A retired high school principal and former business owner have spoken of their lucrative new lives as e-book writers. The former has found her niche in the romance genre, while Sydney resident, Angela Vassallo, is riding the success of a book based on her personal experiences with marriage and parenthood.
Annie Seaton told the Brisbane Times on Friday that prior to her retirement from the education sector she had always wanted to pen a romance novel. Although she received a rejection letter for her first effort, she was concurrently placed on Amazon's best-selling e-books chart. Her first book, "Winter of the Passion Flower", led to offers from five e-publishing outlets.
However, it was Ms Seaton's second romance e-book that boosted her post-retirement income. "A Holiday Affair" reached 764 on the Amazon best-seller list and remained in the top 1000 for six months.
"Forty thousand copies were sold, mainly in the [United] States, because that's where my market is ... I made $11,000 in royalties," she said. Seaton has since written 18 more pieces of romance fiction, but "A Holiday Affair" continues to reap the most revenue.
Despite her success thus far, Ms Seaton's goal is to generate enough profit so that her husband can also retire. In terms of her weekly commitment, she spends 18 hours on writing, including 2.5 hours of marketing, and also participates in professional development activities such as writing workshops.
For Ms Vassallo, her life as a step-mother served as the basis for "The Second Wives' Guide" e-book. She released it in mid-2014 and has since sold 30,000 copies online, pocketing her around $100,000 in revenue.
"I am surprised, but I knew it was going to be successful because I had a message ... I always looked at it as a business opportunity and wanted to be a keynote speaker to help inspire and educate women," the new author said.
In accordance with her vision, Vassallo completed a speaking and book tour across America in December and January, for which she also received income.
E-book sales in the U.S. generated $5.69 billion in 2014, while $8.69 billion is predicted for 2018. Additionally, readers are expected to use devices such as Kindle readers in place of books.