So you may have read the post I wrote recently, where I examined the different publishing paths and which one was right for me. Since I didn’t know a lot about indie at the time, and some people had not even heard of it when I posted, I thought I would share some of the resources I found in my search–my Great Indie Quest, a traditional girl’s quest to see what indie publishing can do for me.
Indie publishing has a lot of things to offer potential authors, a lot of things I never realized. Freedom, rights, customization. You get to be part of a more intimate, and very loyal community. Not to mention when published through an indie publisher, there is still a gatekeeper and official stamp, as well as all the resources and services a publisher provides, but you get to forgo the entire stressful querying and finding an agent process.
I wanted to share these with you so hopefully if you haven’t heard of indie publishing, or like many people don’t really know a lot about it, you can learn more, and maybe discover that it is an option, or even the right publishing path for you.
Here are some of the resources I found:
1. This site is a great, straightforward guide, particularly to the business side. This post is helpful, but her others are definitely worth checking out as well.
2. S.M. Boyce has some great advice for writers and indie authors. Here is an overview page of different aspects, and here is a list of recommended vendors and people to assist with all the different aspects you might have to handle if you choose to go indie–editing, design, formatting, etc.
3. Kirkus Reviews is well-known and prestigious within the writing and publishing industries, so I was glad to find that they had a guide on indie publishing. It is more general overview advice, but very helpful for those who are just starting to consider indie publishing, or want to find out more about it.
4. Though the Indie Author Guide is a book, which you can buy here, this companion site has a lot of excellent resources, including outside sources and links, and even worksheets for indie authors such as for tracking sales, production costs, budget, etc.
5. Again, though this is a book by author Susan Kaye Quinn, the site also includes two webinars, 10 Ways to Survive Indie Publishing and Facing Your Fears, plus dozens of links to resources for freelance services and other recommendations.
6. This is an article about an author’s journey to self-publishing, and different aspects of it. The title, Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know, says it all.
That’s all I have for now! I hope these can help you to understand a little more about indie publishing, and maybe even consider it if you haven’t already. Do you have any questions, or more resources about indie publishing you’d like to share? Let me know!
Coffee. Write. Repeat. 
Wow, I admit I didn’t know anything about indie publishing at all before reading this post (and your previous one). I’ve always considered traditional publishing my only option, because I want to feel like I earned it, as you said, and because I actually dream of seeing my book in bookstores and hold it in my hands. I thought indie was the same thing as self-publishing, but now that I’ve read your posts I’m actually interested in learning more about indie and I’ll probably consider it in the future, when my story is ready. So thank you, this was very useful!
ps. About self-publishing: I know many writers who would like to self-publish but are discouraged because a lot of self-published books are really bad, and anyway they wouldn’t know where to find a good editor and how to design their own cover and so on. Well there’s a new company, Reedsy, that works as a sort of marketplace and also supports authors through every step of a book’s production. Basically it connects authors with certified, industry-experienced, professional editors, book designers, translators and marketers who work as freelancers (writers can check their backgrounds obviously)… hopefully this means we’ll see more quality self-published books around!
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I have always self published my books. I would love to be traditional one day though.
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Reblogged this on The Hermit.
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Thanks so much sharing these resources. Publishing is the dream one day for me 🙂
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Going independent in publishing is an exciting adventure. I recommend checking out “Let’s Get Digital” by David Gaughran. http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/lets-get-digital/
He gives a lot of good advice and teaches you a lot about digital publishing. There is also a follow up book called “Let’s Get Visible” that tells you about marketing.
Good luck and I look forward to hearing about how indie publishing works out for you.
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Thank you so much for making this post!! =] does that mean you will go Indie when you want to publish?
By the way, are you doing NaNiWriMo? If so, shall we become buddies on the site?
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I’ve heard of indie publishing, but as you said, I don’t really know much about it. The links look like a great place to start learning. Thank you for posting this. 🙂
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