Pros and Cons of Being an Indie Author

A Great Place to Start

  
Pro's and Con's of being an Indie 
I'm sure this topic would be addressed differently by every Indie Author.  What one person thinks of as a con another may think of as a pro.  I think being an Indie or a Traditionally published author, a Trad in other words, is just like life in general, it has to start with the question, what do you want out of being an Indie.  What do you expect and what are your abilities to get you there.
 

Indie, the easy path?
If you think being an Indie is the easy way to publishing think again.  You are getting ready to step into a world that will take you as far as you are willing to push yourself.  We have Indie Authors that are having their books turned into movies.  We have Indies Authors that are seeing their dreams come true. Then again we have some Indies that are seeing lots of books sales, and some that are getting a couple of sales a month.

What makes one successful and one not so much, well, that's the fifty-dollar question.  Sometimes it's timing, sometimes its work, and sometimes a person will just write the perfect kind of story that the market is ready to gobble up.

Roll up your sleeves and pray
Most Indie authors are a jack of all trades. We write our own books, edit, make a cover, make a book trailer, we market, we sale, we upload, we format, if it gets done, we do it.  Now I'll admit some that can afford it will put some of these tasks on someone else.  Some buy covers, and pay for editors, but even when you do this, there is enough work left for a team of people.

You will be getting ready to open a door, that will lead to work, and work and more work.  Some Trads say that Indies are taking the easy road, by self publishing, well let me tell you, there is nothing easy about this job.  When they've worked as hard as I have, stayed up all night writing, looked at thousands of pictures to find the perfect red head for a cover, worked for hours trying to figure out how to upload a book to smash words. When they have walked a mile in an Indies shoes then and only then should they think about calling us lazy.

My Cons
To me it is a con to not have someone to turn to that knows more than me, a con to not have a great editor in my back pocket, a con is not having a better salary.  A con is not having someone to market my books for me.  As I said at the first we all each have our own con and pro list.

My Pros 
I love to make my own covers, I love having total control of what goes into my novel, I like the freedom that I work when I want to, no one tells me what to do. No one says be here or be there or do this and do that.  I don't have an agent, I have very few work related expenses. I can put out as many books as I want when and where I want.  This list could go on but I think I've hit the high points.





The Indie Family

I must say that one of the things I was not expecting was all of the loyal other Indies out there that are so willing to do just about anything they can to help their fellow Indie.  It's like this large school of Indies, and the minute you say you're going Indie they are willing to open up their arms, and their minds, to help you in any way they can.

The Trad V/S Indie 
Things have changed since I first wrote this article so this is an update. Indies are still not always accepted by Trade authors, many of them have felt in the past that we were skipping a step or taking a short cut, but now many of the Trades are coming around to see that the Indie route is another option for them. Many of them are going hybrid and seeing the Indie path as an option to make sometimes more money than they did when they were with a publishing company.

What road will you chose?
I'm a Christian and I am a firm believer in praying and asking God for guidance, so never take a step into any adventure without asking for God to guide you.  Now, that said, I say your choice will and should depend greatly on what you want out of life. Do you want to be your won boss, set your own hours, and chose your own path?  Do you want to work harder than everyone else to get the stories out of your head and onto paper.  Can you do all of this on your own, it is not an easy job, you have been warned.

I can't really tell you much about the Traditional side of publishing, all I know is what people tell me. I know they say they make more money than we do, but I think now things are changing and all of us are having to fight for every sale.





The Indie Gates
It's up to you as an Author to make that choice, to add up your own pro and con list, and then either start writing your first book and working on that first cover, or you could always just start writing query letters and start looking for an agent.  

The choice is up to you.

But for now the Indie Gates are wide open, do you really want to take a chance on letting them close without letting you run in first.

Samantha Fury 
Author of the Street Justice Series 


Yes I know I have cute dogs and I love to show them off. 
Thanks for dropping by check out past blogs to learn more about being An Indie Author!!