Google it: self-publishing. What you’ll find is an ocean of hopeful authors treading furiously in lapping water, waiting for a wave to slam into and crush them, or carry them out into the vast ocean of the Indie Author world to drown their dreams.

So why do it? Why shiver in the shallows or dare to dive in to be another in an ocean of dreamers under the threat of just becoming another countless droplet in the water, trying to swim against the current and find a place amongst millions of other hopefuls? Because it’s who we are.

The publishing world has changed dramatically. When I was a young girl, the goal was to send out a query letter, wait anxiously for a response, and pray someone liked what I’d put on a page and was willing to take a chance on me and make my dream come true.

I tried. I mashed together a novel that had a good premise, but I was young and it was a mess. I couldn’t even explain it! No elevator pitch or One-Sheet existed in my world then. Rejections ensued. It wasn’t what crushed my writing dream. For me, life happened and surviving resulted in scribblings in journals and dark poetry.

When I started writing seriously again, things were different. Indie publishing was a thing. I researched (like obsessively) and realized traditional publishing no longer held quite the same impact it had held in the past. Self-publishing: 60-70% commission vs Traditional: maybe 10%. Uh… what?

Not only was the commission a concern for me, but so were many other details. A publisher, for example, if I managed to land one, would also probably choose my cover, do almost nil marketing for me, and I could expect up to two years to even see my work published. Again… what?

I’m Type A. I’m fast. I get distracted easily. I am ridiculously impatient. A control freak. I have issues with authority. Get my drift? No way was I handing over my hard work and then twiddling my thumbs waiting on things to happen, especially if I was going to end up doing the majority of the ‘after the manuscript’ work anyway. Marketing? On me? Fine. Then shine or cry, I decided to own the results. Researching to figure everything out? Fine. At least I wouldn’t be waiting on someone else to make things happen, leaving me wondering what the heck I could do differently.

I made the decision to throw myself off a cliff into the ocean and find out if I would swim or drown. Did I nail it from the start? NO. I picked the wrong cover artist (like twice), the wrong editor, the wrong book launch strategy, the wrong social media for me. I should have known 800 more things to do it well. Do I regret it? NO. I refuse to let those small moments of “I wish…” even take root. I have progress I can see from day one to now. And lots of it to tell me it’s the journey that matters, not the perfection.

“…it’s the journey that matters, not the perfection.”

Sorry nerds and over-achievers (I’m both), but there is no A plus in the Indie publishing world!

I chose Amazon KDP to publish through. For my personality, the ease and accessibility of the platform fit perfectly. I hit publish on my first book in September of 2019 and the dashboard fed my nerd. I could see sales and page reads from day one. My pretty cover was right there for me to see, along with options for marketing and editing. Anytime I found a new error, or found something I didn’t like, I clicked a button and changed it!

I hit publish on my second book in November of the same year, and my third in December. I’m not sure I will ever forget the satisfaction and excitement of watching things happen and knowing I’d done it on my own (not discounting the wonderful support and team I built during those first few months). I’m just saying I put in the work. I wrote the words. I did the research to get through the process. I hit the button. I didn’t let not knowing everything stop me.

The real life of an Indie Author is writing the words, researching the how-to, getting advice from other authors, sobbing to your support system when you don’t feel like you’re good enough, finding the cover artists and editors, and trying and failing and trying and failing again to maneuver through the publishing world and the marketing that follows. It’s all on us. The ones who write the books and dare to dive in while holding our precious manuscripts above water and keeping it alive while we kick and tread and doggy paddle to dry land again.

I published five more books in 2020. Despite Covid. Despite our world crumbling like dominoes. My goal was higher. It doesn’t matter. I’m still in control. I’m still the boss. I’m still an Indie. And freaking proud of it!

I’ve published four more this year. I don’t intend to stop. Maybe I’m a bit slower than my normal pace right now. Life has changed. I have changed. The writing world is still changing. It’s okay.

I’m an Indie Author so I’ll go where the tide takes me and keep making it happen. Because that’s what we do.

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