The indie publishing journey: What, why and how
Hello and welcome to this brand new series of blog posts where I talk about what I’ve learned so far from my indie publishing journey. I’ll take you through the process from start to finish and share some resources about how to turn your manuscript into a published book. There’ll be something for all budding indie authors, especially my fellow Aussies!! →
SERIES CONTENTS
🤷♀️ What, why and how | 💰 Business mechanics | 📝 Editors and editing | 📚 Choosing a platform | 📜All things “legal“ | 🎨 Designing the book | 💻 Marketing 101 | 🎁 Wrapping up
What is indie publishing?
Let’s start by establishing what I mean when I use the term “indie publishing”. It’s not exactly a term you’ll find in the dictionary—at least, no dictionary I’ve seen (yet), anyway! Everyone might have a slightly different idea in their mind of what indie publishing means to them, but I like this definition:
Indie publishing, also known as independent publishing, is any type of publication process that doesn’t rely on a Big 5 publisher. While this term used to reference publishing a book through small presses, it can now also indicate self-publishing.
—from What is Indie Publishing? And How to Get Started in 2023 (Reedsy Blog, February 2023)
In late 2022, I “self-published” my contemporary YA novel Holding Up the Sky, however I haven’t really used this term to describe what I did. Why is that? Well, aside from the stigma still attached to the term “self-publishing”, it wasn’t exactly a solo effort, as I hired an editor and a cover designer and recruited some online friends to help with marketing. I also set up my own business / publishing imprint Southscript Press, so you could say I technically now own a small press! 😅
Indie publishing might mean something different to you, and that’s okay. But before we proceed any further with this blog series, I wanted to clarify that when I say “indie publishing”, I’m referring to the way I (self)-published my book under my own publishing imprint while working with others to make it the best it could be. So let’s get on with the content!!
Why should you indie publish your book?
Turning a manuscript into a published book is hard work, particularly if you take the indie route, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of knowing your book is out in the world and in the hands of readers! Here are some of the pros and cons you should be aware of when considering whether indie publishing is right for you:
Pros
- You have total creative control. Every decision, including edits, formatting, cover art, and more, is yours to make.
- Royalties are usually paid once a month and you get to choose the price. The royalty rates can be fairly high.
- The process can be fast (if you like) and you get to make all the deadlines.
- You decide how your book is marketed. This is also a great opportunity for connecting with readers and other authors.
- Publishing your book if the traditional route is not for you! There’s no rejection and you maintain the rights over your work.
Cons
- You have to hire and pay for an editor, formatter, cover artist etc or learn how to do it all yourself. This takes time and/or money.
- You don’t receive an advance like you might with traditional publishing and it can be hard to earn back what you’ve invested.
- There is a significant time investment, which takes time away from writing your next book
- The responsibility for marketing your book rests with you. It can be difficult to get the word out there when you’re going it alone.
- There is still a bit of a stigma associated with indie publishing. It’s also harder for your book to get critical acclaim.
One of the biggest drawbacks of indie publishing is the time and/or money you need to invest. How much is ultimately up to you, and we’ll talk a bit more about this throughout this blog series. But without a doubt the biggest advantage is that the indie path is guaranteed to get your book published. How awesome is that! 😀
How do you get started?
Now that you’ve decided to indie publish your book, how do you actually get started? The first thing you need to do is research, research, research. I cannot stress this enough. You can ask other questions as much as you like, but you need to take the time to look into things yourself to understand your options and the choices you need to make. There are no shortcuts here, unfortunately!
Some of the things you will need to research are:
- Do you need to set up a business (i.e. for Aussies, get an ABN) and separate bank account?
- What sort of editing does your book need and where can you find an editor?
- What platform / distributer are you going to use to produce your book?
- What is an ISBN and do you need one?
- What are the copyright laws protecting your work?
- Are there other legalities you need to be aware of, such as legal deposits?
- Will you publish your book as an ebook, a hardcopy, or both?
- How do you find and work with a cover designer and/or book formatter?
- How are you going to market your book?
- What is it going to cost me and what else do I need to know?
Throughout this blog series, I’ll talk about how I went about answering these questions. You might find my insights useful, but this doesn’t mean you don’t still need to do your own research!
Once you have a better awareness of what will be involved with indie publishing your book, it’s a good idea to set up a to-do list and make yourself a timeline. What order do you need to work through your list and what items are dependent on each other? How long is it going to take? Remember, things always take longer than you expect, especially when you’re doing them for the first time, so make sure you leave yourself enough breathing room! I can’t promise this journey will be stress-free, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by trying to hurry through everything.
Round about now, you should be getting pretty excited about bringing your book to life! There might be a lot to think about and a lot to do, but just take a deep breath and get started. And, most importantly, remember to enjoy the journey!
Are you thinking about indie publishing a book or have you already done so? What do you see as the biggest pros and cons? Do you have any general questions about indie publishing?
Rebecca Alasdair
I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!
12 Comments
Andrew McDowell
Having more creative control is definitely a plus, as is the experience with the publisher being closer to one-on-one. Then, of course, the fact that it’s easier for authors who aren’t already bestsellers or celebrities to; it seems the big publishers, in my view, go for them exclusively most of the time.
Rebecca Alasdair
Yes that’s very true!! The biggest plus about publishing your own book (in my mind) is that it actually GETS published! 😁
Alex
Hi Rebecca!
How are you? I like the definition from Reedsy. It makes sense. You make a wonderful point though. It isn’t a solo effort and there are a lot of people involved for sure. How did you like setting up your own imprint? 🙂 I think it’s great that you did.
I like the pros of self-publishing. The most important part for me is creative control. You’re right that there is a lot of time and money needed for it. I think I’d be able to absorb the costs but not sure if I have the time at the moment.
“you need to take the time to look into things yourself to understand your options and the choices you need to make.” So true. As with much of life, one should definitely take the time to understand all the choices, options, and issues involved.
Would a separate bank account be potentially needed because you’re selling the book, and thus, it’d be considered business income?
Great question about legal deposits. I read about them, and it looks like a Library of Congress Control Number is not required for selling a book, but would be needed if you want it catalogued in the Library of Congress. But, I need to read up more about this.
The other questions are good too. I’m still trying to decide my publishing plans (including if I want to publish). But, I think if I do publish, it’d just be for the milestone (and I’d be okay if very few buy it, so I don’t think I’d have marketing plans). Still though, I definitely would want to research the questions you mentioned and other issues, like taxation. I’m excited to read your posts. I am looking forward to your insights.
Take care, my friend.
Rebecca Alasdair
Hey Alex! I really loved the experience of setting up my imprint. It made me feel very official!! 😁
There’s not necessarily a lot of money needed, though there are some unavoidable costs. I’ll speak more about this, about business bank accounts (which probably vary from country to country) and legal deposits etc through this blog series 😊
Tomas
I can definitely confirm that things will always take longer than you expect. Especially if writing an everything around it is not your main activity (which is the case for most people with a full-time job).
Rebecca Alasdair
Definitely agree with you there!! It’s tough doing all this extra work around a full time job. That’s why I was so tired by the end of last year! 😅
Energyflux2012
A lot to figure out there! I’d need to hire an agent or advisor for indie to get it right.
Rebecca Alasdair
There is a bit to think about that’s for sure!! But I found that once I took the time to do the research, it was manageable. And you need to get your head around it being okay to make mistakes. You’ll never get things 100% “right” but the more you try the more you learn 😊
K.M. Allan
Excellent advice, Rebecca!
Rebecca Alasdair
Thank you!! 😊
Ari
Great idea for a series and excellent advice here. Looking forward to reading through the rest as they come. There is always so much to consider regarding Indie publishing so having it all broken down like this is great
Rebecca Alasdair
Thanks Ari!! There certainly is a lot to consider. It’s a good thing I like lists 😊