The Lackadaisical Writer, S5, E101: Deciding To Go Indie (Going Indie Series #1)

 in Season 5 (2017-2018)

Opening up my Going Indie series of episodes by introducing said series, before launching into the main topic: the differing paths of being a traditionally published or indie author, the costs and earnings associated with each and how to choose which one is right for you.

News & Notes:

  • Aisuru Amazon Ad experiments – a few sales anyway; also gotten in more reviews from the NetGalley run months ago
  • Learning Japanese via DuoLingo, sort of 🙂
  • Less than 8,000 words out of my goal of 20,000 for Camp NaNo *sigh*
  • TTC Season!

Introducing the Going Indie series

Start of a series of episodes in which I’ll be giving a bit of a taste of the sort of stuff I’m covering in my upcoming non-fiction book Going Indie. Planned to be X episodes long:

  1. Intro/Indie vs Traditional Debate: clearing up the terms, warnings on vanity publishing, and details on both traditional and indie processes and how to decide if indie is right for you
  2. Indie Author = Running a Business: importance of thinking of it as a business, setting up, funding, financial preparations to make, and managing your business
  3. Author Platform: getting started with your website, contact info, social media, and mailing lists
  4. Pre-publication Preparation: basics on editing, interior formatting, and covers, as well as discussions on copyright and ISBNs
  5. Hiring Out for Help: finding and working with professionals
  6. The Publishing Platforms: including going direct, using aggregators, and dealing with print
  7. Deciding Your Professional Standards

What Prompted the Book and This series

  • As a new indie, launching my first two novels were maddening, stressful experiences
  • There are tons of books on craft, marketing, and being successful, a few promoting some scummy stuff even, but books on the actual basics? Nada! Nothing! Zip! Zilch!
  • I wore Google out and still messed up in so many ways
  • So I decided to write my own, both for myself and to help others avoid the same mistakes!

The Indie vs Traditional Debate

  • Clearing Up Some Terms
    • Indie Author
    • Traditionally Published Author
    • Small Press
    • The Unnamed, New Kind Of Press
    • Vanity Publishing – AKA SCAMS!
  • The Traditional Publishing Route – what it entails, costs to the author, why you may and may not want to go this route
  • The Indie Route – what it entails, costs to the author, why you may and may not want to go this route
  • Freedom to Choose and Being Hybrid
  • Importance of it being YOUR choice!