POV Author Services
Maggie Lynch formed this company in 2014 as a platform for in-person workshops to help writers understand and effectively use technology in their author business. She taught eight workshops each year and had two other guest instructors with unique expertise that taught three other workshops. The workshops ranged from half-days to full days and one that lasted two days over a weekend. It made it easy for authors who worked during the week or had family responsibilities to attend. The workshops ran for about two years by which point Maggie had tapped out the local pool of writers who were willing and able to do in-person workshops. At the same time, Maggie’s career was taking off as she reached her eighth fiction publication. POV Author Services stopped teaching courses but still did a few concierge services for the authors she had already worked with.
In 2019, Maggie redesigned POV Author Services to take advantage of the virtual course options available. The company is still focused on helping authors. But now with new technologies for live online courses and coaching/mentoring, she is not limited to those who can travel to the Pacific Northwest and meet in person.
We now offer:
- Courses taught over Zoom in small groups of 4 to 7 participants, with lots of supplemental material to help you remember and implement what you learn. Read more about our course philosophy and special group pricing to see if it fits your needs.
- Individual Coaching for those who want someone to take you from where you are today to where you need to go next, sign up for individual coaching. This is done by the hour. You can schedule one hour whenever you need it, or schedule a package of several hours to check-in throughout the year. Each coaching plan is unique and tailored to your individual needs. No sharing Maggie with other people. If your problem is something she can’t help you with, she will let you know and there will be no cost. Instead she will refer you to other people who can help.
Maggie the Teacher
Maggie the Writer
I’ve been getting my stories, articles, books, and novels published for over forty years. I’ve lost count of the hundreds of articles and short stories that were published between 1980 and 2004. In 2004 I began pursing a career as a novelist. Before leaving Academia I wrote and published four nonfiction books and six novels. I currently have a total of 26 books in publication and four novels in development across three series.
In 2011, I tried an experiment which led me to become an independent author and publisher. I published two novels that year, one with a traditional publisher and one self-published. I did more marketing for the traditionally-published novel than the self-published one because I thought my publisher could build on my efforts. But the results in sales showed that my self-published novel made three times more money in that first year.
That difference was both in units sold and in my personal net income. Certainly, part of the income difference was simply the royalty rates; 25% of ebook and 6% of print for traditional vs. 65% for ebook and between 10% and 40% for self-published print. However, I realized I was a better marketer than my publisher and I was definitely much more interested in my career than they were. Traditional publisher interest in an author lasts approximately three months after a book launch. They are always focused on the latest release and their bestsellers. I understand that, but I am focused on my career and I do not partner with companies that have such a short attention span for me. I’m here for the long-term. That experiment was the proof I needed to transition to becoming an independent author.
This doesn’t mean I am anti-traditional publishing. For myself, I think a hybrid career is the best choice. That is some books are best indie published while others benefit significantly from a traditional publishing approach. I do believe there are certain types of books that benefit from traditional publishing–specifically children’s books from picture books to middle grade, and some younger YA books. This is because good children’s book publishers have significant contacts with schools and libraries they can exploit, which is where most of those books are sold. The same applies to certain types of literary fiction and most topic-specific nonfiction where the author has a significant platform or well-known expertise. Traditional publishing still has the best network for getting books into libraries, schools, and bookstores. Indies can do that, but the amount of work it takes and constant networking either is very costly (to pay someone else to do it) or very time consuming if one chooses to do it themselves.