What is Indie Life?
How: Sign up on the Linky at the bottom of this page
When: Post on the second Wednesday of the month (starting 1/9/2013)
What: Write anything indie related: something that will inspire or help a fellow indie; something that celebrates a release or a milestone; something that talks about the ups and downs, joys and heartaches of Being Indie.
Grab: The banner to include in your posts!
On any given day, I see articles talking about traditional versus independent publishing. Although I think indie has come a long way, there is still a faction of readers who think only traditional books are legit.
Why? As a reader, do you really want other people (publishing houses and their staff) deciding what books are acceptable for public consumption?
Let's consider independent films. They are often labeled as artsy and are usually critics' darlings. But independent books get blasted for low quality and not having a publishing house's stamp of approval. Why then should we think an independent movie is hip if Twentieth Century Fox turned it down?
Yes, there are independent books out there that are low quality. But there are traditionally published books that are simply awful. Have I loved every indie book I've ever read? Of course not, but I haven't loved every William Morrow book I've ever read either.
Do you know how many times JK Rowling got turned down for Harry Potter? 12! The Help? 60! Publishing houses can be, and often are, wrong.
So indie authors, please hold your heads high and be proud. If we all continue to put out high quality, exciting books, people will start to change their minds. I've seen a huge turnaround in opinion since I published my first book in late 2010.
What will it take for more readers to consider indie?
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A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) Update
How is it that we are almost halfway through November already? Almost halfway through NaNo, and my word count is: 25,068 (as of last night).
I'm trying to front load my words, because my parents are coming for Thanksgiving (their first time out to our CA home). Other than writing, I'm just trying to keep up with my sponsor duties, blogging (thankfully I wrote several blog posts before 11/1), and some social media interaction.
How are my NaNo buddies doing? And my non-NaNo buddies?
7 comments:
If it weren't for the indie movement, NA wouldn't have been given a chance, and I wouldn't have a book coming out from a major publisher. So yeah, I'm all for the indies. Most of the books I've read have been great!!!!
I see this around too. I think it is slowly changing though. I'm having a lot of fun learning the indie process myself, with my first book.
Congrats on your NaNoWriMo numbers, that is so awesome!
Sometimes for me, honestly, it's the cover. There are a few Indie authors who just don't put that much effort into their covers or pick generic covers that have nothing to do with the book's content, especially if they're only doing ebooks. Just because I'm not physically holding it and looking at it all the time, doesn't mean I want something horrible or cheap looking in my ecollection.
As far as writing goes, I haven't personally read an Indie book yet that has been poorly written or edited. That said, if I read too many reviews that felt the need to mention typos or other mechanical errors, I'm not going to read it. But the same holds true for a traditional book.
Congratulations on being halfway through NaNo already!! I've crossed the 25k mark already myself. ^_^
I think it's the same as the college degree thing... It usually doesn't matter what a person went for college for to an employer--it's that 'this applicant' was willing to go through all the accepted hoops to get that piece of paper. And therefore it usually weighs in favor of the college grad, often even over someone who's been working since high school in the specific field and therefore has more 'on the job experience'....
The traditional publishing versus Indie publishing viewpoints strike me as the same... Some people just want to know the author went through the right hoops, even in the Indie book might be a product of years of 'on the job training' too.
I love that you compared Indie books to Indie films. How appropriate.
High quality is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. But the IBGW name being in the front of a book will come to mean reassurance for readers that they aren't getting something awful. At least, that's my fervent hope. :P
I love this post. Congrats on your word count. Feels GREAT, huh?
I'm at 44,911. Hope to finish by tomorrow or Monday. I better, I have a book to format soon...
WRITE ON!
room for both - choice is good - I went the idie route for many reasons - have read quite a few indies - good and bad in every sphere - but since 2009 when i began the whole indie scene has changed almost beyond recognition
the peices of paper yes do prove a person went through the hoops, most of my early employment depended on the papers - however it doesnt always prove that the paper holder is the best for the job - I know of one time i received the job over someone more able who didnt have the paper - hopefully that is now changing as well:)
Congrats on your NaNoWriMo numbers. I have to agree - I've read indie books that were great and indie books that were horrible - and I can say the same for traditionally published. But what I see in indie books (sometimes)is terrible editing and blah covers. It makes it harder, I think, for those indies who go for quality.
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