Happy Author
From my posts you may have seen that I’m an indie author who self-publishes her books.
And I’m proud of it.
Yes, sometimes I see things that make me cringe. Yesterday, I was pointed to a book (which shall remain nameless) that was obviously, painfully, badly indie.
– The cover was gruesome.
– There was a glaring error in the first sentence of the description.
– The copyright notice looked utterly unprofessional.
– More errors in the first few paragraphs, disjointed writing, and headhopping.
– And yes, it was free.
Now, the fact that this particular author hit “publish” on Amazon KDP doesn’t make me proud. But what I like is that he or she had the option to do so.
The biggest part of being an indie author is freedom.
Freedom to write what we want.
You see, I have a friend who wrote a great historical novel – set in Egypt. No publisher would touch it. She wrote another novel set in the middle ages, and they loved it. That’s where the market was, they said, and gave her a contract. And asked her to write more of the same.
I can write what I love. I can write stories that make my heart sing – and I believe that such stories will find readers that connect with it.
Freedom to do our own marketing.
There is one novel I wrote that I don’t have control over. The marketing makes me cry. It doesn’t sell. To me, it’s a wasted novel, which is a shame because I also happen to think it’s a good one.
If I could, I would change everything about that novel, but most of all the price and the description. Control is very important.
Freedom to create awesome book descriptions.
Book descriptions are what makes a potential reader either buy outright or “look inside”. A great book description is the the best prep for a sale. And as indie authors who are responsible for every aspect of our books, we can tweak them until the do their job.
Freedom to be professional.
I believe this one is key.
You see, as indies, we don’t have to follow everything that traditional publishers do, but we can take those parts of their business that work, and find our own ways to do them at least as well – or better.
– Get editing.
– Get a professional cover.
– Invest in marketing.
And then there are things we can do even better than traditional publishers.
– Create a professional presence on social media.
– Own our webspace and presentation.
– Connect with readers and create fans.
The choice is ours. And believe every indie author should choose to be as professional as possible.
– Write the best book you possibly can.
– Write what you love, with heartblood.
– Make your book show up as professional as possible.
– Learn everything you can about publishing.
Yes, I’m proud to be an indie author.
Your Turn:
What do you think about indie authors? What are your experiences?
Image source: F. Moebius
PS: If you like my books, please consider writing a review. It doesn’t have to be complicated or long. You don’t have to explain what the book is about. Just let people know what you enjoyed about the story.
