Dear Self-Publishing,
Please, don’t tear this up before you read it. I know you get a lot of hate mail, but this is a love letter.
I think you are probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the book world. I’ve seen some of the letters you get, and they’re not pretty. No, I won’t recap them; you already know the content. What I wanna do here is tell my Readers why I’m an Indie Author and intend to keep it that way — the Indie way.
Before I start, I want to say right here and now that if traditional publishing is your cup of caffeine, that’s great. Go for it. This letter is not hate mail for traditional publishing.
I requite control. Am I a control freak? I don’t like to think that about myself, but when it comes to my writing, I do like to maintain as much control as I can, so I suppose I am a bit of one. I think that’s the biggest reason why I’m an Indie Author. It can be frustrating to be your own PR department, marketing department, writing department, inspiration department, and did I mention blogging department? All the work is on you. The pressure to meet self-imposed deadlines is real. I’ve made promises to write stories by a certain date, not to an Editor, but to you, my Readers. Barring illness or other unusual circumstances, I must deliver on those promises. Subscribers to my YouTube channel will be the first to see animations of my book covers. If I posted them on Twitter first by mistake, my subscribers would have the right to be mad at me, and I might receive some angry messages. Doing what I do is a full time job, and it’s not without its headaches and frustrations, but it’s replete with high points, wonderful people, and nobody tells me what to do. I am my own boss. My Readers are my conscience. We all win. I’m not stressed and can write up a storm, I do what I say I will because I want my Readers to like me and read my stuff, and there aren’t as many “middle people” to mark up the prices!
I don’t receive rejection letters. Nobody’s going to send me a message saying, “Sorry, but your book just doesn’t meet our blah blah blah.” That’s not for me. I personally find rejection one of the worst things in life, and I work very hard to avoid feeling it. Feel free to psychoanalyze me. I’d love to know what that means, but I may or may not agree with you. A negative review is something I’ll have to deal with, but at least it can’t physically prevent me from publishing a book.
I love being an Indie Author, and I plan to keep on being one.
Yours truly,
Hyacinth Grey
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