Self-publishing | featured news

Self-publishing is expanding beyond first-time writers who can’t get deals, as big names like the playwright and author David Mamet are choosing this route.

Amanda Hocking, the 26-year-old author who shot to fame by selling more than a million copies of her self-published books, has signed up with a traditional publisher for her next series.St. Martin’s Press, part of Macmillan, will publish Ms. Hocking’s “Watersong” series, four books in the young-adult paranormal genre.A heated auction for the rights to publish her books began early last week, and several major publishers, including Random House, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, dropped out as the price climbed into the seven figures.

A growing crowd of authors is finding an audience without a book deal and, in the process, taking some of the stigma out of self-publishing.