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| 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
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Half
Blood
– Turning the Pages Magazine,
2013 Adventure Book of the Year & 2013 Paranormal Book of the
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Award
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good guys.
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The
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The
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maintain continuous weight reduction.
Definitions
quoted from The Oxford English Dictionary.
background photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
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