I scoured the Internet for a picture of John Locke and this one was the only one I could find - the guy is clearly a recluse, he probably lives in a garret somewhere
John Locke – Donovan Creed Ebooks
The world of self-published ebooks is full of success stories and none of the new crop of independent ebook authors has been more successful than John Locke with his excellent Donovan Creed crime series.
Locke was the 8th writer to sell 1 million ebooks for the Kindle on Amazon. What was even more remarkable about this achievement is that the other 7 were writers with contracts with major publishing houses. John Locke was the first self-published author to hit the 1 million sales mark. If you are looking for John Locke the 17th century British philosopher then take a look at this fine picture below, but apart from that you’re in the wrong place (unless, of course, you believe there is no such thing as the wrong place, but no matter what you believe you won’t get me to digress any further).
John Locke 17th Century philosopher - was the first to define the self as a continuity of consciousness. He postulated that the mind was a tabula rasa or blank slate. He maintained that we are born without innate ideas, and that knowledge is determined solely by experience derived from sense perception.
On his website the U.S. John Locke states that he sold 1,100,000 eBooks in 5 months and that he has written and published 6 best-selling books in 3 separate genres in 6 months, all of this part-time! And he is not some new Internet genius wunderkind, he is a regular guy who grew up with black and white TV.
He has also had 4 of the top 10 eBooks on Amazon/Kindle at the same time, including No. 1 and No. 2! Every eBook he has written and published has become a best-seller.
The other 7 authors who have sold over than 1 million eBooks for the Kindle are:- Stieg Larsson, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Lee Child, Charlaine Harris, Suzanna Colins and Michael Connelly.
Donovan Creed Books in order of publication – Donovan Creed, is an ex-CIA assassin, very tough with a weakness for very easy women. John Locke’s crime novels are often laugh out loud bizarre and funny! The action is fast/furious, with smart/savvy/sexy dialogue. Plenty of quirky characters and clever surprises. (click on the links for further details from Amazon)
1. Lethal People
2. Lethal Experiment
3. Saving Rachel
4. Now & Then
5. Wish List
6. A Girl Like You
7. Vegas Moon
John Locke also writes the highly popular Emmett Love Western series
1. Follow the Stone
2. Don’t Poke the Bear
John Locke was already a successful businessman when he heard about the possibility of publishing novels on ebooks. When he learned that you got 35% commission on a 99 cent ebook he was bowled over by the possibility this represented. As a result he prices his ebooks at 99 cents, and says that the big name established writers who sell at $9.99 now have to prove that “their books are ten times better than mine.”
There are people who like to look down their nose at ebooks, particularly ebooks priced at 99 cents, arguing that they must be rubbish, like so much of the other stuff on the Internet, and that no self-respecting publishing house would publish them. Well, such people are now having to eat copious amounts of humble pie, as John Locke has just signed a ground-breaking contract with Simon and Schuster under which he retains all of his eRights, something that is unheard of in the publishing world. Simon and Schuster won’t get a penny from the sale of any of his top-rated eBooks.
So what is the secret of John Locke’s success? After all there are lots of self-published authors that haven’t sold a million ebooks. First – he writes books people like to read. Second – he markets them via the Internet on Twitter and Facebook and the like, creating a lot of buzz and friends and snowballs etc…, third – he prices them low at 99 cents. It’s worth pointing out that Amanda Hocking, on the contrary, did very little marketing and she is also highly successful.
Many ebook authors prefer to price their books at $2.99 as you get 70% of the price as opposed to 35% for 99 cent books. John Locke, however, considers that 99 cents is enough. One exception to this 99 cent rule is his ebook – How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months! - in which he gives the low-down on his marketing method and no doubt a lot more if the reviews are anything to go by – but the price is $4.99. So if you are an aspiring ebook writer having trouble with the marketing side of the business then this book comes highly recommended by a lot of readers if you want to know how to make money from ebooks.
Ebooks are changing the face of publishing – if you want to get involved then it’s time to do it ! If you are a reader then there’s never been a more exciting time in publishing, as you can get to read novels that up until now were being ‘censored’ by economics. It’s worth bearing in mind too that some of the world’s greatest authors started off by publishing their own books.
