Confessions of an Indie Romance Author
the unglamorous side of publishing
Hello beautiful people,
We are getting so close to pub day for Ink & Ambition and I’m completely freaking out! You would think that after doing this three times before, it would get easier but no. It really does not, in fact, I might even say it gets harder. With each book I publish, the more knowledge of the industry I gather and with that comes more pieces of information that I didn’t know before. More things to do, more websites to utilize, more contacts to make. It’s as exhilarating as it is exhausting.
Our journey today is going to take us on two sides of publishing: The Glamorous and the Unglamorous. (Did I sing Glamorous in my head to make sure I spelled it correctly? Yes, yes I did.)
Let’s get the ugliness out of the way: The Unglamorous
Budget. As an indie author, I pay for everything myself. And when I say everything, I mean e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. Editor, cover artist, proofreader, IBSN, online publishing, marketing. Shoot, I even pay for my own books to be printed and shipped to me! Nothing about this process is cheap, especially if you want to put out a professional quality product. That’s why I’m really hoping this book takes off and I actually start making some money from my writing! (well, enough to break even would be a great start).
Online. Nowadays, everything we do is online. There are so many books (paperback, hardcover, ebook, audio) that the internet is packed FULL! How am I supposed to get mine noticed if there’s a million others just like a click away? That’s why I decided to publish via ingramspark rather than Amazon KDP this time around. And boy has that been a headache. What I appreciate about IS is that it’s clearly run by people and not robots but dang, these people take foooorrrreeevvveeerrr to do a simple task like answer a question or ship a copy of my book to me! It takes IS weeks what it would take KDP minutes or days. Unfortunately, most indie bookshops only stock IS books so here I am, pulling my hair out waiting for an email back from IS about an error they made two weeks ago when my pub date is about two weeks away!!! (can you sense my frustration?)
Traditional. As an indie author, I’m very proud of the books I put out myself and I will continue to do so but of course, I’ve got grand ambitions of being traditionally published. It’s that same ol’ song and dance. Can’t get noticed by a publisher unless you have an agent—can’t get an agent unless you have readers—can’t get readers unless they know your book exists—can’t get your book out to readers without spending lots of money on marketing—and on and on and on. Not super encouraging but hey, I’m not letting the odds stop me.
But, it’s not all bad: The Glamorous
Connections. Being on bookstagram and booksky is one of my favorite things about being an author. It’s an amazing way to connect with readers who love the same tropes as me or authors going through the same struggles as me. I’ve built such a community there that it’s more than just social media, it’s like a giant group chat. (If we’re not connected online, what the heck are you waiting for! Look for @authoremilyrbellas everywhere.)
Accomplishment. Let me tell you something: I have a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees but I’ve never felt more accomplished than when I publish a book. And to do it now 4 times? My heart warms whenever I think about it. Even though I look back at my first few and all I see are flaws, I still love everything I publish. They are like my little book babies!
Model. As a teacher, one of my favorite things to do is tell my students that I’m a published author. Not to brag, no. I want them to feel like they can achieve anything they want in life. They see that I’m a teacher by day but when I go home, I live this whole other life as a published author. They see that they can be anything they want to be when they grow up and I wouldn’t change that for the world.
Everything in life has positives and negatives. Sometimes being an author gives me the highest highest and the lowest lowest. And as much as I complain, I’d do it again a hundred times over.
Thanks, loves! Same time, next week? 😘