I indie-publish because I
like the control and speed. Traditional publishing is far too controlling and works
at a glacial pace. I know because I've been traditionally published. Still am. The
large print and audio versions of my books are traditionally published with advances. Which brings up a third reason I like indie-publishing—control over the various rights to
my work. (Anyone interested in a musical?)
There is a lot of misinformation about indie-publishing, so here
is my feeble attempt at myth-busting.
1. Indie-publishing is a
path to wealth
I once owned a tee shirt illustrated with a bum holding a
sign that read, “Please help, employed writer.” Except for a select few,
writing has never been a lucrative profession. In recent years, there has been
a wave of books about how you can sell a gazillion eBooks and soon be doing a
Scrooge McDuck dive into a money pool. Not likely … unless you write a book about eBooks being an easy path to wealth. It’s difficult to produce a book thousands
want to read, and real wealth won't come until you find hundreds of
thousands of fans. However, if you are creative and hardworking, writing can
provide a nice supplement to a day job.
2. Publishing an e-book is
free
You can electronically post a book for free, but it would not
be published in a professional sense of the word. You need editing and probably
professional formatting. The good news is that formatting is relatively
inexpensive. The bad news is that editing costs about two cents a word, and proofreading another penny. Do the
math. If you choose to proceed without editing and formatting, myth #1 comes
into play.
3. Price your book at 99
cents and you’ll sell a million
The primary marketing task for an indie-author is to stand
out from the crowd … and right now the crowd looks bigger than the population
of Cairo. For one brief moment you could stand on the shoulders of all the
other indie-authors by promoting your book for 99¢ or free. Not anymore. Now low cost
books have to figure out how to stand out from the low cost crowd … and if they
succeed, they still won’t make serious money. For the most part, this is a yesteryear
strategy.
4. Giving a book away will
build a sustaining platform
A free book promotion can generate immediate downloads, but it
does not build a sustaining platform. The book will fall back into historic sales
patterns soon after the free promotion ends. Free promotions must be done over
and over again with each promotion having less impact. And there is no long
term advantage. Free book groupies are fans of free books, not specific authors.
There is money to be made with free book promotions, but they do not build
author platforms.
5. You can easily use
social media to build huge sales
The words easily
and huge ruin #5. Promoting a book
with social media is hard work, and more important, it must be thoughtful.
There is so much hype flying around that whatever you post is quickly dismissed unless the
content provides useful information or has an element of cleverness. Huge sales
may result from working social media, but only after an extended period of
consistent and thoughtful postings. Social media is great, but it is not an
easy path to sales.
6. Amazon needs me—Amazon owes me
Amazon is not your servant. Amazon is a marketplace.
In the Amazon marketplace, Amazon makes the rules. Whenever
you chafe at the rules, ask yourself where you would sell your book without
Amazon. There are a number of alternatives, but all of them combined do not approach
the clout of Amazon. Besides, without Amazon, those alternatives would be less accommodating
to indie-authors. Amazon is the single biggest reason there is an indie-publishing
revolution.
7. E-book formatting is a
piece of cake
Narrative books can be uploaded with very little special
handling. It’s still not a good idea. Any little format glitch distracts the
reader from being transported to another place and time. It ruins the magic. If
your book is worth hours upon hours of someone’s time, it is worth careful
formatting for each brand of eReader. Do it right, or have it done by a
professional.
8. Print Books are Dead
Many indie-authors were drawn to eBooks because they grew up
in a digital age and believe the physical world is unreal. Not true. Most readers
prefer a physical book or read both formats. Even eBook enthusiasts often check to
see if there is a print format before buying. Why? Because it means the author
is serious and believes in his work. Like it or not, printed books lend
credibility to eBooks.
9. Networking with other
indie-publishers will help build sales
There are many reasons to network with indie-authors, but
sales is not one of them. Other indie-authors may share tips, but they’re not
great buyers of other indie-author books. When you social network, don’t get
sucked into spending all of your precious time chatting it up with other
writers. Go find readers.
10. Everyone has a book in
them
Most people don’t. Not even one. Every successful writer writes.
They don’t think about it, they do it. Just because indie-publishing has become
feasible for the masses doesn’t mean everyone should be pounding away on a keyboard.
Some people are better off expressing their creativity in another venue. Here
is an easy test to see if you’re a writer. Do you enjoy writing? Is it
something you can’t wait to get back to? If you think of writing as work, you’re
probably not a writer. Writers love to write.