Indie-Pendence Day Q&A

Q: What is an Indie?
A:  It’s when your belly button doesn’t stick out.  Ha!  Just kidding.  Indie is short for Independent Author.  Or Indiana Jones, but I think you spell that with a –y, i.e. Indy.

Q: Why celebrate Independent Authors?
A: Because supporting an Indie Author is supporting small business.  These are talented entrepreneurs, creating high-quality books and selling them at competitive prices.  It’s what readers should be looking for, to be honest.  Indie authors are enterprising people starting up their own businesses...It's the American way!  Celebrating their efforts around the 4th of July makes perfect sense.

Q: But don’t all self-published books suck?
A: No, they don’t all suck.  Far from it.  While self-publishing is a process of making an e-book available, or working with a POD (print on-demand) publisher, and Indie Authors do self-publish in this sense, I see a difference between the stigmatic "self-published books" and being an Indie Author.

Indie Authors don’t work alone; self-publishers do it all themselves (hence the name). Self-publishers self-edit, often rushing to publication with a first draft of a first novel.  While there are many horrible self-published books out there, there are even more great novels by talented new Indie authors (including those who publish through small presses). Indies solicit expertise from peers and/or professionals to hone their writing, from grammar and line edits to character, plot, and pacing; they care deeply about the quality of their writing.  It’s the dedication to the craft that is enabling Indie Authors to create a new perception of quality in the market.    

Q: Aren’t you an Indie Author?
A: Yes, but this isn’t about me.  This is about the entire community of Indie writers and the readers who support them.  While I would love for more people to read my books, I want to recommend two Indie authors whose books I read an enjoyed:

Travis Erwin’s semi-memoir The Feedstore Chronicles is a fictionalized account of his coming-of-age, set around his high school job in the Texas panhandle.  It’s laugh-out-loud funny, and funny doesn’t come easy.  Sure, some of the humor is crude.  Okay, pretty much all of the humor is crude.  There are a couple scenes that make fart jokes seem like church talk, one involving a bulldog.  But it is funny, and it’s the voice with which Travis describes the awkward situations that makes the narrative so compelling.  His writing is natural, witty, and full of heart.

Anita Laydon Miller has independently published two books, Earthling Hero and A Scary Good Book and is currently working on a new YA novel with agent representation.  Her stories are perfect for middle-grade readers, with characters they can relate to.  She has a good sense for writing action and suspense, in A Scary Good Book, especially…It’s as good as any Hardy Boys or Three Investigators book I read as a kid.  Anita is finishing courses in pursuit of her MFA degree, I expect her future works to keep getting better and better.

The History of E-Books and The Future of Self-Publishing

E-Books and self-publishing have an interesting history.  They have an even more interesting future.

The first edition Kindle was released on November 19, 2007.  Other devices followed suit (e.g. Nook, Kobo, iPad, etc.).  Publishers and the buying public were slow to accept E-Readers, though. 

And for good reason.

In addition to the expenses (and bugs) associated with early-generation E-Readers, content was an issue.  Publishers treated E-Books as second-rate, releasing them long after print books were published, so content was either unavailable or old news.  E-Books were viewed as sales cannibals and had to be properly isolated in the market...you know, squash the competition.  (NOTE: It's The American Way.)

Rather than embrace the transition to digital media for what it's worth, it looks like the publishers resisted the move in every way possible.  E-Books were created by scanning print copies, and they came out with so many errors you'd think publishers screwed up the typesetting intentionally out of spite.  Not to mention the rights-management nightmare authors (and agents) faced.

While publishers dragged their heels, slowly and obstinately venturing into the E-Book market like a child being forced to eat a plate of cold Brussels sprouts, self-publishers have embraced the medium, learning its ins and outs and providing content that has quality competitive to traditionally published books. 

In the meantime, E-Readers took hold with consumers.

Earlier this year, news broke that Amazon.com sold 105 E-Books for every 100 print books.  While E-Books account for only 14% of all general consumer fiction and non-fiction (according to Forrester Research), it is clear that they are on the rise...although it is also clear that print is not dead.

But that market is changing, too.

Print-on-demand (POD) services like Lulu have been around for many years (since 2002 in Lulu's case).  Authors were limited in how they could use them, though.  Publishers had a lock on distribution, there was no other way to get into a major bookstore or library.  Vanity projects dominated the self-publishing market.  In order to sell copies, authors had to find ways to get copies in front of people on their own.  Marketing options were limited and sales were low or non-existent.

Then, one of the world's foremost booksellers, Amazon.com, opened its doors to self-publishers.  We could now get our books on shelves (albeit virtual shelves).  Companies like CreateSpace (owned by Amazon.com) offer print-on-demand with a slew of additional services, ranging from interior and cover design, to access to an expanded distribution network—i.e. the wholesalers who sell to libraries and bookstores.

Many talented writers have embraced self-publishing.  Some—Barry Eisler and J.K. Rowling, for example—stepping away from lucrative contracts, and others—like John Locke and Amanda Hocking—starting out on their own and finding success.

I think the future is bright for self-published authors.  We are on the forefront of the E-Book market, embracing it faster and deeper than publishers and since we are individuals, we are each able to maneuver faster.

We can also mobilize, and find strength in our numbers.  Add in the power of social networking, and marketing your work becomes much more dynamic (and affordable, with the primary investment being time).

Don't let anyone tell you "Don't try to self-publish...you're not [INSERT NAME FROM ABOVE] and can't expect their success.  Traditional publishing is still your only real option."

You're not one of those people, and shouldn't try to be.  Be yourself.  And write the best book you can.  If it's really good, and if you work hard, you will find your audience.

#