I could start this blog on independent publishing with the invention of moveable type (I’m pedantic like that), but I think we can all agree that the means to produce multiple copies of a story and access to story consumers are crucial to writers.

Means and Access Denied

Whose story gets told. How the story gets told. When the story gets told. Whether the story gets told at all. At one time, the “Big Five” New York publishing houses were, by and large, our book gatekeepers. A huge, centralized homogenous book-spewing entity became the only business model that seemed feasible. Any exceptions from back in the day that we can think of—from underground press to pirate radio stations—proved the rule.

Then personal computers happened. Literally anyone with a word processor program could write a book and have it printed up.  And many people did so. Then these authors would rent a sales booth at their local science fiction convention to peddle their creation. They might even sell a few copies. Although these writers had the means to produce a book, that access thing needed some work.

Independent Publishing Meets Technology

Time and technology marched on. Amazon and other internet booksellers became a thing. Then e-books. Then print-on-demand providers. Today, anyone’s story has, not only the means, but the access to the public. Consultant Jane Friedman provides a great graphic that summaries the similarities and differences among the many publishing paths, but they all fall into two main groups:

• Traditional, as in the Big Five as well and other large, mid-size, academic, and small presses. (Some small presses are philosophically, economically, and resource-wise part of the independent press movement!) Greatly simplified, the business of these companies is to sell stories. They purchase story from writers, package them up, and sell them to the public.
• Non-traditional, as in independent publishing. The story creator, with or without help from area experts in editing, book design, cover art, marketing, sales promotion, and merchandising, packages and sells their tales to the public.
• The Gray Area, as in everyone else, from vanity press (any book published for a fee) to independent creators pooling resources to form, in essence, a tiny press. 

Independent Publishing and the Story-Buying Public 

Independent publishing refers to a wide variety of business arrangements: The creator of a story with one Amazon e-book to their name is an independent publisher. A small press that self-identifies as an independent publisher is . . . well, it’s an independent publisher.  The common thread through all the various business models is the creative control the author of the story retains. Even when a small press purchases a manuscript from an author, that writer generally has much more input into the project than they would have if contracted to a large publisher.

Advantages of Independently Published Books

• To the reader, independently published works can mean:
  Unique stories the reader won’t find anywhere else. Inherent in their business model, traditional publishers aim to sell stories to the mainstream public or at least an economically viable segment of the market. A business cannot ignore the bottom line for long. Making money selling stories is difficult, and the strategies to do so often boil down to moving a greater number of units or charging more for each unit. Without solid evidence that something “new” will have lot of customers or at least rich customers, it is hard for a corporation, with its massive overhead costs of even existing, to take chances.
  Act locally, think globally. The reader can support storytellers in their own community as well as storytellers from around the world. Again, unique stories. They might be set in your hometown, which is cool, or someplace on the other side of the world, giving the reader a new perspective and insight into the world.
  Formats that best match the tale. Traditional publishers, catering to mainstream buyers and vendors, need to produce books (physical or e-book) that look like people expect them to look and fit on the bookstore shelves in the expected way. My blog on novellas and novelettes discusses this phenomenon. 
• Bargains! Indie authors and publishers often make their stories available at very reasonable prices and place them in “all-you-can-read” or “tip-jar” type forums. 

Caveat emptor

The mainstream publishing industry has spent years—centuries, even— perfecting the process of creating books. Many of the traditionally published book’s advantages come down to budget: it takes money to promote a book properly and deep pockets to discount it such that volume of sales makes up for per-unit losses. Professional developmental editors, artists, designers, copy editors, and proofreaders expect someone to pay them for their work. While it’s quite cheap to get an e-book or print-on-demand story out to the market, paying for needed help and for book promotion can be difficult for the independent author. Which doesn’t release indie authors from the responsibility to produce a professional product!

Traditionally published stories promise readers that:

• The story was vetted. The publisher selected the story from the many stories offered to them, as superior in terms of plot, entertainment value, and writing style. Some publishing house only consider stories that have already been through a similar vetting process by a literary agent. A great number of knowledgeable industry professionals endorse every traditionally published tale as worthy of the buying public’s interest. 
• The book had professional production values. Generally, the cover art will be sharp and eye-catching. The book design (font, spacing, layout, etc.) will be pleasant and appropriate. A professional edited the book. Typographical errors should be minimal, at the very worst. 
• The story will generate some buzz, and the reader will be able to obtain it easily. We hear about a traditionally published “blockbuster” through all modern communication channels. It is on everything from social media to the sides of buses. We see the author on TV and hear them on the radio. The book gets made into a movie or Netflix series. It’s difficult to not know about the book, and it’s easy to pick up a copy for cheap at the local discount store.

How to Support Independent Publishing

• Get recommendations from friends, book blogs, and online reviews. Goodreads is a great source.
• Write and post reviews of the independent stories you read.
• When you can, buy a physical copy of the independent book from a brick-and-mortar store, even if the store must order it. (This is a good way to support independent booksellers, as well as independent authors and publishers. Win-win-win!)

(This blog is based on two blogs appearing in April of 2019.) If you liked this blog, you might like read more about supporting independent authors and publishers.

Click here to order The Big Cinch, new supernatural noir novel from Kathy L. Brown.

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Last year the St. Louis Writers Guild published Love Letters to St. Louis. This adorable letter-shaped volume of short stories, poems, essays, and illustrations includes my first science fiction story, “Welcome to Earthport Prime: A Self-Guided Tour.” Profits benefit the guild’s young writers’ program.