Indie Publishing - the Smartest and Dumbest Things I've Done So Far

Indie Publishing is Awesome and Terrifying.

And totally worth it.

(Doesn't mean I won't also try other forms of publication--that's still up for grabs. But it was the right move for my Clockwise series/genre.)

I've been at it since September, so for eight months, and I feel like I've been to school (and schooled! ha.) One thing I figured out is that nobody really knows what they're doing, especially me. I mean, how can they (I), when the publishing floor is constantly fluxing under your feet?

So what was the Smartest and Dumbest thing I've done so far?

Let's start with Dumbest and get it out of the way. I'd have to say the dumbest thing for me, was putting my books on Kindle Select. I know lots of people sing its praises, but I would bet many more are grumbling quietly in their tea, feeling stupid and trapped.

Here's why:

1)You have to make the top 100 free (the only benefit to Select in my opinion, is easy to obtain free days, but they don't give you near enough for what they ask you to give up in return) in order to see those fantastic post free sales they promise you. Clockwise did make the top 100 and there was a couple weeks where I basked in a post free sales glow. My middle grade did not, so there was no significant sales payoff.

2)You have to pull your book from everywhere else. For THREE WHOLE MONTHS. That's a long time when you're waiting for it to pass. Two and a half months of mediocre sales on Amazon with no option of growing a market anywhere else. I'm telling you this because I believe I'm not the only one with this kind of experience with Select. (Am I? Am I the only one? o.O)

And it's not that easy to get your book back up on those other sites anymore. Smashwords no longer distributes until you've been accepted into their premium catalog (probably a good thing for quality control), but it's taking forever.

see tab at the top for the list of authors and our books

The Smartest thing I did was join an on-line group of other like minded writers. We call ourselves the Indelibles.  I highly recommend this. If you're not part of a group, start one. I can't tell you how many emails fly between our members everyday (A LOT). It's the go to place for every question one of us might have. No matter what it is you need to know, someone in our group has the answer. Plus, they're funny and known to go off topic on occasion (way off :)) We also offer each other practical and moral support. We have each others backs.

I've learned so much from these women and would be an emotional, ignorant mess without them.

The thing is, Indie Publishing is still a relatively new thing and what works and doesn't work is always changing. All you can do is try different things and see what works for you.


We have a saying at the Indelibles: it takes a "herd of turtles."  Meaning, many books moving forward slowly over the long run. That's the secret to Indie Pubbing success.

How about you? What's your smartest and dumbest move in publishing?