OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
I've been at two publishing conferences in the last week and it's evident that myths and misconceptions abound when it comes to independent authors and self-publishing.
Book Machine's Publishing Now even had a debate on the motion “Self-publishing is devaluing publishing.” In a heated discussion afterwards, I could see that the definition of ‘indie' as it applies to authors is still misunderstood. Of course, when mainstream publishers like Penguin announce their own self-publishing arms, it can be difficult to know what the hell is going on!
This is further demonstrated in the leaked Hachette internal memo on the relevance of publishing companies where they equate self-publishing with just digital distribution, which we (hopefully) all know is only the final step in the process. Joe Konrath & Barry Eisler respond with their comments here which is worth a read.
Eisler defines self-publishing: ‘it means you keep the rights to your book and publish it yourself using distributor/retailers like Amazon, Apple, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, and Sony, typically retaining 70% of the cover price instead of the 17.5% offered by legacy publishers (for digital editions). This isn’t what “most people” mean when they say self-publishing; it’s what everybody means when they say self-publishing.
But it's true that to many people self-publishing means bad quality books with no editing published by one of the vanity presses and the main concern is that this crap is flooding the world and readers can't find quality in the mass of rubbish. I know these books do exist but I hope you agree that we can do a lot better than that these days. I also believe that readers are the new gatekeepers so sales online, reviews and rankings will ensure that the cream rises and bad stuff drops out of the picture.
The term ‘indie author' has been increasingly claimed by authors who want a new label, one that does justice to the work involved.
This is my take on the subject but please add your comments and thoughts as it is definitely a moving target and no doubt there will be continued debate on it. I do mean for this to be an inclusive definition and you may sit somewhere on the spectrum of indie or you may be traditionally published. People have different aims for their books and their writing careers and I respect your choices, I just wanted to add to the debate!
Indie author means truly independent
At its most basic, indie means there is no separate publisher involved. Many indies may have setup their own micro-press, so their books still have a publisher name that is not the author's name but the publisher is not one of the author services companies. The indie author most likely owns their own ISBNs. The indie pays the bills and is paid by the distributors e.g. Amazon/Smashwords directly. The only middleman is the distributor.
There has been a blurring of the line between indie author and indie publisher that seems to be mostly related to size and scope of the business. I am an indie publisher of my own books so it's basically the same thing as being an indie author, but there are small & midsize independent publishing houses who don't like the term indie being used for people like me. However, there are increasing numbers of micro-businesses being set up by authors who also publish other author's books so these perhaps count as indie publishers.
Indies are entrepreneurs and business-people
The Creative Penn is a limited company. My books and this site as well as my speaking are a business. I have an accountant and I do monthly accounts. I monitor cash-flow, income and expenses. Indie authors may not all have such a developed business but they treat their writing and publishing in a business-like manner. That means they have to think about financials but also sales & marketing as well as production on top of the creative side. They basically act like a small press and can be defined as micro-entrepreneurs.
This entrepreneurial attitude also spills into why people go indie in the first place. We like speed and we like control. Taking action and seeing what works comes naturally, and jumping into new media, new technologies and opportunities is part of what we do. By the time I had written my first novel, I already had a platform so it was worth the experiment to publish immediately and see what happened. As the great entrepreneurs say, fail fast, fail often and then go with what works.
Indies employ professionals as publishing involves teamwork
I understand how the term self-publishing can be judged as a misnomer because we don't do it all ourselves. We have a team in the same way big publishers do.
One of the biggest criticisms of self-publishing is the poor quality of the finished product which is why it's important to take these extra steps.
As indies, we budget for and employ professional editors, professional designers and formatters for digital and print books. We know the value of our work includes the way it is perceived on the page as well as the work itself. I have always used an editor but I am definitely guilty of doing a lot more myself with my earlier books (which at some point I will re-publish). No more. The charge of bad quality is one we can avoid by investing in a collaborative process.
Indies are still interested in ‘traditional' book deals
There is a vocal camp that have now sworn off traditional publishing forever but I think most indies are still interested in a publishing deal, if it offers something they can't do or don't want to do themselves.
Most indies don't hate mainstream publishing either, despite the noisy few who make it look like we do.
In actual fact, we are all book lovers and advocates of reading in whatever form people want to consume. We all want the publishing industry to thrive and for readers to continue to buy lots of books and in fact, most authors are also huge consumers of books. Many of the big earning indie authors have been picked up by traditional publishing in some form. Amanda Hocking is the most famous with her St Martin's Press deal of over $2 million. John Locke took a print distribution deal with Simon & Schuster. Joe Konrath & Barry Eisler signed with Amazon Encore for some of their books which isn't one of the Big 6 right now, but may soon be. Their secret contracts are rumored to be much better for authors than other publishers but it's still not purely indie anymore, although many of these authors still continue to do their own work for other books. The hybrid model where some books are traditionally published and others are indie published seem to be growing and is perhaps the sweet spot for the most successful authors. It's certainly where I would like to get to myself.
What does indie mean to you? Do you identify as an indie?
Top Image: istockphoto.com & other one is my own edits on Prophecy
E. P. Beaumont says
Very helpful conversation (comments too!) about definitions. I absolutely agree that it’s about the craft and the quality of the product.
I’ve had day jobs in consulting at very small firms that outcompeted players a hundred times their size, and that’s what made the difference: the quality of the work, the responsiveness of the people doing it, and talented staffs with broad but overlapping skill sets.
The self-publishing vs indie publishing distinction is fuzzy at best. One can start up an enterprise with the intention of publishing one’s own work and move on to publish others. As for the independent business identity: there are many good reasons to do that, including the discipline of keeping business accounts separate from personal accounts, and leaving room for growth.
Victoria says
I’ve always found it odd that musicians who create, distribute and market their albums are indie but authors who do the same are rubbish. Double standard, anyone? Some of these indie musicians make wonderful music and some of them don’t. It’s the same with indie authors. Thanks Joanna for such a wonderful resource of info you have here.
Ben F says
You read my mind. The practice is highly respected in music, probably more so than signing with a traditional label. The cream rises.
William N. Spencer says
And just what are we new and upcoming writer/authors supposed to do today. In my genre, academic research in the Human Resources / Labor Management field, I sent out over 100 sample pages and requests for publication review to major University publishers. I now have a box full of rejection notices. I took/take great pride in my 75,000 words of research and reporting, and wanted this work made available any way possible – that being self-publishing.
Joanna Penn says
Hi William, I’m just trying to work out whether your first line is a question?
“And just what are we new and upcoming writer/authors supposed to do today?”
I guess this is what I’m saying – that we should treat self-publishing as a business, just as a publisher would. So you can make your work available.
Donn LeVie says
Hi William:
Are you writing for academicians, students, or a different audience altogether? Questions to ask:
1. Are others willing to pay $$ for this information? If so, how much, and why would they pay $$ for this information? What are the real and perceived reader benefits?
2. Can you take that research and spin it into a book/seminar/blog/website/workshop/speech/consulting opportunity?
As university publishers become more selective with manuscript acceptance, (1) consider other publishing alternatives; (2) honestly assess the market potential of any work, if it provides some value to a targeted audience, and if they are willing to pay for it; and (3) use the book to build your platform as an expert.
Good luck,
Donn LeVie Jr.
Joanna Penn says
Thanks Donn. I also think non-fiction has great potential for self-publishing but as you say, market potential must be assessed.
William N. Spencer says
My books are aimed primarily towards college classroom research at Jr. or Sr. level.
For many years I have been using the great library at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) for research and reference material for my books. I have been told that there are about 110,000 university libraries in the United States, all I want is for each and every one of them to buy only one copy (or more) of each of my books?????!!!!!
Donn LeVie says
I tried the conventional publishing route once, and vowed never to return to it. I agree with your definition of an independent author. I have an extensive background in writing, editing, graphic design, and publishing (from many years as a technical and scientific communications professional), so I set up my own publishing company for my books that I use to promote for speaking engagements, workshops/seminars, consulting opportunities, and (in another channel) classical guitar performance opportunities.
The independent author understands that a book is simply “another brick in the wall” or better stated, another plank in his or her platform as an information dissemination professional. If I write a book and publish it through my publishing company, I am an author/publisher; that information helps me get opportunities to fulfill my role in disseminating information as a speaker, teacher/trainer, consultant, and so on.
I don’t get married to the “author” title because that’s not just who or what I am–it’s another facet of my platform for how I disseminate information that changes peoples lives.
Cheers…
Joanna Penn says
Thanks Donn. I’m also an author-entrepreneur as I’m not happy with the author title alone – I feel I do a lot more than that 🙂 I like having a legal company to work under as well, it makes me think in terms of the business in everything I do. I love your classical guitar as well!
Donn LeVie says
Ah! So you’ve been to the website! I write under the pseudonym “J.T. Kirk” (yes, I was a huge Star Trek fan as a kid) for the jobs and career strategies market, taking advantage of my 25 yearas as a hiring manager for various Fortune 500 companies. I wanted to keep that channel separate from the classical guitar and Christian market where I write under my name.
However, this year, for the jobs/career strategies market, I will be dropping the pseudonym as I’m getting more speaking engagements, workshops/seminars, and consulting opportunities for 2012, and it’s time to fess up! It’s too difficult to maintain two personnas in front of different audiences…
Cheers,
Donn
Marilyn Levinson says
Joanna,
I always thought that indie meant self-publishing, yet my mystery, A Murderer Among Us, which was published by Wings ePress, an epublisher, was chosen one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Indies of 2011. Which led me to believe that indie also refers to small presses. Then I thought–we call small companies that make movies indies.
Renee Pawlish says
I like and agree with your definition, but unfortunately I see far too many writers who classify themselves as indie authors, but don’t have a clue about how to write a good book. It takes so much more than just a great cover and grammar editing – one needs to know how to construct a story, how to engage a reader, and so on. And I see a lot of authors where I sampled the work because there were tons of great reviews and I thought the book was poorly done. Maybe it’s my author lens coming into play, or maybe it’s what I perceive as a lowering of reader expectations in the last few years (or maybe both). It’s hard to stand out, but as I’ve said on my own blog, we as the authors need to start taking control and produce quality work, regardless of whether we are indie or not.
Thanks for your insights.
Joanna Penn says
Hi Renee, I think that the proof is in the customer’s response. If books are selling, then there is a market for them. They may not be books that I like, or you like, but if people are buying them, shouldn’t they be classified as good. I always like to bring out Amanda Hocking as I can’t stand vampire romance. I didn’t think Twilight was good, I couldn’t read more than a few pages and look at that success.
So yes, I agree we need to focus on writing the best we can for the audience we want or have already, but that doesn’t mean writing literary fiction or what some consider prize-winning. Part of indie is that it’s not so mainstream I guess…
Renee Pawlish says
Yes, it’s a discussion that could go on and on. I have more thoughts that I’ll post on my blog lol. Thanks again.
Bridget McKenna says
“Good” is entirely in the eye of the beholder, I think, and although I’m a very picky reader, the books I choose are good by MY lights and to MY taste, though others may and often do disagree. Books I’ve given five-star reviews have sometimes gotten one-star reviews from others. I don’t do one-star reviews, but books whose samples I deleted after reading two paragraphs have received lavish praise from other readers.
I’ve even sampled books by indie authors who are critical of others’ poor writing and storytelling, and found what I considered extremely poor writing and / or storytelling. Literary critics to the contrary, there doesn’t seem to be one standard for “good,” no matter how hard we may cling to our own.
Donn LeVie says
Bill:
Not sure you are aware but libraries buy from distributors who specialize in marketing to libraries and some if not most of those distributors refuse to work with authors or publishers who have fewer than 10 titles–as an independent author/publisher,that’s been my experience.
Donn
Bill Bell says
I guess I will never be an Indie. For one thing I know from past experience that I am not a businessman having failed miserably at it once. Being retired on a fixed income I cannot afford to hire professionals to do editing and other essentials. I basically rely on family and friends to help in proofing my work. Although I have a traditionally published text book, (which I am very proud of) and novel that was touted as being traditionally published by “Publish America”, the remainder of my works have been self published through blurb and amazon kindle. I continue to write because I love it and I have stories to tell. Where does that put me on the list? Even though I would greatly enjoy making some money at this, if I was after the money I would have quit a long time ago.
Bill
Joanna Penn says
Bill, I think it’s fine to just be writing as more of a hobby so don’t worry about that. Writing because you love it is marvellous. Carry on, please!
Toby Wallis says
Very good post, a lot of interesting points made.
I think the indie label is mostly useful because self-publishing has such a negative connotation from all the years of badly produced, badly edited books. I put my book of shorts on the Kindle store essentially as an experiment. E-publishing didn’t exist when I started writing seriously, and while previously I had said I would never self-publish I just couldn’t see a good reason not to. I wrote a blog post about it a while back, here’s a link to it; http://tobywallis.net/2011/10/13/before-you-were-born/. Indie publishing and self-publishing may be basically the same thing but ultimately writers are looking for readers and readers are looking for good books. Easier and cheaper self-publishing gives us another avenue to try and make that happen and if referring to it as Indie helps to throw off some of the negativity that follows the self-publishing label then that’s a good thing.
Karen Inglis says
Hi Joanna – great post and sorry I missed it last time around. And, Toby, I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I’ve recently self-published The Secret Lake (a children’s book) and given it the imprint Well Said Press through my company Well Said Limited (which is my writing consultancy). I’ve been lucky enough to get it into quite a few bookshops here in London – and it was interesting hearing the book buyers once or twice suggesting I check with ‘the publisher’ on a couple of things – and that was because when speaking to them face to face or talking them through my website and the book I avoided using the term ‘self-published’. I’ve today blogged about my experience of marketing the book but failed to mention this – I’ll make a point of updating it in the next couple of days and referring over here, Joanna. I know that I have produced a quality book (and the review from the ex Head Reader at Puffin UK would seem to back me up!) – it’s just frustrating to feel that I have to tip-toe around the fact that I’ve published myself.
Interestingly I was at a children’s publishing conference in November where it was clear from a couple of panel questions that self-published authors were considered to live in a separate (less relevant) world – and I know from a couple of sources that mainstream journalists do not consider self-published books for review. Hopefully perceptions will change over time as good quality indie authors get noticed more.
Donn LeVie Jr. says
I write non-fiction books as an indie author, and I use my books to promote my speaking, workshops, seminars, and consulting (and classical guitar performances in another channel); I also use my speaking, worshops, seminars, and consulting to promote my books (and classical guitar performances).
I think there’s more opportunity to expand the income circle in non-fiction than in fiction in the indie author world. I created my own publishing company (Kings Crown Publishing.com) for all my books and funnel all revenue through the publishing business. I don’t go out of my way to tell folks that I own the publishing company because it’s not relevant to my target audiences.
I don’t publish the works of other authors (I have used a pseudonym for books I write in the Job/Career Strategy channel to protect my brand in the Christian and classical music markets), so it’s entirely an enterprise that promotes my own work with the help of trusted professionals I use (editors, proofreaders, PR, etc.).
But the plain truth is that a lot of junk is being self-published by people more enamored with seeing their name in print or being called “an author” than actually publishing quality work. They refuse to perform due diligence on the market, the genre, competing titles, etc. Gordon Burgett, a prolific indie author/publisher has a mantra that bears repeating: “Amateurs write, then try to sell; professionals sell, then write.” Eventually, the quality of one’s work and the skill with which that work is created, marketed, and promoted will be assessed by the buying public.
OK, climbing down off the soapbox and getting back to my next book draft…
Gilll James says
I’ve recently blogged about this myself. I’ve actually done a bit of everything – been published mainstream, self-published and been published by small press and actually am a small press publisher. I’m a bit of a gatekeeper too – I review books that wow me so much they take me out of my editor’s head. There’s a couple of “self-published” in there.
But I do worry about the new gatekeepers and the trend towards crowdfunding because it’s coming down to how popular a person is. Now, I’m slightly ugly, a bit of a grumpy old woman – though acutally I love people but I don’t have much patience with imbeciles and I’ve actually just turned 60 so there’s all that goes with that. I’m getting slightly agrophobic, too. What chance have my books got with a parent like that? (Actually, they’ve got some nicce reviews but sales could do with being a bit higher). So, the “traditonal” publisher will circumvent much of that even though they’ll still expect us to do our bit – and I wouldn’t dream of not doing it.
I actually think the traditional publishers need to look again at how they make choices and how they publish.
James Byrd says
I definitely relate to the “indie” label. My wife and I have self-published non-fiction books since 2006 through our own corporate publishing imprint. I’m just finishing my first fantasy fiction novel (to be released on January 31!), and we will publish that book ourselves as well, but we’ll probably create a new imprint for it.
I’ve been reading a lot of self-published work lately, and I haven’t found the books to be any better or worse from a story standpoint than the many, many books I’ve read over the years from traditional publishers. I do agree that the quality of the editing is often lower, but that is something that can be easily fixed. I try to mark errors when I find them and pass them on to the author for correction. I also find errors in trad-published books; those bother me more because the publishers are charging three or more times the money for their books.
Lately, I’ve seen opinions (including in the comments here) that the industry should have some kind of “quality seal” for self-published books. Why? We don’t have one for trad books, and those can be rubbish too! I think the crowdsourced review and rating system we have now is sufficient, if imperfect. Any “official” rating system would instantly become political and eventually be gamed, just as the bestseller lists are gamed now.
Your article is a nice nice overview of the issues. Thanks for writing it.
Ashley Zacharias says
Thanks for your essay. You nicely address the need for a good definition of “indie author”. Your post, though, seems to define an “Indie Author” as someone who intends to sell self-published books. I have always made my anthologies available for free, yet I do not consider my writing to be a “hobby”. I write full time; I strive to write as professionally as possible; I attend writers’ conferences; and I submit work to agents in search of a traditional publishing contract. I have had some success. My anthologies are among the top 100 downloaded works on Smashwords and have sales ranks between 1300 and 2500 on Barnes and Noble. I give away my writing for free as part of a long-term strategy, as described in my blog (http://ashleyzacharias.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/my-long-term-authorial-strategy/).
I hope that the critical part of your definition is the independence of the author and does not exclude people like me who do not try to sell our books.
Joanna Penn says
Hi Ashley, I wouldn’t dream of excluding anyone – you can claim the word for yourself regardless of my thoughts! It sounds like you have lots of fans.
However, I would say that as an entrepreneur, free is definitely part of the strategy but in order to pay the bills with writing, there does need to be some selling involved. But perhaps that is the entrepreneur aspect and not the indie part. Thanks.
Thomas Pickard says
This is a great article, it answers a lot of questions about indie authors. When I was younger a writer came into where I was working (a printshop) and I told him, “I want to be a writer.”
He looked at me and said, “You either are a writer or you are not, it is not something you can become.”
This opportunity to be an indie author is great for that young writer that wants to get thier ideas and stories to the masses. I am glad for this opportunity, and thank you for validating that process. There is a business side, unfortunately we all cannot drink bourdeaux and sit by the pool waiting for the next big idea to come wafting in on the wind, we have to push our stories, sell our ideas and run the business shrewdly.
So now I must get to the business of writing, but thank you – By the way, I am putting “indie author” on my twitter bio.
Donn LeVie says
Hi Thomas:
Agreed…the easiest part of the whole “indie author” model is writing the book. As a publisher/indie author (I went the formal publishing route twice, which was twice too many), I’m constantly looking for ways to stretch my marketing and PR dollars with as many freebies and low-cost avenues as possible. All my information distribution activities (writing, speaking, workshops, blogging, website(s), teaching, consulting, classical guitar performances, etc.) are linked to promote the other faces of what I offer. I always find time to write or practice on my classical guitar, but finding the time to promote…well, that requires more discipline on my part than more time 🙂
Lisa Fender says
Great and informative article, and I signed up to your site! I have a million questions on this topic. But the most important one for me is whether or not I should self-pub or try for a publisher?! This is my first novel and it will be a series. I have a good friend who is also an artist and has done the cover of someone elses book, and I like the fact that he will do the cover the way I want him too. In a perfect world, I would love to get a publisher that is willing to use the cover I want and won’t make me wait two years to get published. I am really struggling with the best way to go. Thanks for your insight and I hope that you give me some needed advise.
Joanna Penn says
Hi Lisa,
There are pros and cons of each – these are my pros right now for indie, given the above caveats of getting pro editing & cover design:
* Control
* Speed of publishing
* Global sales in an expanding digital market.
* 35% or 70% royalty
* Payment by check/bank transfer/ Paypal 90 days after sale.
* Transparency in reporting daily. Impact of marketing trackable.
* Direct relationship with readers
* Experimentation. Gatekeepers are readers.
and pros for traditional:
* Kudos and prestige
* Having books in bookstores
* Developmental editor over time – but this is debatable given I can hire one myself as a serious indie
You can just reverse the pros for the cons of the other.
You’ll have to weigh up what you want for your book. But you definitely won’t get a traditional publisher who will use your cover and not make you wait!
I hope that helps…. my personal goal is to become a hybrid – an author with books in New York publishing and also a whole lot on indie so I can combine both options. For this, I need more books 🙂
Lisa Fender says
Thanks Joanna,
I appreciate your pro and con list, and I am in agreement with you, self-pub seems the way to go. I have been looking into this for several months, and the thought of having to wait possibly 2 years just to go with a big named pub house does not appeal to me, especially since it has taken me 3 years to get my book at the point of being ready to publish. I am leaning with the self-pub! Thanks again!
Donn LeVie Jr. says
Lisa:
Let me pass along some advice the great Gordon Burgett once gave out in a writing seminar: “Professional writers sell, then write; amateurs write, then try to sell.” Essentially, Gordon was telling everyone to line up a publisher or buyer (magazine editor, for example) first before you commit years to writing a book or months to writing an article. Sample chapters, chapter synopses, character bios–all those things fiction publishers want to see first…and if it’s a submission sent in by someone other than an agent, they probably won’t ever look at it (no guarantees they’ll look at if it comes in from an agent either, unless the agent is well known and your name is already a household name).
Why do you want to publish? Is it the satisfaction of seeing your creative effort in a tangible form or do you want to try to make money from it? The realities of the publishing world today suggest that if your reasons are for self-satisfaction of being in print, you’ll be a much happier than thinking you’ll reap financial reward from your fiction.
That being said, there’s a teenage author who wrote a fiction series (in ebook format) and sold each book for $.99. In one month, she had 700,000 downloads for one of her books in the series (probably vampires and teenagers, which is already an overdone genre), but nonetheless, the digital option offer promise for several reasons: as author and publisher, you are more in control of things; it’s less expensive (but you still need a graphics designer, editor, proofreader, etc.), and ebooks are still growing. In fact, I think last year digital book sales exceeded physical books sales on Amazon.com.
REALLY do the research to weigh all the pros and cons; research the market to see if competing titles have already been published; check out the Independent Book Publishers Association website and the Small Publishers and Writers Network (SPAWN-I think that’s the acronym) for loads of good information. Get the Writer’s Market and study it to see who is buying what and which publishes are receptive to new authors.
Good luck!
Lisa Fender says
Thanks Donn, I appreciate the advice! I will check out those sites, but it looks like I am still leaning toward self-pub. I like the idea of not having to wait for years to get published, and no, I am not one of those who needs to be published by a big name. I do want to have my book available for hard cover though, and I will remember the advice of book on demand! Thanks again!
James Byrd says
Hi Lisa. A word about hardcover: you can do print-on-demand hardcover, but you need to go through Lightning Source instead of CreateSpace for that. You can still use CreateSpace for the paperback version if you want. The paperback and hardback editions have separate ISBN’s and separate file uploads anyway. You can always do the paperback through Lightning Source as well, of course.
Another resource for learning about your options is the Self-Publishers Online Conference. [Disclaimer: My company sponsors that event and I’m a speaker, so yes I’m biased.] It does cost money ($97 early bird), but you get access to tons of up-to-date information (which is important given how fast things are changing) about self publishing from recognized experts in the industry. Best of all, you can ask questions and get immediate answers! My comment signature is a link to the site in case you want to check it out.
Lisa Fender says
Thanks James, I will check it out! I did mean paperback, lol! Although, I could always order it hard back for me and close friends. I just meant I didn’t want it only available in download. Thanks for the advice!
Joanna Penn says
Donn, I’m puzzled by this as all agents & publishers say fiction authors should finish the book before they pitch.
The exception is once they have an agent sorted – but first time authors need to finish the book first.
Donn LeVie Jr. says
Hi Joanna:
I should have prefaced my comment with “my experience with publishers and fiction is a bit dated and limited…” as that was what happened with a novel I was pitching let us say “a few years back” (before digital publishing had any feet). If they liked what they read in sample chapters, chapter synopses, and detailed character bios, then they would ask for the rest of the project. The only fiction I ever wrote was a series of short stories for a contest that I won (very nice first prize included $$ and a weekend at a resort hotel) and maybe one day I’ll try my hand at it again…if I can find the time 🙂
Cheers,
Donn
mark says
This article sure cleared up a lot questions that I have about Indie authors. I was checking out Smashwords for ebooks on camping. Thanks for putting together this article.