The Six problems with being a Self published Author and / Or Freelance Writer

Being a self published author or freelance writer can be hard at times. There is no doubt about it that sometimes the world just doesn’t understand about what it is like being a writer. There have been times when I feel that I am just pushing back against them to legitimize what career I have chosen. There are many problems as to why people think that self-publishing and freelance writers are badly portrayed but most of them aren't true.

Here are six problems with being a self published author / freelance writer:

1.    Friends and family call it a hobby

My writing is by no means a hobby. A hobby is something that costs you some to partake in which you enjoy. Although I will admit that I enjoy writing, the end result is to earn money from it. I also have to cater for client needs and often have to negotiate price, deadlines and content. This all makes it a business and career rather than a hobby.

2.    You must be raking it in

At the other end of the scale are those who remind me that J K Rowling and other famous authors who make millions from their books. Therefore according to logic; I must be making a comfortable wage each month. This is not strictly too. I am now freelance writing, which divides time from writing creatively, but that is paying me regularly. But I am not making an excessive amount – but within a few months enough that I hope to call it a full time wage.

3.    I am lazy

Writers are lazy??  I’ve heard this one a lot. It is very funny to hear this one because people are very quick to judge your career based on misconceptions from a society stereotype but are not so happy to have hear their own career’s negative stereotypical description. Just to set the record straight I am up at 5am working and go to bed about 10pm after finishing work. Most of the people who say this to me aren't up at 7 am and are watching soaps by 7 pm.

4.    Self publishing is expensive

Without considering marketing costs, self publishing is expensive. Cover art, editing and formatting can all cost you up to about $500-1000 if you want to have the job done right and then you have the costs of the print proofs. When you add in marketing your costs can spiral out of control. Self publishing is not for those who want to be cheap.

5.    Self publishing is lonely

It certainly isn’t. I have met some wonderful people throughout my writing career and struck up some wonderful friendships. With those friendships I have learned a lot of new things and been steered in the right direction in many cases.

6.    Writing take no skill

I’ve had this said to me often. But I always respond with the same question: “how many books have you sold?” Writing a book from start to finish is not easy. Freelance writing is not easy. That is why companies will pay writers good rates for writing their content whether an e-book or blog content. Just because it takes no skill to tap on a few keys on a keyboard, does not mean that it takes no skill to write something coherent.

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The six winners of the e-book revolution

The traditional publishers often comment that they are losing out due to the self publishing author and there are many commentators that suggest that readers are losing out too. With the merger of the two of the big six it is becoming true at least the traditional publishers are losing out from the new trend in publishing. However there are several winners from this industry and here they are and why.

1.       Readers

Yes they are winners. There is more choice, lower prices, more ways to read and better avenues for expressing their opinions. Yes you can argue that some indie books are poor, but so are some traditionally published books – it is all a matter of subjective opinion.

2.       Amazon

Amazon’s e-book reader Kindle and the fact that they have what could be about 60% or more of the e-book market has made them millions. So there is no doubt that they are a winner in the indie revolution.

3.       Mark Coker

You can hardly question that without Mark Coker the indie world would be so strong. Smashwords has given him an excellent presence in the publishing world where traditional publishers view him as the leader of the revolution alongside Amazon.

4.       Freelancers

Whether a cover artist, editor or formatter; the revolution has opened the doors to many freelancers on obtaining new work increasing their end of year earnings. It has allowed some bad eggs to seep in and give poor service to authors but it has also allowed great talent to shine that was otherwise hidden.

5.       The internet

The revolution has brought a revolution of critics as well. No longer are book reviewers hiding in newspapers but they have blogs and websites. There are also many sites which contain great articles for readers and writers which may not have existed before.

6.       Authors

Yes authors have won in the revolution. Now they have choice over their path, now they have control over their work and now they have a decent cut over their sales. And if it wasn’t for the authors then the revolution wouldn’t have happened and the other five wouldn’t have gained anything.

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Six Reasons Why Self Publishing is Not Destroying the Industry

There has always been a lot of talk about whether or not self publishing is good for the industry. There are many arguments that the new indie trend is destroying the industry, with this article appearing a little while ago. In short the author blames the indies for pushing traditionally publishers to the brink of collapse and says that the indie books are poorly written and full of mistakes.

However I feel completely different from the author of the article. For starters I am an indie author, it is a lifestyle choice based on several factors which I want from my writing and I am a reviewer of indie books. I have and do still read traditionally published books but in my own opinion some of the best books have been indie produced.

So I want to put forward these six reasons why being an indie author is not destroying the world.

1.       Traditional Publishers add very little value to the book

That is a big one to start isn’t it? But it is true. An indie author (if professional) will still source their own cover art, editing and formatting. So what do Traditional Publishers do that adds value for authors? Well they have excellent distribution avenues, which would cover most book shops if not all. However the book would only have a few weeks to achieve sales before it is pulled. That just simply isn’t long enough. With Amazon’ Createspace and other Print on Demand services it isn’t impossible now to get your books into the shops, you just have to try very hard.

2.       More books means more competition which is better for readers

In every industry the idea of more competition is horrendous to the thoughts of the established. However as was proven by in the UK in the telecommunications industry, the introduction of competitors to British Telecoms rather large monopoly forced the industry to offer better products at cheaper rates. This is what is happening at the moment with E-book indie authors. The vast majority of best sellers are excellent books with costs much lower than the traditional publisher’s prices. If the traditional publisher doesn’t want to conform to the new market trends then they will suffer like some of the telecommunications market suffered.

3.       Authors not going traditional add a different voice

Recently I was reading a book when I realised that the style was the same as another book. I went looking for the other book and realised that they were both produced by the same publisher. The voice, the style and the way it was written was practically the same. It was boring. And this isn’t an isolated incident. I picked up other books by the same publisher and realised the same. It wasn’t always this way – go back 150 years and the authors of the day each had their own voice that you could instantly recognise as being from that particular author. I always call this the golden age of writing. Indie authors have returned to this stage adding variance not only to the stories but the voices telling them.

4.       Indie music worked

Not so long ago, the music world had a similar trend. Indie bands were all the rage and in many respects I am sure they are today. I was never one for music, but from friends I know that indie musicians caused shockwaves in that industry yet the producers changed habits and dealt with the issue to live side by side. Now both cultures are thriving really well. If the traditional publishers don’t want to change with the times then it is not the indies’ fault that they are suffering but their own.

5.       It is the readers that matter not the publisher’s opinions

This is something that is often missed out in this argument. What does the reader think? Well if the New York Times Bestseller list and Amazon sale ranks are anything to go by; they have an appetite for indie published books. Readers are the ones that we produce our books for – not traditional publishers. If readers want to buy our books then who are Traditional Publishers to comment on it? Surely that just means they should contact that author and attempt to get a deal for their next book rather than throw their toys out of the pram?

            6a.       Traditional publishers produce some terrible books

“50 shades of grey” is an example of a book that sold based on hype and the push of the traditional publisher. The writing in the book (and yes I read it so I could see for myself – although I borrowed a copy) is not brilliant. There are several articles explaining why this is so – so no need to show it here. But I will say that the ratings on Amazon are artificially inflated by several comments which are five stars claiming – “found copy on beach, made great kindling. Very pleased with product” and “put copy in toaster, you couldn’t imagine the different shades of grey that came out”. Now I am one that doesn’t agree with those reviews. For starters they are very much like troll attacks, which I am opposed to and they support my opinion that Amazon and other retailers should verify their reviews much better.

But “Fifty Shades of Grey” isn’t the only book that suffers from poor writing that has been produced by traditional publishers. My wife recently had a book that was written by a well known (apparently) TV personality that was full of inconsistent tenses and some poor grammar. Why was it produced? Probably because of who it was written by. This made it marketable to the masses. I think it failed, as the book was eventually sold in basement bargain shop for 99p. But if traditional publishers think of what is marketable before what is good, then in the end they will fail.

Of course this is true for Indies as well – but Traditional Publisher’s have a book allowance each year on how many they can produce. When they produce a book they are denying another from being published. With self publishing there are no limits on the number of books being released. So if an author does produce a book that isn’t up to standard it doesn’t matter – other authors can still release their own book.

6b.    Traditional publishers don’t always get it right

Adding to the previous comment; traditional publishers don’t always get it right. Let’s pick up on Harry Potter – how many traditional publishers turned that book down before it became a huge money earning franchise? Traditional publishers are all about pointing the finger but not very good at saying when they are wrong. So who is to say that some of those indie books aren’t brilliant and deserving a place on the literature hall of fame?

Okay I cheated – there are seven reasons there, but you can forgive me – right?

Just because a few authors don’t edit and format their books, doesn’t mean that the whole industry isn’t great. There are some terrible traditionally published books and there are some terrible indie published books. But there are also real gems amongst both of them. At the end of the day I will always say that the power should be with the reader and not the opinions of publisher’s on either side of the fence.

A big thanks to Paul Kater for helping me get this article ready. You can check out his website here.

During July - Ghost Haunts - my short story collection is free on Smashwords.

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Six Good Books for Writers

So have you ever taken a look on amazon to look for a book to buy on writing? How many people have jumped on the self publishing band wagon to get some easy cash by copying everyone. There are some books out there that are really terrible and not worth buying, there are others which are really good. But the problem is, do you know which one is which? Here I will list MY favourite writing books. If you want to join in - list some of your own.

1.       Smashwords Style Guide

Smashwords allows authors to easily get onto several distributors with little to no fuss. This style guide shows them how to simply get on to the premium listing with little fuss. And it is free.

2.       Smashwords Marketing Guide

I promise this won’t all be about Smashwords. But this book has over 35 useful tips to help sell your book. And again it is free.

3.       Building Your Fanbase: A From-Scratch Guide for Indie Authors

A lovely little book for authors with some clear business marketing theory and easy to follow step by step instructions. A little pricey for how much it is, but if you sell 3 books from it you’ve made a profit.

4.       Telling Lies for Fun & Profit

I don’t think there is a book out there on writing which has kept me up at night so much. It’s excellent delivery is matched brilliantly with its content and if you want to start writing, this is a must on your shelf.

5.       ... for Dummies - Series

Okay so I am slightly cheating here – but the series has many books (from blogging to writing children’s books) which authors may find mildly useful. I wouldn’t suggest getting every book they have for sale (erotica authors may find that Children’s fiction isn’t suited for them for instance) but at least one or two could be in any collection.

6.       Book Marketing Basics: How to Use Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and Email Marketing to Connect with Readers

This is book is by the same people who wrote “Building Your Fanbase” at number 3. Again beautifully written and presented, this is a book for authors who struggle with their marketing. Of course there are things which they don’t mention in this book, but for a book on basics and the newbie author this is great.

So what books do you think deserve to go on the list? Have I missed one off? Please feel free to comment below and tell me what you think.

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