What Indie Means to Me

Photo Credit: Susanne Neal | Dreamstime.com – <a href=”https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-lived-happily-ever-image7226129#res9080468″>They lived happily ever after</a>

I am a proud indie author. In this post from a year and a half ago, I write about my decision process and experience transitioning from traditionally-published author to indie author. Click over and check it out if you’re interested in finding out more about what it means to be indie, how much money an indie author makes compared to a traditionally published author, and why I made the decision to go indie.

October is indie month at Amazon! This whole month, Amazon is featuring great indie writers on their Powered By Indie campaign, and I’m sooooooper excited to be included among their greats!

They’ve chosen Wishing For a Highlander as one of their featured indie books.

Thank you Amazon!

To celebrate indie month, I’m sharing some of the reasons I absolutely love being and indie author.

Reason 1: More Money

Those of you familiar with my blog know I don’t shy away from money discussions. I share my income numbers with you here and here hoping the sharing of information helps others with the hugely important decision of whether or not to go indie.

My personal writing journey has evolved in such a way that I make more money as an indie author than I did as a traditionally published author. This may not be everyone’s story. I had a bestseller on my hands, and I knew my Highlander time-travels would continue to sell well based on reviews I was getting and what the market was demanding. The decision to go indie was a pretty safe one for me, and I have no regrets.

Reason 2: FREEDOM!

Giving input on cover design and formatting is great, but my favorite area of freedom is choosing when to release my next book.

For me, writing to a deadline would stifle my muse. I need to be relaxed and content in order to write.

I set goals for when I want my next book to be completed and released, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t make the goal. At least it’s not the end of the world to me. My faithful readers who eagerly await my next Highlander book might have a different take on deadlines and release dates.

Reason 3: Community

Kristen Lamb, Marie Force, Candace Havens, Jami Gold, Angela Quarles, the list goes on and on. What do all these authors have in common besides being uber talented and publishing indie novels? They are all authors who love helping other authors.

All us indie authors are technically competeing against each other for the hard-earned dollars and ever harder-earned time of readers. But for some strange reason, we’re not all trying to sabotage each other. Weird, huh?

I’ve found indie authors to be the most welcoming, sharing, encouraging folks around. I wouldn’t be where I am without the free advice of all these wonderful people. That’s why I pay it forward by sharing with you lovely readers when I have a tidbit of information I think someone might find helpful.

If any of the names above aren’t familiar to you, and you’re an author, go check out their blogs. They have some really useful and often side-splittingly funny things to say about writing and marketing books.

Your Turn

If you’re an indie author, why do you love it…or not love it?

For readers, what’s your reaction when you hear someone say, I wrote a book and published it myself? Are you more or less inclined to buy an indie book compared to a traditionally-published book?

As always, thanks for reading! Don’t forget to share this post using the nifty buttons below, and please check out Amazon’s Powered By Indie promotion this month! You might find some new-to-you literary treasures!