I once heard Australian indie author Christine Dillon describe her experience of learning to be an indie author as the equivalent of doing three PhDs at once. Not only did she have to learn the craft of writing, she also had to learn the ins and outs of publishing and become competent at marketing. It’s a steep learning curve and an on-going process, since things are always changing.
There’s a lot to learn, but here are five of the most important things I’ve learnt on my journey.
My story
I finished writing my first manuscript in 2021. Although I wasn't new to writing (I had been working as a content and copywriter for some time) this was my first full length creative work. The book had gone through many iterations. But inspired by Roseanna M White and Sarah Sundin, I wanted to tell a faith story so ultimately decided to write and market in the genre of Christian fiction. The main market for such books is the USA (actually the USA is the biggest market for most books) and I was determined to publish traditionally. Luckily, I found an agent quite quickly and we began to submit to publishers.
We got some very nice rejections (“It’s good but…”). Eventually a small company that I had pitched the book to before I had an agent was keen to acquire it. But by then, I started thinking more about taking an indie route. With my pen poised over my paper, I decided to I wanted to keep control of the intellectual property of my work. Which meant publishing the books independently.
This wasn’t an easy decision but I have no regrets about choosing to publish my On Victory’s Wings series independently. I am someone who “learns by doing” and this has been one of the best learning experiences of my life! I feel like I am most myself when I writing historical fiction and, even though it’s very hard, publishing is very rewarding. This brings me to the first thing I’ve learned while indie publishing.
Know your big why
If you are going to independently publish, you need to understand exactly what you are trying to get out of the process. Knowing your big why helps you make a lot of the smaller decisions along the way (and there are many, many of them). It will also help you decide how you determine the success of your endeavours.
For instance, if your big why is to make the most money that you can, you may make a different set of publishing decisions than if your big why is to honour the last wishes of your grandmother. You will also measure the success of your publishing ventures in a different way.
My big why for publishing independently is “making connections with readers”. Since, I still hope to one day publish with a traditional publisher. I see my On Victory’s Wings series as a way to gather a community of readers who like the kinds of books I write. (The 1000 true fans model, for those who care.) Have a community of enthusiastic readers may make me more of a prospect for a traditional publisher when next I submit.
A good editor is EVERYTHING
If you are thinking of indie publishing, hopefully you know about the importance of editing! A good editor will elevate your book beyond what you can imagine. And I’m not just talking about removing typos and spelling errors (although that is an important part of the process). Good editing is soooooooo much more. A good editor can become an ally and advocate for your book. They help make it the best it can be.
I found my editor extraordinaire Dori Harrell via a recommendation from another author. She had experience in traditional Christian publishing in the USA and offered a package that included structural editing not just copy editing. We agreed at the beginning that she would edit me according to the standards expected by a traditional US publisher and I agreed to everything she suggested since I saw her as the expert. I am convinced that the skill and expertise she injected into Heart in the Clouds is what allowed the book to final in and win awards and be accepted into major bookshops.
Although the quality of good editing is that it is invisible and the author takes all the credit for the work, Dori’s wisdom and expert advice undoubtedly improved my book. Dori edited all three of the On Victory’s Wings books. (Interestingly, for my first book Heart in the Clouds, there was one thing that she tentatively suggested I could change that I didn’t want to. It is the thing that is most often picked up in reviews as being a bit odd.)
Cover design is both art and science
Despite the old adage telling us not to, we simply do judge books by their covers. And not just their covers, but thumbnail images of covers as displayed on platforms like Amazon among many other books. It’s both an art and a science to develop a cover that coverts to sales. Even if you love playing around with design in Canva (like I do), if you want to be competitive in a crowded market place, you need to use an expert for your cover.
I was so fortunate to work with Roseanna White Designs on my covers. I highly recommend her course on cover design that helps you understand just how covers work. In short:
Don’t try to do it yourself.
Outsource to a cover design expert, not simply someone who “can do” photoshop.
Make sure the cover works as a thumbnail image.
It’s a long game
Traditional publishing is a notoriously long process. The industry works in timeframes of MONTHS, sometimes YEARS, and it can feel like it takes DECADES to hear back from agents, editors and publishers! Some people choose indie publishing because it allows them to avoid this and publish in a fast and agile way. However, there are benefits to gain by playing a long game even as an indie.
After deciding to self-publish in the middle of 2022, I didn’t launch my book into the world until September 2023. While I am naturally a jump-in-head-first-consequences-be-damned type of person, I knew I needed time to get the book right. The editor and cover designer I wanted to work with both had waiting lists (all the good ones do). I also need time to learn all the systems, platforms and strategies that would help make the book a success.
Because I knew my big why (see above) I knew that publishing a single book probably wouldn’t help me achieve my goals. I needed a series of at least three books, which takes more time - especially if you intended to keep your high standard going. However, it also allows you to build your skills and readership gradually, and experiment with what works for you and them.
You get better as you go along
In his Ten Commandments of Book Marketing Thomas Umstattd Jnr from the Novel Marketing podcast says “Thou shalt not publish thy first book first”. Of course, I broke that rule by publishing Heart in the Clouds, since it was my first full length manuscript (even though I was already a professional writer). Despite breaking the rule, I still believe it to be true.
Here’s why: If you work at your craft, you simply get better as you go along.
In many ways, my writerly mistakes are out there for people to see in Heart in the Clouds. Since it’s the first in my series, many people will only read that book. In some ways this doesn’t matter. The DNA of who I am as an author is still in there, so the readers I want to make connections with are still going to read through the series. (Note the point about my big why.) However, in some ways, I consider the first two books in the series warmups for These Long Shadows, which is a book that means so very much to me.
