Saturday 8 November 2014

Indie Authors - Amateurs playing at writing?



Josephine Sanchez Vanner


Indie Authors -

Amateurs playing at writing?

Before the hate mail clogs up my post box – I'm writing this article in support of Indie writers.

Definition of an Amateur – person who engages in a pursuit as a pastime rather than a profession.

Definition of a Professional - person engaged in a specific activity as one's main paid occupation.

For years self-published authors in the book world were regarded as second class writers, not worthy of consideration.

Snobbery on the part of non self-published authors, and the haughtiness of the publishing houses, contributed to this misguided, and inaccurate assumption.

How can any writer stand a chance of getting noticed, when the cartel of large publishing houses, operate a 'closed submissions' policy to new talent?

No agent – no interest. And getting an agent isn't that easy either.

I'm not including the small to medium publishers in this, as generally they have a very good 'open submissions' policy. A lot of well known writers, would never have been discovered, if it wasn't for those small/medium independent publishers.

I won't pretend that all Indie published books are worth reading because they are not. I've had my fair share of appallingly written books by Indie authors, wanting Riotous to give them a great review.

My policy is to give encouragement, not a rotten review. Bad reviews don't help authors improve their writing skills. They just cause unnecessary hurt without giving constructive criticism.

And I've waded my way through some really badly written, and downright boring, so called novels, by best selling authors out of top publishing houses.

Indie publishing definitely does not equate to amateurish novels, written by untalented amateurs. Often quite the opposite.

Authors publish themselves for the simple reason, they are not being given the chance to prove themselves because of the closed submissions policy.

Agents aren't much better. They too have now jumped on the bandwagon of snootiness. Do you need an agent? There are pros and cons for having an agent.

On the pro side, they can get you that publishing deal with the big named publishers, and negotiate for you a beneficial contract.

Con side – they have fees attached to them. That means two lots of fees, agent and publisher.


It makes sense to Indie publish. For a start, you have more control over your work. You choose how it is marketed, and of course, you get a bigger cut of the royalties.

When it comes to marketing your work, you hope your publisher is as busy as you are on promotion. Not always the case.

If a publisher is not actively advertising your book, then spending your own money to do so, and not get the majority share of any sales generated, does not, to me anyway, make a lot of sense.

The road to riches for a writer, has been a hard one ever since the printed book came into existence. There's a lot of truth in the scenario of an impoverished writer, in a freezing garret, warming his/her hands on a candle flame.

Where did this change in attitude to self-publishing start?
Why the internet, and the ease of uploading your work in an e-book format.

Book sellers like Amazon and Smashwords, have given authors the opportunity to publish, without the cost attached by the vanity publishing houses, such as Author House, independent authors are finding – at last – a way to get known.

Now, thanks to the stigma being removed from self-publishing, not only have some great writers got the chance to prove themselves, but a new industry has sprung up in helping Indie authors, showcase their work professionally.

I'm talking about the independent editors, proofreaders, book-cover designers, and software formatting etc.

Like any industry, you have to check out who you are going to use, before you hand over your cash.

I've been quoted as much as a $1,000 for book editing. For the Indie author that equates to a hell of a lot of book sales.

I've also seen book-cover design from a couple of hundred dollars to just $30 or $40.

Thanks to software, easily obtained off the internet, you can create your own cover designs, and do the page formatting yourself.

There's no mystery to getting an ISBN number.

As to Copyright©. The law says, once your work is in the public domain, it is subject to copyright.

No part of this book my be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, by any means, electronically or mechanically, and or including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author.
All rights reserved.

This is the copyright wording I use in my self-hypnosis slimming book - Get Slim Stay Slim – Permanently.

Feel free to use it.

Everything I've written in this article says that being an Indie published author, can look, and be as professional, as any author contracted by a publishing house.

It's simply up to you – just how professional you make your book look.

I've listed some sites that can help you achieve a professional look for your Indie publication.

Okay – they charge for their services – but you won't get anything for free that is worthwhile.






  • If you enjoyed this article – please share it with your friends.

thanks for reading this post
Josephine Sanchez Vanner





Half Blood – Turning the Pages Magazine, 2013 Adventure Book of the Year & 2013 Paranormal Book of the year.

Award winning novel about alien vampires from a distant galaxy, who are the good guys.







The Warlock's Woman. A beautiful psychic, an evil warlock and a sexy ghost. A love triangle with an unexpected twist at the end.








Get Slim Stay Slim – Permanently - shows you in an easy to follow way, the secret to reducing unwanted weight permanently and ending the misery of yo-yo dieting.


The blog, for the book, filled with on going help and ideas on how to maintain continuous weight reduction.


Definitions quoted from The Oxford English Dictionary.

background photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
















Monday 3 November 2014

Authors Need Reviews

Authors Need Reviews!



Okay – so you've bought the book. You've read the book – but have you left a review of the book?

Authors live to get their books reviewed. Good ones that is.

Unflattering reviews are not generally welcomed. That said, even a bad review can have a positive side to it. Going on the premise that bad publicity is better than no publicity – though I don't totally support this theory.

When it comes to my book reviews, I've been blessed with the majority being on the good side.

I did have one bad review from a paid advertising blog, which I declined to place any advertising with. So I suspect that their review of one of my novels was biased, on me not having placed a paid add with them.

Funny thing was, all the authors who had advertised on this blog, got five star reviews. The rest of us who hadn't advertised their novels through the blog, didn't fare nearly so well.

Of course, I won't say who it is – but I often think of that bad review whilst drinking a cup of coffee!!

If you have bought a book from Amazon – and you enjoyed it. Then please, give a probably struggling author a break, and take some time to give the book a review.

Even a short review with a few nice words attached to it means an awful lot to the writer.

If you want to see more books written by that author, a helping hand with a good review, is a godsend. Give them a decent review – something like, “I really enjoyed this” or “Such a great book, I highly recommend it.” Is all you need to write. Your input to other readers is of great value because you are as they are – a reader.


Selling books means an author gets to eat – not being hungry really helps the creative juices.

Reviews on Amazon, and shares on sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, make such a difference, not only to the self esteem of the author - but helps to get an author noticed in an industry that is notoriously hard to make a decent living from.

Only the well-known authors get publicized by Amazon, the just as good, and sometimes much better, unknown writers get side-lined.

There's a revolution going on in the publishing world. Writers, at last are getting a chance to show their skills to the reading public, thanks to Indie Publishing.

But those authors – me included – need the support of those clever readers who have discovered us 'new talents', long before the grand publishing houses have.

So join the revolution my friends – post your reviews and send out your shares – say thanks to the impoverished writer who gives their all to entertain you their wonderful reader.

After all without you – the reader – there would be no book industry.

thanks for reading this post
Josephine Sanchez Vanner





Half Blood – Turning the Pages Magazine, 2013 Adventure Book of the Year & 2013 Paranormal Book of the year.

Award winning novel about alien vampires from a distant galaxy, who are the good guys.






The Warlock's Woman. A beautiful psychic, an evil warlock and a sexy ghost. A love triangle with an unexpected twist at the end.














Get Slim Stay Slim – Permanently - shows you in an easy to follow way, the secret to reducing unwanted weight permanently and ending the misery of yo-yo dieting.


The blog, for the book, with on going help and ideas on how to maintain continuous weight reduction.



Background pictures courtesy of freedidgitalphotos.net