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I hear and read of so many authors seeking agents and/or a publishing deal. Why bother? Seriously! Allow me to explain why authors can be proud to be indie. I am. I am proud.

Once upon a time I too thought it would be great to have an agent and a publishing contract preferably with one of the ‘Big Five.’

Yeah, right! I woke up and the smell of the coffee was wonderful.

Apart from a brief flirtation with a “hybrid” publisher, I have always been an independent author. I intend to stay that way.

As an indie, I have penned an Amazon UK bestseller. I have had the same book optioned and hopefully will progress to a movie.

I control everything, the writing, editing, formatting, book covers, and the marketing of my books. I love it that way.

And, do you know the best thing of all? I keep ALL my royalties. I control the pricing of my books in any format they are published and the percentage royalty rate received. I also control who prints my books.

I like being in control of my own business.

The one thing I am envious of in respect of the “Big Five” is I cannot afford to throw books at Kirkus reviewers.

If you were to ask me what is the best part of remaining indie, this is what I would say. It’s one word – royalties!

My brief flirtation with a hybrid publisher brought home to me the folly of allowing anyone else to publish my books. It was an expensive lesson.

In the few short weeks, less than one month, my bestseller was published by someone else, I received $25 in royalties. The publisher netted about $250 in total for paperback and Kindle sales.

I would have received $75 but the publisher deducted $50 for “set-up” fees to cover editing (minimal), formatting (an easy DIY job), and book cover design (they used the existing first edition book cover).

Like me, they used a free ISBN through CreateSpace so no extra costs there then.

You may say “Ah! But they marketed your book for you.” No! No! And no!

That is why I parted company with that publisher before my contract had expired (I am a former lawyer). One of the reasons I took the plunge with this publisher is I mistakenly thought they would market my book. Plus, they did at one time state they had a connection with a film production company. That has now disappeared.

All marketing of the launch of the second edition of my bestseller was initiated by me. It resulted in huge publicity in the UK and you can click here to see the media coverage. I was interviewed on several BBC TV channels and BBC radio stations including national TV & radio. News articles appeared in both the Sunday Express and the Guardian.

The results of my efforts? It lined the pocket of a publisher who did nothing!

I am not sour. It was a learning curve. I wish that publisher well and its stable of contented authors. Let me just say, “it wasn’t for me!”

Be proud to be indie!

Let me know what you think. Scroll down to the comments box.

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