full-time corporation.”