The Various Hats of an Independent Author

The book is now out and the pre-release promotions are all done.  (Well, they can't be done anymore.  There were a few things I didn't do that I wanted to, but I ran out of time.)  I had intended on keeping this journal active as I went through the process so you could see it, but I learned that the only way I could really accurately do it would have been to have someone else with a camera taping me as I did it.  The process took so much freakin' time that I had no time left over to talk about it.  This is why major publishing houses have multiple people doing the various jobs.  As an independent author, you have to be writer, publisher, and promoter, and each of these jobs has sub-categories.

The writer of course has to also be a researcher, and has to learn to edit his/her own work.  He/she also has to go on tour and talk to people about the book and give signings.

A publisher has to learn all of the different formats, such as hardcover, paperback, e-book, etc., and he/she has to know how to upload them and make them look right.  He/she also has to learn which platforms work best for printing and releasing the work.  This leads to another job I forgot to mention...

Distributor.  You must learn how to distribute the work, and part of that job combines with the publisher responsibilities, as you have to print from places that will be accepted by the selling platforms.  For instance, bookstores will not take your book unless it's printed from a place that will do returns.  Thus, you must make the book available through Ingram Spark, or you have to have a distribution warehouse that can handle all of that.

Finally, you must also be the promoter, because your book can be all over the place, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it.  This involves going to radio and TV stations, newspapers, podcasts, magazines, etc., etc.  It's one of the most time consuming, difficult, and discouraging jobs, as most of your efforts go unanswered.

At a major publishing house, these aren't just various positions, they're entire departments.  So as an independent author, you have to not only put on different hats, you have to wear various feathers in that hat.  Running this blog is supposed to be part of promotion, but sometimes you have to just accept what's likely to work and what isn't.  I also want this blog to help future independent authors and publishers, but so far very few people have been reading it, so it's been a lower priority.

So that's a bit about what I do.  I'll go on to more topics throughout this week, as many as I can get done.