Indie publishers know their writing is a business. Many indies have learned business, marketing, taxes, estate planning, etc. Some are making 5 or 6 figures a month. They can write what they want, as fast as they want. They hire editors and book cover designers. They can run kickstarters. They get to make more than .25 for a book sold. Y…
Indie publishers know their writing is a business. Many indies have learned business, marketing, taxes, estate planning, etc. Some are making 5 or 6 figures a month. They can write what they want, as fast as they want. They hire editors and book cover designers. They can run kickstarters. They get to make more than .25 for a book sold. You don’t have to put up with draconian contract terms. You can keep your rights to your own work. You can even start a website and sell ebooks and print books directly! But learning all this is daunting and hard. And your MFA teacher and those insane French literary “thinkers” might not approve of that messy dirty business stuff so writers can’t be bothered to learn it.
The best thing about all of the above? It’s really fun and challenging! I swear!
These are exciting times for writers!
I am a (self taught) book cover designer. I would be happy to design a cover for someone for free. No charge at all. I would love to help. 🥰
I chose to self-publish for many of the reasons you listed--but mostly to keep control of my own stories. I write young adult fantasy, and this is kind of the epicenter of agents/editors who are into queer elves in prison. I'd rather die than have any of these people start demanding changes to my stories.
But there's no doubt it's hard going. There's a lot to learn, and you have to be in it for the long haul. Quick, easy success is not a thing I've experienced at all.
I am still learning the indie publishing business, definitely. Mostly, I enjoy it even when it’s hard and confusing.
Queer elves in prison made me laugh. I remember some truly vicious and sociopathic behavior from a group referred to as YA Twitter a few years ago. Ugh.
Indie publishers know their writing is a business. Many indies have learned business, marketing, taxes, estate planning, etc. Some are making 5 or 6 figures a month. They can write what they want, as fast as they want. They hire editors and book cover designers. They can run kickstarters. They get to make more than .25 for a book sold. You don’t have to put up with draconian contract terms. You can keep your rights to your own work. You can even start a website and sell ebooks and print books directly! But learning all this is daunting and hard. And your MFA teacher and those insane French literary “thinkers” might not approve of that messy dirty business stuff so writers can’t be bothered to learn it.
The best thing about all of the above? It’s really fun and challenging! I swear!
These are exciting times for writers!
I am a (self taught) book cover designer. I would be happy to design a cover for someone for free. No charge at all. I would love to help. 🥰
I chose to self-publish for many of the reasons you listed--but mostly to keep control of my own stories. I write young adult fantasy, and this is kind of the epicenter of agents/editors who are into queer elves in prison. I'd rather die than have any of these people start demanding changes to my stories.
But there's no doubt it's hard going. There's a lot to learn, and you have to be in it for the long haul. Quick, easy success is not a thing I've experienced at all.
I don't mind books about queer elves in prison. I mind that they won't publish anything else.
I am still learning the indie publishing business, definitely. Mostly, I enjoy it even when it’s hard and confusing.
Queer elves in prison made me laugh. I remember some truly vicious and sociopathic behavior from a group referred to as YA Twitter a few years ago. Ugh.