Some of the most successful self published authors who "made it"

Self publishing can be so daunting, so here is a list of authors who opted for the self publishing route and found success in it!

Self publishing is one of the most gruelling options for authors there is, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. Some days, weeks, and even months we don’t sell a single copy of our book. We don’t have an agent, marketing team, or publisher helping us. We have to play every role all on our own, and it can be depressing when we put in what feels like a lifetime’s worth of work only for what feels like no outcome in the end.

Don’t let that discourage you though!

Here’s a list of self published authors who busted their butts and found success in the end!

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Some of the most famous authors who opted for self publishing and their stories

Stephen King

When Stephen King was just 15 years old, long before he became one of the most famous authors of our time, he self published "People, Places, and Things." He did this through his own publishing company called Triad & Gaslight Books. It was a collection of short stories, but it's not widely available anymore. He accomplished this in 1960, and after hard work he finally was able to make a name for himself.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain was actually already famous when he created his own imprint in 1884. However, he hated working with all the companies involved in traditional publishing. Through his own imprint he published "Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

Don't worry, I know so far these authors already have a leg up on us trying to break out into the industry, but we'll get to more hopeful and relatable authors.

Beatrix Potter

Nobody would take Potter seriously because it was the early 1900s and she was a woman. She wanted to share her story "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" though, and traditional publishers refused to take a female and this story seriously. After being treated like crap, she self published 250 copies of her book, leading to one of those companies that had been laughing at her to signing her a deal. Once she was traditionally published, she went on to sell 20,000 during the first year. To date she's sold 45,000,000.

Andy Weir

Andy Weir is the author of hit film, The Martian, starring Matt Damon. Weir did not immediately submit the manuscript once it was written because he was scared traditional publishers would never give him the time and attention. Instead, he created a blog where he shared small parts of his book at a time and slowly grew a following. After realizing people liked his book, he self published "The Martian" and became a #1 Amazon best selling author. From there he signed a publishing and film rights deal and has sold over 3 million copies of his book. The film was a success as well, raking in $630,000,000.

Wayne Dyer

Dyer wrote a book called Your Erroneous Zones and printed off 4,500 copies to travel the country with and promote. He also handed out copies for free to help people and would go on to have his book become one of the most successful selling books ever.

Lisa Genova

Genova is the author of "Still Alice" and ended up self publishing the novel in 2007. She did this after being rejected repeatedly by tons of different commercial publishers. Once it grew more popular, she signed a deal with Simon & Schuster and had the book published again in 2009.

Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki is the author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and has sold 40,000,000 copies in 50 languages throughout 109 countries. It stayed on the NYT Bestseller list for six years, but this was all after he was rejected by agents, publishers, and other companies that told him to give up on his idea.

EL James

James is the author of one of the most famous books, "50 Shades of Grey." This book actually started as a Twilight fan fic (most authors know this, but if you didn't, now you do!). She edited the book a bit more and self published the first book in her trilogy. She saw serious success and ended up getting a publishing deal within a year of publishing her first book.

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is the author of one of the most famous novels and Hulu Originals "Handmaid's Tale." Before finding this success, she self published a book of poetry called "Persephone."

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Other famous self published authors who found success

• Frank Baum

• William Blake

• Ken Blanchard

• Robert Bly

• Alfred, Lord Byron

• Willa Cather

• Julia Cameron

• Pat Conroy

• Stephen Crane

• e.e. cummings

• Charles Dickens

• Roddy Doyle

• W.E.B. DuBois

• Alexander Dumas

• T.S. Eliot

• Lawrence Ferlinghetti

• Benjamin Franklin

• Zane Grey

• Thomas Hardy

• E. Lynn Harris

• Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Ernest Hemingway

• Robinson Jeffers

• Spencer Johnson

• James Joyce

• Rupi Kaur

• Rudyard Kipling

• Louis L'Amour

• D.H. Lawrence

• Rod McKuen

• Marlo Morgan

• William Morris

• John Muir

• Anais Nin

• Thomas Pain

• James Patterson

• Tom Peters

• Edgar Allen Poe

• Alexander Pope

• Sergio De La Pava

• Ezra Pound

• Marcel Proust

• Irma Rombauer

• JK Rowling

• Carl Sandburg

• Robert Service

• George Bernard Shaw

• Percy Bysshe Shelley

• Upton Sinclair

• Arthur Schopenhauer

• Gertrude Stein

• William Strunk

• Alfred Lord Tennyson

• Henry David Thoreau

• Leo Tolstoy

• Walt Whitman

• Virginia Woolf

• WB Yeats

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