Happy weekend everyone!
Today's post is about what it means to be an indie author, both the good and the bad. Let's start with the good, shall we?
1. You get to be the first one to read every great new book that you write! (Okay, that's a little tongue in cheek so let's get a little more real.)
2. We have a wonderous outlet that provides the opportunity to go to different worlds and times at any moment we chose, and when the writing session is good, our hearts pound with the emotions of our characters. It is a very cathartic thing.
3. We get to provide others with an escape and the opportunity to go to different worlds and times. If our writing was good, their hearts pound with the emotions of our characters.
4. The sense of accomplishment upon finishing a novel is huge. While there are always the worries (to be discussed below) the enormity of what was just completed is fully gratifying.
5. As an indie, we have full control over our content, covers, sales channels...everything!
6. We belong to an incredible community of fellow authors that are as diverse as the world is large. No matter the situation, there is someone there to show support and give praise for your success and sympathy for a failure.
Okay, now the bad.
1. Writing a novel takes a lot of time and energy, sometimes taking away time that needs to be spent with others and doing other things. We have to strike a careful balance and take care not to lose sight of why we may have started writing in the first place, which for some, is to take care of our family.
2. Negative reviews. This is a hard thing for any author to swallow. EVERYONE will get one. Personally, when I began writing, I never thought about this. I really wanted to finish my book and put it out there for everyone to enjoy. It not once occured to me that not only would someone not like it, but they would post a review on it for the world to see! We learn to grow thick skins quickly. I know I did.
3. People making assumptions. This is a tough one for me as of late. I am a fantasy fiction author. I tell stories about people, places, and things. I do not write autobiographical fantasy!!!!!!! People taking an authors work as an indication of who that author is and what their intentions in life are have no concept of a true reality. Do any of my books get inspiration from my life? Of course. Are any of my books about me? Nope, though it would be awesome to have Test's abilities! Make sure that you check your assumptions. Remember the saying...
4. Promoting yourself and your work. This is a neverending and exhausting part of the job. As stated earlier, we indies are in charge of everything. That means that not only did we get to write the book, but now we have to market it! Yeah!!!!! Honestly, it's not a horrible thing. You just have to be careful not to fall into the same pitfall of time spent on the computer. Marketing can easily chew up the writing time that chews up the family time. It's a challenge.
5. One of the worst things, in my opinion, is the fact that there are a lot of people that won't even give your work a chance simply because you are not traditionally published. With the price of e-books, I've been able to buy a bunch of books, all of them indie, and find some great new authors out there!
Well that's about all I have for now. This was very spontaneous so if any of my author friends have anything to add, please do so! Take care everyone and I hope that you have a fantastic weekend!
Sincerely,
J.M.
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