Over the past two days, I’ve listed advantages and disadvantages of becoming an indie publisher. Today, we’ll look at some incidental things that have occurred to me and might happen to you, too, if you go the indie route. These are not necessarily good or bad, just observations.
1. Opinion– By publishing independently, you are automatically assumed to be anti-traditional publishing. While in some cases this may be true, in many cases it is absolutely false. You will have to clarify your position more than once.
2. Defense– You may be told that your writing is too good for vanity press or self-publishing. Justifying indie publishing to old-school authors, agents, and publishers is not always easy and not always successful.
3. Expert– By virtue of publishing something independently, you are instantly an expert. Other writers will seek you out and ask for help. You may find yourself sitting on a convention panel.
4. Curiosity– People will want to look at unfinished work. Particularly in a POD environment like CreateSpace, you must order proof copies to ensure everything looks the way it is intended. Once something tangible shows up with your name on it, everyone will want to look at it.
5. Motivation– Just knowing that I control when a novel appears has been the most effective motivator to produce new material that I have ever experienced. Knowing that I don’t need to worry about when (or even if) a story will attract an agent or publisher is a strong incentive to write new material.
