As an avid reader, access to books and reading material is paramount. We don’t often think about who the author is, where the publisher is based and much the author might be earning from the book. For Kriti, the world of independent works opened up when she became as book blogger and joined the writing community on Twitter. For Ariel, it was much the same — the world of indie authors was introduced as she began to familiarize herself with the bookish sides of Twitter.
Through #ArmedWithABingo, we wanted to increase awareness about independent authors and small press who are involved in encouraging distribution of books and encourage anyone who has the passion to be a writer to become published. To help our lovely reading community in finding some indie reads, we asked the writing community to share their works. Below is a list of some indie books that you can consider for the prompt. A number of these books will be part of our quarterly giveaways, so there is also the opportunity for you to leave them for later in the year. 🙂
We also wanted to help share some information about who an indie author is. For that reason, we have invited SKaeth to help build some foundation about this concept, if you don’t know about it already.
What does it mean to be an indie author?
An indie author is simply someone who is independent from the traditional publishing houses. They may be a small press, or they may be self-published, or even do web serials (which may or may not later be sold as books). While some people may nitpick about small press’s classification with indie, to my mind they still fit.
How does one become an indie author?
It’s so easy and so very hard. There are multiple paths: an author may submit their story to small presses and get picked up that way. They may have more or less control over the editing and cover design, and they may get some help with marketing. Another path I’ve seen people take is to serialize their books, releasing a chapter at a time on a schedule. Sometimes these authors then sell the completed book at the end (they may get paid during the serialization at times, as well – MB Dalto is a great person to ask about that as I believe she recently was paid by Wattpad for a story).
And then of course there’s the self-publishing path, where the author writes, edits, formats, etc their story and then publishes the finished product. On the one hand, anyone can put their story up for sale. On the other hand, it’s really hard to succeed, too, and it can be difficult to put in all that work as well as money for editing, cover art, and marketing and hope it’ll work out.
What are the positives and negatives of being an indie author?
Every indie author is going to have their own pros and cons that they’ve seen as well as their own driving reasons for choosing this path. They might run the gamut from creative control, shorter time to release, higher royalties, retaining all rights, exploring niche topics, creating and connecting with a community of fans, etc.
I think the biggest draw is the freedom and the control. Indie authors might experiment with styles or elements that are not trending or that they think wouldn’t work in a traditional publishing path. They get to find their own editor to work with and have the final say with when their story is done. They get to find and work with their own artist on the cover and get a lot of control every step of the way, from word count and characterizations to what’s on the cover art and how the book is marketed.
The biggest negatives are probably the lowered systematic support. It might be hard to get into bookstores and libraries. Any costs for the book (editing, formatting, cover art, marketing)–unless a small press is paying for these things–are shouldered by the author. You don’t get an advance like a traditionally published author does. Instead, especially with self-publishing, you’re investing in a product with the hope that sales will then at least break even.
The other negative that a lot of us run into (if not all of us) is the stigma: that somehow our books are lesser or we would have gone the traditional route. That somehow indie books aren’t as high quality as traditionally published books. Indie books can be just as polished as traditionally published books, and I see no reason to compare the two. Different paths are right for different authors (and some authors choose multiple paths: they might traditionally publish one book and self publish another, for instance), and to me it’s as simple as that.
The Indie Community
We asked, they answered! Here are some reasons why indie authors began their journey of authorship independently:
I wanted to preserve the integrity of my characters and several agents I talked to wanted me to make some major changes I wasn’t alright with. I also like having control over my story and the length of the series
Holly Ash
I have so many stories trying to spill out of my head, and I don’t have the patience for query letters and the wait traditional publishing requires.
R Coots
I joined with a new and upcoming small press, Uproar Books. I love the idea of being indie and ultimately having the control to write what I want, but at the same time I knew nothing about self-publishing and marketing, so I needed someone to ease me in! Choosing a new and relatively unknown small press was a risk, but I saw it as an adventure and a chance to build something fresh and exciting.
Trudie Skies
I loved the idea of the freedom of it, and I still do! I also love the business side. And the community is incredible—though I learned that later 🙂
Kate Sheeran Swed
I became an indie author because I love writing. I wanted to share my passion without every word getting sucked up into a void for years at a time. The community welcomed me with open arms!
Alyson Tait
My agent of 15 years was unable to place my novels with publishing houses.
Jay Spencer Green
Some Indie Reads (giveaways in bold)
Fantasy
- Bernard Bertram’s Orcblood Legacy: Honor
- Raven Corinn Carluk’s Nomycha
- Stephen Zimmer’s Heart of a Lion
- Patrick Alan Tuttle’s Minerva Atramentous, Necromancer
- Tao Wong’s A Thousand Li: The First Step
- Trudie Skies’s Sand Dancer
- Phoebe Ritter’s Daughter of the Zel
- S. Kaeth’s Windward
- Halo Scot’s Edge of the Breach
Science Fiction
- J.D. Sanderson’s A Footstep Echo
- Matthew Samuels’s Parasites
- Holly Ash’s Crystal and Flint
- R Coots’s Devour the Stars
- Kate Sheeran Swed’s Parting Shadows
- Alyson Tait’s Prisoner of the Deep
- Anna Bowman’s Black Recluse
Non-Fiction
- Ken Johnson’s A Quick Guide to Archetypes & Allegory
Mystery
- Alex Micati’s Capital Murders
Satire
- Jay Spencer Green’s Breakfast at Cannibal Joe’s
Poetry
- Camilla Downs’s Words of Alchemy
Hope you find some interesting reads and get some ideas for books you would like to win in the giveaways or add to your TBR on goodreads. More information on that coming mid-February.
Have not joined the #ArmedWithABingo yet? Sign ups are open until the 15th March!
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