Calling all creatives: Writers, artists, musicians, people who create and have lively imaginations–do you want to take charge of your books and your work? I do. I want to own my creative life from beginning to end. I came to it through experiences I’ll describe below.I became an indie because publishers have their own ideas of what will sell, and collaborating with them can be rocky, but emerging models of self-publishing offer a wealth of possibilities.
When the creative energy flows through you, it feels sacred and precious. To hand it over to a company is like taking your toddler for her first day in preschool—right but somehow wrong too. Publishers don’t necessarily share your vision, nor are they as kindly motivated as a preschool teacher. The profit motive can get in the way of art.
I began self-publishing in 2018, after an unfortunate experience with a small press. I was nervous at first, but have been happy ever since. I remember the happy day I got my rights back to my first novel, The Renaissance Club. Long story short, the small press company that bought my rights and published my book was stealing royalties from authors. Like many a small publishing company, they focused on gaining new authors and producing their debut novels, only to falsify (and delay) royalty reports while giving little support to the books they’d published six or eight months earlier. A scam, basically.
A small group of us banded together to expose the fraudulent practices and get our copyrights back to re-publish our books. I commissioned a new cover, having never been happy with the cheap cover design the publisher offered, with no alternative designs offered. I had it edited again. I studied book marketing for self-published authors, took a big breath, and released it on Amazon. It’s now the first book in my Timegathering series and continues to sell well.
Freedom! With a lot of work on my part, work that continues. If I don’t promote my books, no one else will. But that would have been true if I’d stayed with my publisher. I just would have made much less money.
My Role Models — Taylor Swift & Other Indie Authors
Long after I decided to go indie with my books, I found a spectacular role model in Taylor Swift. She found the courage to stand up for the sacred integrity of her work and persevered, despite being pilloried in the press a few cultural moments ago. But that seemed to fuel her determination. And now she’s a self-made billionaire who as of May 30 owns all her rights and determines her own direction. She continues to inspire me to believe in myself. I don’t expect to hit the bestseller list the way Taylor has hit the charts. But I do cherish having an audience for my stories.
It was a long journey to publish my first novel, and I was thwarted in several phases of it, including a year-long back-and-forth with a literary agent about The Renaissance Club. Everyone thought that after so many editing passes, they’d sign me. But no. I did more querying and finally decided I didn’t want to spend the time and agony in pursuing traditional publishing. I want to decide what to write next and how to present it. So I take heart from Taylor’s example. It requires belief in what I’m doing. When a reader writes to me that s/he enjoyed my book, I’m a happy author. This is the fourth book in my series that follows The Renaissance Club. I probably wouldn’t have been encouraged to write it if I’d been with a traditional publisher.
“This was a wonderful time traveling book and sparked my imagination of what it would be like to travel though time and especially with a famous author. Can’t wait to read the next book in this series.”
You can see all my novels here. Each of them is published by my own imprint, Time Fold Books.
Take Charge of Your Books
I don’t recommend self-publishing, unless you’re prepared to do the work of marketing. And that means learning how to market a book, as differentiated from selling anything else.I had a background in fundraising, a form of marketing, so the basic concepts were familiar, and I didn’t shrink (too much) from the idea.
I’m finding my marketing has become part of my art. The final step in creating is to package a book and release it with a great presentation. I’ve come to enjoy. For me writing and publishing and marketing a book is one seamless act of making. I educated myself through courses and mostly reading. After a few years of experimenting, marketing my books doesn’t take a lot of time. Focusing on how I’ll promote a book actually helps me in the process of writing the next one. It’s part of taking charge of my books.
I’ll come up with a hook to describe the story even before I’ve written the book. Sometimes I know the title because I’ve devised the hook well before I write to the middle. For those inclined to do the work of educating yourself, I recommend books by David Gaughran, Robert Ryan, and Ricardo Fayet. They all have books for beginners as well as for advanced book marketers. Some also have videos on Youtube.
If you go down the indie road and become your own publisher, let me know how you’re doing. Ask me questions, if you like — not that I’m an expert. But after seven books and as many years as an indie author, I’ve learned a few things!
Creatives — take charge of your books, if you’re ready. And good luck. Don’t forget to have fun.