A sneaky move...

This isn't unheard of but it's the first time I've seen it. An indie author whose work I've read has listed themselves as a published author (in the sense of 'traditionally published'). They've even set up a page for the publisher – not surprisingly it isn't accepting submissions at the current time lol. Now I'm going to be utterly honest, half of me is green with envy at the idea and the other half is hoping like hell for the author concerned that none of the nasty reviewers figure it out. The more I learn about editing the easier it is to spot an indie writer through the common mistakes we make (and I do mean 'we' grin very much a learning process!) and this author's work has the hallmark mistakes that I'm currently trying to edit out of my own work.The idea is cunning. People who deliberately avoid indie author's (like moi) are buying and gushing over the book. It's doing quite well in the rankings and rightly so as it's a good read. And that's where I'm chewing on my own liver a bit. It's an easy enough thing to do but I've set myself up as an indie author and I want to continue to support the indie movement, even if it feels like an uphill battle at times. Yet with that clever move this author has sorted out some of the biggest issues Indies get labelled with. So far no one has attacked the editing, yet had it been an indie there would be at least one comment by now. The book is selling well and the author's name is set in peoples mind as a 'real' author. I don't blame the author at all for doing such a thing, they are doing well and will continue to succeed. I guess in the long run I'll be satisfied with doing the 'loud and proud' indie method but I'm not going to deny that what this author's done is a damn clever way of solving quite a few issues. It's also very cool to see those good reviews from people who've given scathing reviews to indies. It proves the points that so many of us know about those reviewers who are now painfully obvious (to me at least) in their judgemental and aggressive attitudes. I wonder if it will all go this way? Does it matter? Would you feel 'cheated' at finding out someone you thought was traditionally published is actually an indie author? What if groups of indie authors used this method, that would be one heck of a way to throw a spanner in the works, wouldn't it? Actually just the thought of that makes me want to do my best 'Mr Burns' impression mwahahahaha. Watch out indie snubbers! You'll never know where we're hiding ;pTake care all!Nic The Arrival, on Amazon or UK Amazon