INDEPENDENT AUTHOR OF REVOLTING TALES storms hollywood

C.D. Payne is a self-publishing success story. His 1995 introductory novel Youth in Revolt, recently debuted as a riotous movie of the same name, at a surprising #9 for its first weekend rankings. But like most Hollywood fables, the real story is a long, winding road to a happy ending. From self publishing to traditional, and back again, Payne ultimately selected Infinity Publishing to continue his feisty Nick Twisp coming of age series, in books five and six.

INDEPENDENT AUTHOR OF “REVOLTING” TALES storms Hollywood

C.D. Payne’s Youth in Revolt series continues, published by Infinity Publishing

January 18, 2010 — C.D. Payne is a self-publishing success story. His 1995 introductory novel Youth in Revolt, recently debuted as a riotous movie of the same name, at a surprising #9 for its first weekend rankings. But like most Hollywood fables, the real story is a long, winding road to a happy ending. From self publishing to traditional, and back again, Payne ultimately selected Infinity Publishing to continue his feisty Nick Twisp coming of age series, in books five and six.

Youth in Revolt is a fusion of Payne’s first three books in the sexy, humorously edgy Nick Twisp journals. Since sneak previews began in December 2009, Nick Twisp fans have more than tripled sales of his randy romps, says Infinity Publishing’s vice president, Mark Gregory.

Alerted to escalating sales by Amazon, “If the rest of January mirrors the first two weeks,” said Gregory, “Young and Revolting: The Continental Journals of Nick Twisp (book five) stands to sell five times as many copies as it did in November.” Book six, Revoltingly Young: The Journals of Nick Twisp’s Younger Brother is no slouch in sales, either, says Gregory, as it trails Young and Revolting by a slim margin.

Youth in Revolt, although a mainstream publication today, was originally self published. Payne returned to independent publishing to continue Twisp’s salacious saga, so he can more freely manage future creative rights. In a spark of his protagonist’s rebel mores, Payne’s choice reflects many serious authors’ attitudes as they defect from traditional publishing, in view of the industry’s current shape-shifting.

Book-to-movie deals are scarce, even for mainstream authors, and rarely is the author involved in the scriptwriting; so as an independent author, Payne was pleased to find much of the movie’s script faithfully followed the book’s dialogue, which may be a factor in its instant success—by capitalizing on the series’ fourteen years of loyal readers who have followed Nick Twisp from bedroom to bedlam.

“I was always skeptical,” said Payne, when asked about the accuracy of book-to-movie. “I think it was rather a miracle that they could make a movie out of such a long book, with so many characters. It retained a lot of the book, and the movie makes sense all the way through.”

A free December preview of the movie on the Berkeley campus nearly caused a “youth revolt” itself, when approximately 2,000 movie-goers arrived, to fill a 700-capacity auditorium theater. This type of following could make C.D. Payne a radical poster child for self-published authors, in much the same way Nick Twisp has become this year’s geeky guy hero.

C.D. Payne’s Youth in Revolt series continues in books five and six, available at Infinity Publishing’s e-commerce site, Buy Books on the Web (bbotw.com). Infinity Publishing has more than 6,000 titles in print. For more information, contact LinDee Rochelle, 858.292.5288, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call toll free, 877-289-2665.