Adan Ramie on Being an Indie Writer

Great post! I actually had someone ask me recently “Why don’t you get your books mainstream published?” As if being on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. etc. and having been on the Amazon best seller list more than once (both the free and the paid lists) wasn’t “mainstream” enough. I replied that mainstream was obviously a matter of opinion and that what I thought he actually meant was why I was not published with one of the big publishers, and that was because I didn’t want to be. I enjoy the control, I enjoy keeping my rights, and I enjoy the whole process. I’m happy being an indy and you are 100% right – if we’re happy about it, why do we downplay it? I am as guilty of this as anyone – I rarely tell people I write books, though will tout other accomplishments. After discussing a similar topic on another blog I wonder if it has to do with the indy status so much as it does the subject matter of my books that I am “embarrassed” about. Even among fellow indies vampires are often sneered at (I even saw a writing blog award once that specifically said “please do not award this to vampire writers”. Really??). We need to stop sneering at one another – stop trying to label certain genres as legitimate, or certain writing styles, or certain requirements (such as “that cover looks sloppy so they must not be a *real* writer) in an effort to make ourselves feel better about our indy status and start sticking together – like that lion pride Adan mentions.

(loved that!)

Article 94

Adan Ramie, author of Maladaptation, andConsuming Darkness is a pal of mine, and I asked her to say a few things about being an indie writer.

---

Hold Your Head Up, Indies
“I’m only an indie author. It’s no big deal.”

Those are my words, said to an acquaintance who asked about what I had been up to lately. The words bounced off the insides of my skull like an old bucket down a well. They rang empty and false. In an effort to avoid hubris, I chose self-deprecating humility, and it felt all wrong. It sent the wrong message, not only to the listener, but to myself. Is it really no big deal to be an indie author?

The Humble Indie
For a long time, there was this black cloud over indie publishing that said it was something to be avoided. That’s where failed authors went to lick…

View original post 338 more words