For those of you who don’t know, I’m an indie author (go, indies!). 
That means I don’t have a publisher for my books, other than little ole me – and my success is directly tied to the enthusiasm my readers have for my stories [Yay readers! You rock!]. If you’re a reader and you like my books, please, spread the word. Tell your friends, co-workers, family, neighbors, … well, you get the picture.
The popularity of the Kindle and ebooks, and of course the platform provided by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and Smashwords (among others), has made it possible for thousands of authors like me who want more control over their destinies to connect with readers in a much more personal and direct way through self-publishing. This used to be only for authors who were rejected by mainstream publishers – but not anymore! Today you will find not only many highly successful indie authors (even some on the NYT Bestseller and USA Today Bestseller lists), but also many traditionally published authors launching new projects as self-published ebooks, or digging up old titles and dusting them off, putting them online as ebooks. (Well, those they still have rights to or those whose rights they can buy back – otherwise, their publishers are doing it and keeping a greater portion of the revenue.)
The only drawback to being an indie author is that you end up having to do a lot of the grunt work of book publishing yourself. Now, when I say ‘grunt work’ I don’t mean that it’s unpleasant – just that it’s something a big publishing company pays other people to do. Some of these things include:
- Book cover design and layout
- Promotion and Marketing
- Proofreading and Editing services
The self-publishing world is growing by leaps and bounds, and as this ebook revolution changes and shapes the future of book publishing, it behooves all indie writers to work really hard at putting out their best products so that the self-publishing industry earns the respect it deserves from readers. (I hate to call a book a product, but *sigh* I am the grunt at Elle Casey publishing, and sometimes my books are products when it comes to promotion and marketing). So this includes using competent professionals for the things an author cannot do herself/himself.
Author Marketing Club
Book Marketing & Selling Tips for Authors
Bargain eBooks
There are lots of sites that tell readers about books for sale, but not all of them give so much press to indie authors. Check out: