Well, I think the title is more than fitting. I am
having an indie crisis and I am sure that many of you understand me completely.
Being a writer is hard and especially for new writers, it is even harder. Every
beginning has its own difficulties but with time and work we develop, and progress
is what makes us stronger, better, what is leading our way step by step.
Indie authors, I think, we are in a more complex
situation because we are alone. I am referring to writers, just like myself, who
are doing everything alone. We don’t have a professional editor, we don’t have
any author assistance, we don’t have a professional to design our book’s cover.
We are alone! I don’t know if there are others like me, I guess there are, but
you can’t imagine how hard it is!
I am feeling like someone dumped me in the middle of
the ocean and said to me ‘Let’s see, can you swim to the shore?’ And not only
he dumped me there; he is sitting comfortable on a boat watching to see if I am
going to make it, or drown! And what I do? I swim and swim and swim but when I
look back, I am only few feet further form the boat and the distance seems infinite,
but my strength is running out. What I do then? I stop struggling with the
water and I take a deep breath. I gather my strength and I continue to swim
harder.
In a situation like this I am now. I am feeling drown with
all the editing and the rules I have to follow. Rules, that I found out that
they exist, form books and kind people that showed me the way. And the editing
never stops. Commas, paragraphs, capital letters, Italian letters…a million
things that need attention, my attention, but all I want to do is write and let
someone else to care about these things. But I don’t have that option, so I sit
back and read, reread and reread, doing the best I can. Will that be enough though?
Will that make my book a decent one, when there are countless books with
prettier covers, professional editing and who knows what else?
It is a risk I am willing to take. I have finished my
book since July!!! And all this time I am working on it. Okay, I did a break
and I wrote my second book, but I am waiting for so long and I have so many
ideas in my mind, which are on hold for so long too. Sometimes I feel so
exhausted that I lose my courage. These are the “Cloudy moments” that come and
go, but what remains is that I love what I am doing, and I know that I will
make mistakes and some people will hate my work, but that’s not enough to make
me stop.
This is an indie crisis that seems to last forever.
Even now that I am writing this post, my mind is on the editing and I hurry to
continue it, so I will come closer to publication. But as closer as I approach,
there is this force that pulls me back again and I have to start over. Like I
am walking in a treadmill, that’s how it is. Will I be able to get off it, or I
will just keep walking?
Yes. This. I have tons of book ideas too that I want to start on, but I have to see this one to the end. And then I have that next one. Then that one to edit. And that other one to finish.
ReplyDeleteIt's never ending.
Then the sea of what nows. What do I do next? Editing, formatting, is it good enough to put out? should I edit it aganin? Is my cover good enough? my trailer? how much should I spend on marketing? should I spend anything or wait until I put it out and see if it sells on its own?
Yes. it's a never ending river of questions. Keep at it. keep researching. do what you're doing and try to keep the crazies at bay. It's all we can do. I'm in your corner :)
Yes, it's a never ending river. At least we are not alone in the corner. :)
DeleteThough I like to call myself a writer, I've never been happy enough with anything to try to publish it. But I do have a close friend who is an indie author, Pixie Lynn Whitfield, and I know how she struggles and questions herself and works herself dry for a few meager royalty checks.
ReplyDeleteI think the thing with indie and self-publishing is that it's more for you. You're so passionate about your work that you just want to have a platform for others to see it, even if it never really takes off. I admire that so much. But even so, I know there's a lot of frustration involved. Just keep at it, because the worst thing you can do is stifle your art. Offer free review copies, cheap e-copies, maybe see if you can find someone willing to help edit for a bit of in-book credit. These are all things my friend did, and they seemed to boost her sales and distribution.
Seriously, best of luck with your book. I hope to see a few teaser blog posts for it in the near future!
Hi Kelly,
DeleteThank you for making a comment here. I appreciate it so much. Yes, being an indie author is extremely stressful. Once my book is ready I am going to do all these stuff. I am looking forward for that day. I want my story to be read and maybe loved by someone. :)
When I first started writing, I thought it would be an easy job like write first, then get published immediately. But when I started reading book publishing stuff on the internet, I knew it wasn't an easy job. In fact, I was afraid. And then the questions came: Will I be able to make it? Would someone love my book?
ReplyDeleteI'm still having these questions but what I do is to shake it off my head and keep writing, and keep working to see my manuscript at its best.
Just keep writing, and keep editing. I believe one day your dream would come to pass. Best of luck with your projects!
Hi Kaykay,
DeleteThis is exactly how I feel. I think that these questions will always be in our minds.
I keep writing and editing, but sometimes I don't know if it is enough.
"I believe one day your dream would come to pass." I am smiling at this. :)
Best of luck with your peojects too.
Thank you for stopping by.