Being Indie, Being Proud

Click her Well hello all you readers out there. How is everything going? I hope everyone is getting some good quality reading done and if you are trying to write a book or novel this year then good luck. This post today comes from a discussion I had with one of my college professors this term. Let me set the stage for you really quickly, before we jump into the discussion.
This class that I am speaking of happens to be an English clash that is centered on writing research papers. So early on in the class we had to pick a topic that not only interested us but was also relevant to our audience. If you have been following me long than you now that literature takes up what little free time I have. So when it comes to something that interests me, the pickings are slim. So I decided to write about one of the biggest decisions a writer has to make; choosing to use indie publishing or going traditional publishing. Which leads me to what I want to talk about today, being an indie writer.
Now when I first set out to be a writer I probably had the same dream that most writers have. I wanted my book read and enjoyed. I imagined myself walking into a book store and seeing young adults eagerly reading my latest work. I hoped to one day see my books at libraries or other such institutions. Those were my dreams and goals when I first started writing. It wasn’t about money and selling out, it was all about creating joy in readers.
As I came to the end of writing my first novel I had no idea what would come next. I didn’t know anything about the publishing world or how it worked. I started watching videos and reading articles related to the topic of writing and getting published. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the topic.
Well long story short I decided that the easiest way for me to get my book into the hands of readers was for me to go through a traditional publishing house. After lots of searching and rejection letters I realized that first I would need a literary agent. Well before I set out to find one of those I started doing the math. I started looking at who I was going to have to pay out of my book sales and how much agents and publishers were going to want. I didn’t like the way that looked for me or my book series but I still wanted people to be able to enjoy my book. That left indie.
When I first started looking into independent publishing, or indie as I call it, I immediately felt like this was what I wanted to do. I got complete rights of my book and ideas. I got to pick the art work, the price and the setup of the book. I loved it.
Some people don’t like indie publishing because you really get out of it what you put into it. If you only work on your book, website, social media or marketing for only 20 min a week then chances are your book might not take off the way you want it to. With that being said just because you spend 40 hours a week on your book doesn’t mean it’s going to be a bestseller in the first week. For me though, I like the work. I enjoy building my own website, designing book marks to use a business cards and just selling my books. It makes it more special when I get a good sale month and it means the world to me when a fan tells me how much they loved my book. I am sure that there are writers who have had amazing times using traditional publishing houses but for me, I like being an indie writer.
e to edit.