The "Bad" of Indie Publishing

There are so many bad aspects to indie publishing, it's astonishing anyone does it. Yet, we do. My journey to self-publishing began after having three novels rejected by literary agents, then feeling hopeless, then feeling defiant. (Defiance is underrated.) I believe the primary reason for my rejections was that my stories weren't written "to market". The market does change, but very slowly. The same themes agents wanted in 2016 are still on their wishlists today, but they reside within different genres. 

Rightly or wrongly, I believed that my novels deserved to see the light of day, and that's when I decided to slap them up on Amazon myself. It was a really steep learning curve. I didn't even know how or where to find a book cover. I'd spent so much time on a writer's forum that only considered trade publishing to be legit, no self-publishing topics were even discussed. A lone writer posting about her self-publishing journey was looked at as a freak, or at best, a joke. I haven't gone back there in years, but I bet that's all changed now.

By far, the biggest "bad" of indie publishing is getting your book noticed. That's why there are so many Reddit threads about marketing, beta readers, social media, how to get reviews, finding ARC readers. Few writers have the answers, and those who claim to are either lying or really, really lucky.

Getting your book noticed encompasses many different elements, and all of them cost money. So, I've changed my mind. Being poor is by far the biggest "bad" of indie publishing. The writing part is free, unless a writer feels the need to purchase some overpriced writing software, but at its core, an author could write a novel by hand if they wanted to. 

Before I get into the specifics, I need to note one more "bad" regarding self-publishing ~ bad books. They're out there, folks, and in huge numbers. I'm talking really bad, especially in the romance genre. They read as if the author had never written a sentence before in her life, but felt compelled to write a book anyway. Bad books should be a plus for actual good writers, right? Wrong. They take over the market, elbowing out well-written novels. I just looked at a preview of one, which went something like this:

"What is wrong, doctor?" The five-foot-seven lanky brunette batted her brown eyes at him from beneath long, silky lashes.

"I am afraid I have some bad news."

"What?"

"Your mother needs an operation."

"An operation? What is it?"

"It's the process of making an incision, fixing whatever's wrong, then sewing the patient back up, but that's not important right now."

(Okay, I stole the last line from Airplane and made it my own, but the rest is real.) 

Bad book competitors aside, if you're thinking about publishing for the first time, here's what you'll need (and the downsides):

An editor. If you're bad at spelling and/or grammar, you can either hire a line (copy) editor or use paid software to correct your mistakes. The average charge for an experienced copy editor is between two and seven cents per word, or for an 80,000-word novel, $1,600.00 to $5,600.00. Hardly anyone pays that much, however. Freelancers are less expensive, but not that much less. A developmental editor, which is truly what most newcomers (and even old timers) need, analyzes a novel's pacing, structure, plot development; essentially the bones of the story. Reedsy's cost estimates seem unnaturally high. Their average is listed as $2,720.00 for an 80,000-word novel. Again, most indie authors don't pay that much.

I've gotten by just fine without a copy editor, and while I would have loved to hire a developmental editor, that's a luxury I simply can't afford. Developmental editing  is a skill, like cover design is a skill, and while we authors may think we can muddle through it ourselves, the results will show. For Running From Herself, I recognized three key areas that needed fixing, but in the end, I didn't know what to do with them, so two didn't get changed at all, and the third I basically took a few stabs at before declaring, "best I can do".

Beta readers. In lieu of, and sometimes in addition to an editor, many authors seek out beta readers. It seems that most indie writers are able to secure them free of charge, either through writer swaps or in online forums, such as Scribophile, but finding quality beta readers is key. I've also read many times that volunteers don't necessarily follow through. In a way, beta readers are like reviewers ~ their opinions are all over the place. I've never used used them and never had a desire to use them. Tastes are subjective, and I'm not one to compromise my story just because Bonnie Beta thinks my main character should get together with Frank, instead of Gary.

An author can also hire beta readers through places like Fiverr (to me, not the most trustworthy site with regard to quality work) and Upwork, among others. 

ARC readers. Especially if you are doing a pre-launch of your book, it's good to find ARC readers and allow them enough time to read the novel and then leave an Amazon or Goodreads review once the novel goes live. Reviews are key. A book with no reviews looks like a total loser. Ask me how I know.

There are a few places to find ARC readers: Reddit, Goodreads, Facebook, to name three. An author can also go with a place like Voracious Readers Only, which will secure twenty ARC readers for free (many more if you choose to pay). Also BookSprout, BookSirens and a few lesser known sites.

Assume that if you're lucky, only about 10% of ARC readers will actually leave reviews. Often it's far fewer. The one time I paid to use Voracious Readers Only, it found me almost a thousand ARC readers, which netted me zero reviews. If you go the route of securing ARC readers, steel your spine; be ready to deal with negative or so-so reviews. It's gonna happen. They say that a negative review is better than no reviews. I'm not so sure about that, but each author is different. 

A cover. Not just any cover, but an expensive, professionally designed cover. Generally, high-end cover design runs from between about $750.00 up to $2,000.00. But don't fret! If you write fantasy or sci fi, you can get a decent cover for $35.00. Any other genre, all bets are off. I'm in the process of having a cover designed for my ebook and my paperback, and the cost is $270.00. Bear in mind that whoever you hire to create your cover had better possess a thorough understanding of your genre; otherwise, you're wasting your money. A cover can't just be "pretty"; it has to compete with other books in your genre and potential readers need to recognize it as genre-conforming, or they'll simply pass it by. You can also design your own cover with Canva, if you don't care whether your book will sell or not. 

Formatting. Whether you're only publishing an ebook or both an ebook and a paperback, if you don't format them right, you're going to be pulling your hair out in no time. KDP or whoever you use is going to bark at you if you do one little thing wrong. And enough barking is bound to drive you insane. Some authors hire a formatter, but you can format an ebook yourself with (free) Kindle Create. I have no idea whether IngramSpark offers anything like that; probably. You can also purchase software for formatting both ebooks and paperbacks. I personally wouldn't. I paid $147.00 for Atticus and it didn't work. I used Kindle Create for my ebook and KDP's (free) formatting template for the paperback. The latter was a pain in the ass, but Atticus was a pain in my pocketbook.

Learn to write a compelling blurb. Sound easy? LOL. I estimate I've changed my blurb for Running From Herself about fifteen to twenty times (so far), and this is my eleventh published work. It never gets easier. Quick ~ summarize your novel in about 300 words, highlight the exciting parts while providing an expansive view of the overall story, but don't give anything away, dammit! Wait; where does the exciting part go? At the beginning or in the middle or what? What about back story? I need to explain why this whole story happens the way it does. Oh, now I'm all confused! Note to first timers: here is where you need to research and study. Then research and study some more. Then start over. Then start over again...and...

Marketing. Ahh, the million dollar question...how much to spend on marketing. My answer: the more, the better. In fact, spend every last penny you're got. You'll need to.

Sarcasm and bad experiences aside, you and only you need to learn which marketing platform works best for your book. It's a crapshoot. I've tried virtually all of them, from small to medium to large book promo sites, to Amazon and Facebook ads. The only thing that ever worked for me was FreeBooksy, but I still had to pay to give away books, and I never netted even one review from it. But never fear; certain genres sell like hotcakes, so if you've gotten everything else right (cover, blurb), marketing could work for you.

Social media is a loser. My feeling is that social media may have been useful for selling books at one time, but it's so over-saturated now, you'd better be really good at marketing if you want to stand out. I mean, really good. Or have a lot of friends, but they're probably going to buy your book, regardless. If they're decent friends, you don't need to post on social media to convince them. Having a lot of followers is a red herring. It means absolutely nothing when it comes to moving your book.  

Author Website. I firmly believe every author should have a website. It establishes a professional presence. Your choice, of course. Most authors who want to go the economical route use WordPress's paid service. You still have to buy a domain name, but that's pretty inexpensive. There are many, many other hosting services, and I know nothing about them (except for Wix), so their functionality is a mystery to me. My Blogger website costs me $0.00, and it works just fine. It's pretty lonely, though.

Newsletter. Sure, if you want. If you're a reader of this blog, you know how I feel about author newsletters. Some claim they're great for marketing. Of course, some people claim the earth is flat. You can do a newsletter for free using MailerLite if you have less than 1,000 subscribers. (Who has more than that??) You'll have to work with their one free template, which is blank, but honestly, who cares? (sorry; I just don't believe in newsletters.) There are other free sites as well. It's up to you to figure out what to put inside one.

There are a bunch of other peripheral things an author can do that I'm not going to get into, because they're certainly not required, nor are they helpful. But you, as a newly published or about-to-be-published author, can see where you're going to be spending the majority of your time. There's a lot of expense and begging involved.

The worst "bad" about self-publishing, even worse than the monetary investment and the not getting noticed part, is the toll it takes on a writer's self-esteem. A lot of people read indie books, and a lot of people are also quick to denigrate indie books. I think there's a certain sense of entitlement some readers feel, that indie writers are nobodies, and nobodies deserve to be taken down a peg. You'll get reviewers who tell you how they would have written the book, or they blatantly question your intellectual abilities. I had one reviewer who, while she liked my book, proceeded to give the whole story away in her review, including who the stalker was (thanks!) 

Trade published authors get nasty reviews, too, but whereas they have a team to lean on for support, you have you.

So, why do it at all? If you love writing, you can't not do it. You can learn to do all the above things to a certain degree, and if you can afford to, you can hire someone to do the things you can't.

But you've gotta go into self-publishing with your eyes wide open.