Going Indie: What Do You Think?

In today's sucky economy money is tight everywhere. Every industry has cut back, limiting the amount of money they spend on things. The literary world is no exception to this. A lot of agents are even putting in their query rejection letters that the economy has a direct impact based on rejections.

To combat this problem a ton of writers are going indie. What is indie you ask. An indie writer is someone who self publishes their writing or goes small press. In the past this has been, well, to put it lightly, looked down upon. But not anymore. There are several wildly popular authors out there who have gone the self publishing track. One YA indie author that has generated a lot of buzz lately is Amanda Hockings, 26. She has taken the indie publishing world by storm and showed a lot of us that is is possible to make it on your own. Here is a snip from a blog post on Amanda Hockings on Bookish by Maggie Galehouse:

She published her first two books on April 15, 2010. Since then, she has sold 900,000 copies (gulp!) of more than 9 different books.

Her novella and three of her novels are 99 cents in e-book. The other 5 go for $2.99.

Her novels are also available in paperback, for $8.99 or $9.99.

Now, let's take a moment to digest all this and do some math. Even if every single book sold went for 99 cents, and remembering that she earns 70 cents on every dollar of sales, by my estimation she has pulled in close to $620,000 already.

In her blog, Hocking says she's had an agent since last August. Even if she paid her agent $100,000 a year, she has still earned more than half a million.

You can check out Amanda Hockings on all the major online book seller sites, like Amazon, or you can check out her awesome blog, where she just announced her traditional publishing deal with St. Martians Press.

Another great indie writer is J.L. Bryan. He has several titles out now and an amazing website showcasing all of his works.

Several of my writing friends are going indie, and it's not because they aren't talented writers, because they totally are. Some of the best stories I've read over the past couple years are by unpublished authors whose manuscripts, for whatever reason, doesn't fit into the publishing houses budget plans. These are novels they have slaved on for years. For that reason, I cheer them on on their indie journey. There are a ton of unpublished gems out there and I am excited to watch their journey.

What do you guys think about going indie? Thinking about it? Done it? Shout out and Share! :)
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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Brave New World...

He catches me staring. Again.

You think he’d be flattered; he’s at least ten years older than I am. As it is, he looks puzzled and a wee bit uncomfortable. I want to say something to set his mind at ease—something along the lines of, “Sorry, sir, I’m not ogling you. I’m just leching on your iPad.”

I'm not sure that would help.

I shift my attention back to my paper book, vowing that I absolutely will not stare again. But, after a few minutes, I’m back to the covert ogling. I may be in danger of becoming the first person to ever be booted from Starbucks for techual harassment.

It’s just that eReaders have been on my mind a lot over the past week. For the first time, I’m seriously considering getting one—if only because it depresses me that my mother is more technologically advanced than I am.

Once I opened myself up to the idea, I definitely saw some advantages: I buy a lot of books; I have a two bedroom apartment; I do not like the feeling that piles of books are going to collapse and bury me as I try to navigate my way to the kitchen for a 2:00AM snack. This means I go through massive book purges several times a year (as I work on this blog post I’m actually on Skype, trying to get my sister to adopt books I think she might like). An eReader would cut down on the hassle and guilt of buying more books than I can comfortably house without someone calling in the crew from Hoarders.

It would also make packing for trips much easier (since I wouldn’t have to guess which books to bring or allocate suitcase space to them) and it might be very good for the gym (assuming I ever start using that membership I’m paying for every month).

But there are also cons. No new book smell. No second-hand book smell. No flashing a cover in public like a badge proclaiming I’m in some special club. No indulging in the fantasy that a cute guy will spy me reading one of his favorite books and we’ll bond in the ultimate, bookish meet-cute.

The solution, obviously, is a mix. Buy paper books that I know I’ll want to add to the shelves in my living room and loan out to friends and buy eBooks for travel, the gym, research, or when I’m iffy on whether or not I’ll totally love something.

Will I buy an eReader? I’m honestly not sure. If I do, it will likely be a Kobo or a Kindle and it will probably be purchased in a moment of reckless consumer abandon. If I do, I promise you’ll all hear about it at great length (whether you want to or not).

In the meantime, though, I’d love to hear from you guys. What do you think of eReaders? Do you have one? What kind? If not, what’s been holding you back?