I've been talking to some writer friends about publishing choices in today's market. It occurred to me that while those in this business might understand why a writer may choose to self-publish, normal people may not understand. I thought I might try to explain why I chose to publish my book myself.
When I first decided to get my writing published, I had many of the same misconceptions you probably have. I thought self-publishing was something people did when they weren't talented enough to be accepted by a traditional publisher. I thought independently published books were poor quality, unedited, full of mistakes, and generally not worth reading. I was very wrong!
I noticed that several Indie books were becoming popular, and selling as good as traditionally published books. This made me start researching Indie book, and what I found surprised me. While there are some books that are everything I thought, most of them are as good or better quality than traditional books. I can name several traditional books that had lots of mistakes and were poorly edited. That really put things on an even playing field for me.
My book went through a great deal of editing and polishing to make it perfect for the readers. Well, it may not be perfect. After all I am only human, so I may have missed a punctuation or spelling mistake. It happens, no matter how the book is published. Humans do the editing and polishing in traditional publishing too. I can tell you that I did my best.
That is one big difference in Indie and traditional, I have to do all the work myself where a staff does the work in traditional publishing. At least I get to keep a little more of the profits because I'm not paying a staff. I also like having more control. I chose what my book would say inside, what it would look like outside, and even what size it would be. I am proud of the end results, and can honestly say "I did that!"
I hope I've changed any negative thoughts you had about Indie books. If any of you are thinking of trying it, I say go for it and good luck. Just know that it does take a lot of hard work to be an Indie writer. It is worth the effort.
When I first decided to get my writing published, I had many of the same misconceptions you probably have. I thought self-publishing was something people did when they weren't talented enough to be accepted by a traditional publisher. I thought independently published books were poor quality, unedited, full of mistakes, and generally not worth reading. I was very wrong!
I noticed that several Indie books were becoming popular, and selling as good as traditionally published books. This made me start researching Indie book, and what I found surprised me. While there are some books that are everything I thought, most of them are as good or better quality than traditional books. I can name several traditional books that had lots of mistakes and were poorly edited. That really put things on an even playing field for me.
My book went through a great deal of editing and polishing to make it perfect for the readers. Well, it may not be perfect. After all I am only human, so I may have missed a punctuation or spelling mistake. It happens, no matter how the book is published. Humans do the editing and polishing in traditional publishing too. I can tell you that I did my best.
That is one big difference in Indie and traditional, I have to do all the work myself where a staff does the work in traditional publishing. At least I get to keep a little more of the profits because I'm not paying a staff. I also like having more control. I chose what my book would say inside, what it would look like outside, and even what size it would be. I am proud of the end results, and can honestly say "I did that!"
I hope I've changed any negative thoughts you had about Indie books. If any of you are thinking of trying it, I say go for it and good luck. Just know that it does take a lot of hard work to be an Indie writer. It is worth the effort.
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