“When I grow up, I wanna be an Author.” I actually said this many times when I was a little guy, after reading some of the masterpieces of Jack London, Mark Twain, George Steinbeck, and more. (Yeah, I am that old. Scary, huh). But, as an adult, I soon learned that what I thought was an author was just the image of someone who writes stories. It didn’t include all of the “business” side of the industry that varies whether one is a traditionally published Author or what we refer to as an Independent Author , or Indie.
The reality that I’ve come to know too well is that an Author either has to be prepared to spend days, weeks, months and sometimes years querying professional agents in the hope they will see fit to represent our book to a publisher, and then working hand in foot with the publishing house staff rewriting and editing until they feel the product is worthy of publication. In many cases this can take more than a few years, especially if one is a new author.
Then, the publisher might own certain specific rights of the book in return for what is called an advance on royalties. For new authors, this is usually a small amount of money. Once the sales for the book reach anough to pay back the advance, the author might see some ongloing royalties. Sometimes not.
Unlike decades ago, publishers will do some monir promotion in the form of sending lists of booke under their brand, to select lists of sellers, libraries, bookstores, then promotional book clubs and print sources like the New York Times. It falls on the author to do whatever promotion that they can do to incease sales.
In the case of an Indie, There is usually no agent, no publisher, and no staff editors. All of this must be performed by the writer and any third-party support they can afford to hire on a job basis. The Indie usually will have their work made available for sale through any number of online Print On Demand (POD) sources like Amazon or Ingram Sparks.
Once the book is available via POD services, it falls on the Author to promote the book. There are many ways to go about this process: Online Ads, Social Media marketing, Email marketing, Book Clubs, Book Signings, Trade Shows (direct sales) and more.
But it’s for certain that the Indie Path is factors more difficult than and often less financially rewarding that the traditional publishing path. So, you might ask, why be an Indie Author? The answer for me, at least, is as follows: I write to tell stories. I have many stories to tell. Would I love a traditional publishing deal? Probably, yes. Am I willing and able to wait five years for some publisher to finally say “yes” and put my books out on the market? Nope. Age, tolerance, and my stubbornness make that path the wrong one for me. So, I am an Author, Editor, Business Manager, Marketer, and the guy who has to clean up my office every once in a while. And I love what I do.
