It's All on Me, It's Scary, and I think I love it, an IWSG post

 

      

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the August 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Natalie Aguirre, Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen, and Olga Godim!

 August 6 question - What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry? 

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I'm ignoring the optional question this month because I want to talk about my adventures in indie publishing so far. See, though I've considered myself a professional writer for ten years now, I'm a complete newbie in indie publishing. All my previous work was trad-published by small publishers. 

My decision not to indie publish up till now was not about snobbery, or even need for validation, but about time. I looked around, saw what all I'd need to handle, got overwhelmed and decided to try for traditional publishing first, so that someone else could handle my editing, layout, cover, etc. 

That experience has bruised and buoyed me in turns. Some of it has been fantastic, and some of it felt like it might be fatal. But that's the way of a life in the arts, methinks.  

But a lot has changed in the past ten years. 

My children are both legal adults now if not fully launched yet. I left teaching, that abusive spouse of a job, for something less soul-swallowing that pays better. 

So I have more time and (a little) more money. 

I've spent ten years learning from the wonderful community of writers, editors, and publishers that surrounds me.  So, I've probably gone from "You know nothing, John Snow" to knowing just enough to be a danger to myself and others. 

So my next project is a trio of short romance novels, all featuring GenX characters, and I've decided to go all indie with this one.  

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As of this writing, I'm in process on all three of them. I've contracted an editor and cover artist for all three and I'm working towards spring 2026 for their release, bringing the first of the three out as a birthday gift to myself.  

So far, I've spent about $200 on editing of the first book (I got a friends and family rate--she's worth more than she's charging), $400 on the first book cover, and $250 buying ISBNs. So, $850 so far, and I anticipate at least $700 to get each of the other two books this far. That's no small change, at least not at my income level, but I feel strongly about hiring editing and a cover artist to ensure the best quality book I can produce. 

My intention is to "go wide" by which I mean publish the book through Ingram so that I am not tied to any one particular bookseller like Amazon, Kobo, B&N, etc. Amazon and I are going through a long and protracted divorce because of some of their business practices, so while I do want to make my books available there, I don't want to be trapped into exclusivity with them. Working with Ingram makes my book accessible to libraries and bookstores as well, and that's a serious boon. 

Being in process on all three books at the same time is a little scary, but also pretty exciting, because there's always something I can make progress on. 

I'm finishing drafting the third book, while the second book is out for beta reading and waiting its turn on the editor's desk. Meanwhile, I'm working with the cover artist on the cover for the first book and figuring out all the formatting stuff. There's always something I can move forward on and that's pretty amazing given how much traditional publishing is a waiting game of one kind or another.  

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All this doesn't mean that I won't traditionally publish anymore. Several of the publishers I've worked with are people I would happily work with again and if a big five publisher wanted to give me a shot, I'd take it. But at the same time, doing this all myself feels like a level-up and I'm really energized. 

This feels like the right time of my life to become a hybrid author. I've got more time than I've had previously, enough money for the initial investment, a good base of knowledge about what's actually required (I'm sure there will still be surprises), contacts and a support network when I need advice, and a little footprint out there already from my traditionally published work that might help my visibility.  

I guess we'll find out a few months from now how and if the books sell and how I feel about it all on the other side of things, but it seems a risk worth taking.  

Next, I need to figure out audiobook versions, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that part yet. 

If you're writing with intentions to publish, or already publishing, what route is yours? Why? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!