First off, let me say that if you want to be traditionally published, that’s fine. This is my opinion for myself only.
It drives me nuts that indie authors aren’t as respected as traditionally published authors. To be clear, self-publishing is not the same as a vanity press. Vanity presses take your money in order to publish your book. You should be paid for your writing, not the other way around.
It’s been said that indie authors publish garbage. Yes, there are people who write their stories and—without any real effort to edit or, better yet, hire an editor—toss their works online and proudly proclaim they’re a published author.
Ugh. On the other hand, we’ve all read traditionally published books that should never have seen the light of day, so I’m unsure why indie books get so much flack.
When I finally decided to take the step, I knew I had the background to deal with it. I was an in-house production editor, editor, copy editor, and proofreader for years, and my writers’ group consists of four other editors. My work gets scrutinized and I’m a better writer because of it.
What I don’t know, I hire out. I have no background in cover art, so I paid an artist who also knew digital publishing to create a cover for me.
And since I decided that I wanted my novel to be available in paperback as well as e-book, the formatting for the paperback was done by a fellow writer and editor. The trick is knowing my limitations. I do know how to format for e-book and though my marketing efforts need to be stepped up (really, whose don’t?), I’m happy to be publishing on my own timeline.
And yet, I’ve run into situations where people take a step back when they discover I’m an indie author, as if I’m not a real published author.
The only solution I can see is to keep writing, keep editing, and keep putting the best work I’m capable of in front of an audience when it’s ready.
Which should be the criteria for every writer, don’t you think?
*Photo by lil_foot_ (Pixabay)
