Happy Friday Bookish people! We are headed into a wet weekend in my corner of the world and I’m looking forward to making more progress in the book I’ve been reading, but we’ll see because the laundry is also piling up. I’d definitely rather be reading but I’ll soon run out of laundry baskets for clean clothes. Oh well.
Today, I’ve been thinking about independent authors and publishers. You may have heard the term “indie author” before and wonder what in the world that means, well, “indie” is short-form for independent and the number of indie authors is growing! Indie authors step outside of the major publication companies and the traditional process for publication, often establishing their own independent publishing presses or publishing under their own names without an official publishing company’s support. It’s a huge and daunting step, leaving these authors completely responsible for all aspects of their publication and marketing journey. An indie author may find themselves having to view their book writing as a business and try to avoid going broke or getting burnt out.
So why do it at all? Many authors agree that self-publishing is also incredibly rewarding and the benefits of being an indie author outweigh the difficult parts. Indie authors were responsible for over 500,000 publications last year, just in the United States (Harris, 2024). More and more individuals are taking control of their writing journeys and utilizing increased online accessibility to their advantage, and to the joy of voracious readers everywhere!
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5 Ways to Support an Indie Author & Why It Matters:
1. Review, Review, Review
As I mentioned before, indie authors are responsible, financially or completely, for every aspect of their writing journey. Beyond writing the book, a task in and of itself, the author also must either self-edit or seek professional editing services, cover design, and printing services, and I’m 100% sure I’m leaving out several steps there. All that being said, marketing also falls to the author and unless they are really well-versed in social media marketing, this task can sometimes make or break the success of a book. Many authors will run presales or discounted sales on their books to help generate interest, downloads, and hopefully, a review or two. Providing an honest review of their book on every social media platform can definitely help to increase interest in their book as well as help to improve the book’s ranking in search engines. Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, wherever you do your reviewing, make sure to leave an honest review for the next person thinking about picking up that book. Think of it like recommending a book to a friend!
2. Scream it From the Rooftops!
No matter which social media platforms you are on and engage with regularly, share and promote the indie author’s works and fanart connected with these works. Sharing on social media is a great way to spread the word about an indie author, their books, their merchandise, and their website. There are many different ways you can share your love of an indie author’s work including sharing fanart, quotes, book covers, etc. Just make sure to give credit where credit is due! Attend signings if you are able and recommend the book to your local libraries and bookstores (IndieBookView, 2022).
2. Purchase the Book from the Author Direct (if possible)
Be mindful of where you are purchasing the author’s book. Unfortunately, Amazon especially has fallen prey to increased cloning of content. Indie authors spend months to years pouring everything they have into a story only to have it swiped online and find themselves competing for sales of their book with others. Purchasing directly from the author, if you are able, ensures the authenticity of the product and that the author is receiving the majority, if not all, of the funds from the sale. These authors may also have branded merchandise available through their websites (IndieBookView, 2022).
4. Follow & Engage
Indie authors are responsible for either running all of their own social media or having to hire this role out. Social media is a fantastic way to engage with fans from all over the world and many authors are active on, at least, one social media platform. Find your favorite indie authors on your preferred social media and follow them, share their content, comment, etc. Engaging with these authors’ posts can help make their content easier to find on social media and online. You may find that indie authors have an emailed newsletter as well. Sign-up, what’s the harm? Authors will send exclusive content, peeks inside their work, and sometimes even share samples or free e-books with their mailing lists. If you haven’t joined the email list for your favorite indie authors, you’re likely missing out!
5. Reach Out & Say Hi
Preparing a book from start to finish can be exhausting work and may feel like a total dumpster fire depending upon how well the book is doing on the market. Authors work hard to prepare their work for publication and hopefully land it in a good place on Amazon and other sales sites so that it is more easily found. Sometimes, those feelings of being in over your head and fear of the unknown or failure can get the better of us, and that goes for all of us, not just indie authors. Reach out and say hi! Most indie authors will have some method of communication, be that their website, social media, etc., that fans can reach out to and say hi. Let your favorite indie authors know how much you enjoyed their work. It may just bring a smile to their face.
If you’re looking for other ways to support your favorite indie authors, check out #1 and #2 again because it is really difficult to express just how powerful these actions are for an indie author. They say, “Sharing is caring” and in this case, it is definitely true! Search for indie authors in your area, attend their signings and events, and help support their ability to be creative out loud.
Happy reading!
References
Harris, J. M. (2024, January 24). How many books were published last year? (2024 statistics). Ghostwriters & Co. https://ghostwritersandco.com/books-published-last-year/
IndieBookView. (2022, November 12). 10 ways to support indie authors. Independent Book Review. https://independentbookreview.com/2019/07/05/10-ways-to-support-indie-authors/
