Perspective: The Freedom of an Indie Author

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I’ve written many posts about publishing books here on this blog. This year, I’m getting ready to publish the fourth novel in my award-winning sci-fi fantasy series, and I regularly set up a booth at events just about every weekend to introduce myself to new fans and get my work out into the world.

It’s not uncommon to have people ask me if I’m an indie author and if I can share any advice about book publishing. Should you go traditional or self-published? How hard is it to publish a book? What vital information do writers need to know before they publish?

The short answer is that there is no magic formula or perfect step-by-step guide to publish a book. If there was, then it would be easy and everybody would be doing it!

The first decision an upcoming author has to make is whether they want to publish traditionally through a publishing house that will finance their book and pay out royalties after the advance is recouped, or independently through a distributor that will leave all of the work, creative rights, risks, and costs on the author. There are also vanity presses (which I don’t recommend) and small-scale hybrid options that are sort of like trad publishing but not really.

I’m not going to dive into the nitty gritty of this preliminary decision since I’ve already written several relevant posts about it, so if you’re interested, you can check out some of my other articles:

• Pros & Cons: Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
• Are Vanity Presses a Reliable Option for Authors?
• Publishing 101: What Is the Cost of Self-Publishing a Book?
• Self-Publishing a Book: 8 Facts & Hacks You REALLY Need to Know
• IngramSpark Self-Publishing: Process, Royalties, Review, & Advice
• Self-Publishing Review: Barnes & Noble Press vs. IngramSpark
• 3 Reasons Why I Self-Published

I originally thought that I wanted to publish traditionally, but after more research, I decided to self-publish instead. Many factors contributed to this decision, but two of the biggest were maintaining ownership of the creative rights and uncontested control over the content, covers, art, maps, etc.

As both a creative writer and an artist, I had a vision for my series and was extremely nervous about a big publisher overriding my wishes and morphing my passion project into something that I didn’t like and wasn’t proud to share. Unwanted changes could happen on every level from deleting my Oxford commas (I will die on this hill!), to commissioning a generic, unappealing book cover (which happened to bestselling author Terry Goodkind), to cutting out all the little details I’d hidden in the story as foreshadowing to future books or fun shout-outs to friends and family.

I was also afraid of being shackled when it came to sharing my process with fans. Would a publisher allow me to post sneak peeks and deleted scenes on Patreon, social media, and my website? Or would they insist that I keep everything tightly under wraps until their marketing team gave permission, and only for content they approved? I love being able to involve my fans with periodic updates during the different stages.

For this post, I want to focus on an element that came up in a recent conversation. I was messaging with an intern for a book-centric creative firm that was featuring me and other female indie authors during Women’s History Month, and this comment she made really struck me:

“I think indie authors… write better stories than those in traditional publishing at times because those authors constantly respond to the needs of the company, literary agent, team, AND community for their books. It’s a lot. Indie authors have a lot more creative freedom and it’s beautiful to see!!!”

I’ve touched on this idea when mentioning that maintaining control and ownership of my work was vital to me, but she really hit the nail on the head with this statement.

When I talk about how traditional publishing houses function, I’m not saying this is how they work across the board with no exceptions. BUT, authors who are considering a trad publishing house should keep in mind that in many, many cases, big publishers will expect their authors to conform to the company’s style and branding, at least to some extent.

What do I mean by this? Authors might be pressured to:

• Change their plot, characters, themes, etc. to align with current bestselling trends, even if that strips away the story’s uniqueness and makes it feel more like a carbon copy of mass-marketed books (sales > originality)
• Alter their voice and style of storytelling so the tone feels like other works produced by the publishing house (cohesive branding for the imprint)
• Downplay or sugarcoat potentially divisive social and political issues out of backlash fear… even though authors have been providing important social commentary for centuries
• Settle for a generic book cover that fits the market and looks like a variation of the same cover readers have seen a hundred times within a given genre

Ultimately, the publisher has an incredibly strong input on the works coming out of the company. This isn’t unreasonable; they have to consider their bottom line and brand image. There’s a reason they have so much clout — retailers and readers have set expectations based on the publisher’s curated titles. They have a reputation to uphold, and that’s part of the draw for author who want to publish traditionally.

A publisher’s primary concern is going to be sales. While this can be a positive influence, it can also be counterintuitive to anything unique that breaks the mold. After all, why take unnecessary risks on original stories when they know people will readily buy books that fit a tried-and-true bestseller formula? When they accept a new author, they’re making an investment with the expectation that the author’s book(s) will bring in profit. That’s going to be the main driving factor in every decision they make.

Being an indie author means you have complete freedom to tell the story you want to tell. This can be a great thing… or a not-so-great thing. As with everything else, there are pros and cons. Although having your freedom stifled can be frustrating, publishers do know the industry, market, and trends, so their feedback can be valuable if you want your books to be successful. If you’re doing everything by yourself, then you might fall victim to clichés and rookie mistakes that lower the quality of your book.

This is why I HIGHLY recommend that indie authors work with freelance professionals, especially editors, who are plugged into the publishing industry and can provide insight without dictating any changes by force. The author still has the choice to consider their feedback and then implement or disregard the suggestions while being aware of the potential consequences to the story. If, for example, an editor flags a section that might be controversial, the author will have to decide if that’s a risk they want to take rather than being blindsided by reviews after publication.

Being an indie author gives writers the freedom to decide what their book will be. They have the power to say NO to unwanted revisions and maintain the integrity of their story while still receiving professional feedback to pinpoint and address any issues. They’re able to take bigger risks because the story is what’s most important, not the profits. (Being a successful author does mean that book sales are still important, but you can keep your creative integrity without selling out.)

Again, not every traditional publishing house is going to dictate major changes, and not every author is going to have the same experience. But authors should be aware of the risk before signing any contracts. At the very least, understand that you are relinquishing the copyright to your work by going through a publishing house.

Self-publishing brings the power of choice to authors. We become our own brand and develop our own voice, style, and reputation. Is it a TON of time and work? YES!!! But, at least for me, it was 100% worth it. I don’t have anyone telling me how my cover should look or what my story should be. I can write short stories and spin-offs with my characters, creatures, and fantasy worlds… which is something that most trad publishers won’t allow their authors to do unless those projects are specifically sanctioned since the publisher owns the rights to the ALL aspects of the author’s work, including alternative media opportunities such as games, shows, movies, etc.

Being an indie author means I have the freedom to tell my story and bring my vision to life without restrictions.