To be an indie author now - is to be a joke

9:00 pm 4 March 2017

To be an indie author now - is to be a joke

This is my canned interview (you ask the questions and you answer them) on Smashwords, one of the self-publishing sites where my books are available https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/raglin

Anyway, I finally updated it and thought you might want to take a look at it. It begins with this question:

What motivated you to become an indie author?

I became an indie author because I couldn't get traditional publishers to publish my work.

That probably is the reason most writers became indie authors.

I published my first novel, Saving Spirit Bear in 2010 with an E-publisher after my attempts with traditional publishing houses had failed. At that time E-Book publishers were on the rise, hungry for content and they were eager for at least two more books from me.

Over the next two years they published Loving the Terrorist and Mad Maggie and the Mystery of the Ancients to complete my ECO-WARRIOR series.

Environmental fiction (Eco-fi) proved not to be a big seller with them, their catalogue being geared more to erotica, werewolves, vampires, and erotic werewolves and vampires. My stories were contemporary romances with a subplots that addressed an important environmental issue.

Since sales were not exactly stellar with my E-publisher and my contract with them was restrictive as to how I could promote these books I decided to investigate self-publishing for my next novel, The Big Picture - A Camera, A Young Woman, An Uncompromising Ethic if my attempts at acquiring a traditional publisher failed.

They did, and so I became an indie author.

Since then I have self-published three more novels: Forest - Love, Loss, Legend, Abandoned Dreams and The Local Rag and two plays: Harry's Truth and End of the Rope. When my contract ended with my E-publisher I yanked my first three novels and re-released them as self-published works.

Have they done better? No, but they haven't done worse and it's been more fun.

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT BEING AN INDIE AUTHOR?

Glad you asked. I can offer promotions, sales, giveaways - I have total control over marketing my work. No sales, but still total control. And I like the creative aspect of publishing - the page design, the cover design, choosing fonts, all that stuff.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT BEING AN INDIE AUTHOR?

There are now too many of us and unfortunately most of us don't write well, and that's putting it mildly. So for you, the reader, it's almost impossible to tell if an indie author is worth reading or just a waste of $3.99 (the price of my e-books).

I know this because I make a point of reviewing the work of indie authors (see my YouTube channel Not Your Friend, Not Your Family Book Reviews)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH45n8K4BVmT248LBTpfARQ

This is frustrating not only for you but for me and it's only going to get worse. With no gatekeepers and so many sites making it easy for anyone to publish anything, self-published, indie authors have lost all credibility.

To be an indie author now is to be a joke.

This state of affairs has made me rethink my role as an author - indie or otherwise.

I love to write, I love the research that goes into developing my characters, plots and settings, but I also want to connect to readers. The likelihood of this happening, of making this connection with readers in any significant way for an indie author is virtually nil.

After seven years, and seven novels and two plays I'm going back to the old fashion way. I submitted my last manuscript, East Van Saturday Night - Four short stories and a Novella to a traditional publisher and am now waiting for a response. If I get rejected, and I likely will, I'll send it to another one, and another one and so on.

I don't need to self publish to enjoy the writing and the research and this method of getting my work out there is not fulfilling my other need - connecting to you, the reader, in a meaningful way.

So it's back to the future for this author.

Stay calm, be brave, watch for the signs.

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