Saturday 28 July 2012

“NO SELF PUBBED.” SLAMMING THE DOOR AGAINST INDIES.

This week I decided to put together a directory of book reviewers who I have discovered and enjoyed through twitter. It has been an interesting exercise and has thrown up some serious surprises.

The first surprise being just how difficult it still is for an indie published writer to be taken seriously: that the stigma of the ‘vanity press’ is still so prevalent. I suppose that I have been living in a jolly, bouncy little bubble this last two years when it comes to the indie press movement – as many of you know I am part of a vibrant, dedicated and above all, professional community of indie press writers.

Times have changed: the quality of indie writing is a serious challenge to the traditionally published works – and the big publishing houses know this. Authors are increasingly turning down contracts from the publishing houses to go indie. It’s no longer about being indie because nobody wants your work, or your work is rubbish, it’s about being indie as a choice – sadly there appears a large part of the reading community who is still failing to understand this.

It’s such a shame that some readers / bloggers are locking the indie writer out without consideration. I can understand a preference for traditionally published work (after all you know right from the start that it has passed a certain quality control) but that doesn’t mean you are going to like / love all the traditionally published works. A case in example is the Twilight Saga; traditionally published and yet loved and vilified equally by reviewers.

There was a time, and I grant you, not too far in the past, when ‘self-pubbed’ was not as it is now; a time when manuscripts were banged out, poorly edited, poorly considered and often poorly crafted – this is not how it is now. A lot of indie writers hire private editors, have a team of Beta Readers and employ graphic designers; taking their work, their craft and their art seriously.

Of course there are still those authors out there who write and press the button, but as the adage goes, “cream rises” and to be honest I think this kind of ‘self pubbing’ is pretty evident from first glance.

Today when you click onto the Amazon Bestsellers, you have a serious difficulty being able to identify the traditionally published from the indie published. The reader ratings indicate no difference; there are many indie pressed books with 4 or 5 star ratings averaged over a significant readership.

So a special plea to reviewers, don’t lock the indie writer out at the submission stage. Let them send you their e-mail, check out their Amazon page and webpage and then assess whether or not it is of the quality that you might want to read. You never know, you might just discover the next hidden gem. 

10 comments:

  1. I so heartily agree! There are some great book bloggers who welcome indies however, but one must search them out.
    Catherine Stine’s Idea City

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    1. It's very much about doing your research and reading the submission guidelines. It takes a lot of time though. I am very lucky that I have discovered some v.generous and lovely bloggers. Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. Thank you so much for this! This IS true! I take my craft seriously. I have editors, beta readers, and designers just as you said. I take criticism seriously, I am always striving to improve, and I make myself accessible to my audience because...duh! I love them!

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    1. Times are definitely changing and the nature of publishing is too. A seriously proffessional approach taken by artists. It's so yrue what you say about importance of criticism - makes for being a better writer.

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  3. I am a reviewer and am reviewing several Indie authors. I have found some absolute gems; these authors are totally worthy of promotion. I have a list of 23 indie authors to review. I weed them out by sampling the first chapter on Amazon or request the first chapter be provided to me. One day, I hope reviewers will be generous to me in reviewing my probably indie novel.

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    1. Thank you, it's so good to see you've found some 'gems' - me too. Love the diversity of reading that indie movement providing. Good luck with the novel writing:-)

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  4. Great post. I hope what you've written helps to make a difference. It is a shame when you see the dreaded "no self-pub", but I guess reviewers who say it have been burned. I've managed to get some of our books past that slammed door. It's much easier the second time - once the reviewer can see the quality of what we're helping self-publishers to produce. I guess reputation (of the author and the brand they're associated with) will become one of the markers of that all-important "discoverability".

    Looking forward to following you on Twitter now, so thanks to Darlene for the re-tweet :-)

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    1. Hi, Helen. Nice to meet you. I agree completely about the idea of earning your place. I think that is so right. I also agree that reviewers have poss been disappointed before- there is still a lot of poor quality stuff out there. You're right, it does get easier as you build reputation.

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  5. I agree 100%. I accept YA self-published authors and because of the great books that i've come across I dedicated my one year blogiversary to reviewing only self-published authors. I plan to publish my books myself one day and am glad there are supporters like you in the blogging world. I will be sure to follow you so I can see your list.

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    1. Hi, Celine. It is awesome that you are such a supporter of the indie movement and have also realised the benefits of keeping an open mind. Good luck with your own writing projects; wishing you every success. Keep us up to date with your progress

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