Indie Publishing - what you need to know

Make sure you have a critical eye review your work before you self-publish

The Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) put on a lot of great workshops and seminars, and today I attended 'Going Indie' hosted by a panel of experienced authors on the industry of self-pubblishing.

This was a great talk and there were a lot of tips, opportunities and concerns about the indie publishing industry raised. The speaker panel was made up with Sally Collings, author/editor/publisher, Graham Nunn, poet & blogger and Alan Baxter, author & karate instructor. There was a lot covered, but here's a short overview of the main points I picked up:

• Indie publishing, generally means independent of big business.
• The term self-publishing is not representative of the output professional writers produce. There is nothing 'self' about this process, the title suggests going it solo. I have to agree here. I fumbled through producing my own e-book, when I published the Australian edition of the paperback of My Zombie Dog, I utilised professional editors, graphic artists and printers. I consider Book Cover Cafe to be my go to team for the production of my books.
• Indie publishing can offer a faster turn around time from manuscript to printed book. This does not mean the author should rush the process. It's tempting to get your work out there quickly, but quality is more important than speed.
• Quality also costs. Think of your book as a start up business, you'll need capital. This is why some authors will persist with the traditional route, it is a relief to have someone else fund your idea, but then they will own a big chunk of your asset. The alternative is paying a professional team to assist you putting together your product and you pay for the printing. This does mean your share of the return will be higher.
• Choose an editor you can trust and believe in. 
• You are your own gatekeeper now. Just because you don't have a publishing house rejecting your work, doesn't mean you shouldn't reject it if it's not quite ready. Put out the best quality you can.
• Becoming an indie author does not mean turning your back on traditional publishing, different projects may call for different avenues, you might self-publish one project and accept a contract on another. Readers care about the product and the author, not the publisher.
• Having specific goals is important. Do you want to share samples of your poetry for free? Then maybe ebooks or photocopied pamphlets are the easiest, cheapest ways to do that. Set yourself goals to achieve, whether it's to produce a certain number of finished manuscripts in a year, or to build your connections in the industry or to learn more about publishing.
• Don't be shy. Writing communities are extremely welcoming and supportive. Start connecting with other bloggers and writers, you'll learn a lot about the industry. Join a writers group or start one up yourself, and attend industry seminars and workshops at your local writers centre.
• Contribute to the community you want to belong to. Buy and read in your genre, support other indie authors, read the publications that host the competitions you want to enter.
• Devote time to your craft every day.
• Get plenty of critical feedback.
• Build a visible presence online. You need a good solid website as a landing place for readers to find you.
• Once online, don't hard sell. If all you do is shout 'buy my book', you'll soon turn away your online buddies. Have something to offer back, even if it's just support for other authors.
• Don't limit your format. Graham Nunn has had his Haikus published on cans of lemonade in Japan and on Chinese fortune cookie inserts.

The main problem raised for Australian indie authors was distribution. It's extremely difficult to get your book into book stores. But as the industry of indie publishing grows, so may the reception from retailers. Exciting times.

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The Post-Rapture Post

Glad to see everyone got through the Rapture (surely that close call will have been enough of a warning to put a stop to my writing procrastinations?).

Yesterday I spent the proposed last day at a YA Workshop hosted by Jeni Mawter (check out her website for her books and writing tips). I'll blog more about that and my trip to Sydney later, but one thing I wanted to raise was this continuous conversation amongst writers about the role of traditional publishing, the gatekeepers and the self-publising options. Perhaps it was just Rapture for those gatekeepers? 

Until yesterday, my position on traditional publishing vs self-publishing for my own situation was that:

It is possible to produce a quality ebook and publish it on Amazon and like sites, you can even have paperback copies produced. The big if, is if you are prepared to put in a LOT of work. Once your book is written, it needs to be edited professionally or at least screened by many readers, until it is as good as you could possibly get it. Then you need great cover art, this is where I find a lot of self-publishers let their book down. You need an online presence and you need your ebook formatted. And of course you have to promote your book with your target market in mind. At least there are no query letters or synopsis' needed.

BUT. Being accepted by a publishing house will lift your status as a writer. There are still many people who are wary of self-publishing. As Jeni Mawter said in her workshop, the problem is there is too much white noise on Amazon, there needs to be a way to sort through the masses to find quality self-published books. This is starting to sort itself out with reviews and blogs to recommend books. The consumer may become the new gatekeeper and you'll have to work even harder to win them over. A publisher will do all the work to produce your product, and it will be available in Bookstores. That was my biggie. I was leaning towards traditional publishing because I loved the idea of seeing my book in a bookstore.

Now my stand is a little shaky. Jeni pointed out that bookstores are in serious trouble. We already knew about the Borders situation (or you can read my blog on Books without Borders). With the ebook outselling paper books, and the introduction of the book apps on iTunes, bookstores may not be the best location for selling books (this hurts), especially for debut writers. I LOVE bookstores, I know most of you LOVE bookstores, but eventually, we might not be enough to keep them :(

So now I'm immersing myself into research and opinions on the traditional publishing vs self-publishing options. Here's what I've found so far - what are your thoughts, or are you as uncertain as me?

The New York Times:

The Case for Self Publishing?

Nathan Bransford:

Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing: Which way will make you more money?

The Literary Analyst:

Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing (the pros and cons)

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