Let Me Educate Y'all About the Indie Writing Community

It is 2018 and I’m tired of y’all treating us out here like second-rate citizens.

I have made a ton of amazing friends here that will last for a lifetime. So I’m here to set this record straight.

First thing’s first: What is an Indie Author?

An indie author is someone who publishes their work independent of an agency or a publisher.

The most common place for people to self-publish is Amazon, but there is also a whole slew of indie publishing houses that charge a fee to publish and promote your books.

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Why would someone self-publish? If they’re really good couldn’t they just land a book deal?

Ahahaha.

Oh, you sweet summer child. Your writing being good or even great has nothing to do with a book deal. Agents are looking for “what sells” (and so far I’ve learned it ain’t LGBT).

Most agencies are thirsting after people with an established career like actors, YouTubers, social media influencers, or indie authors with a massive following because these people are a “safe bet” and easier to market.

The publishing industry also has a really hard time changing or picking up anything “new” or “cutting edge” like you see a lot of in indie publishing because they may view as “too niche” or “too weird” to sell.

I know this well because I myself am a marketer.

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Why would someone choose indie publishing over traditional publishing?

Lots of authors have different reasons.

For me, I actually queried first. but I kept getting rejected because people seem to believe that it is “unrealistic” to have more than one LGBT character in a story. Two if the character has to have a love interest.

That didn’t sit well with me, considering I’m gay and most of my friends are gay. There are a lot of us out here and we tend to flock together. I mean come on, I live in San Francisco.

And in a fictional world of my own creation, I feel like most people can be gay if I want them to be. It’s not like I never write straight characters, I do. But I prefer to write LGBT and POC where I can. A lot of my characters are multiracial.

Also, if you ever wondered, querying takes a lot out of you. It’s like applying for a job where everyone is mean and says really mean shit to you that isn’t even true. I’ve been rejected so many times for bullshit reasons.

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Are you a real author if you publish indie?

UMMMMM. Yeah, man! As real as it gets. You wrote a book. You sold a book. Someone paid for something you wrote. Be proud.

But don’t most indie authors suck?

Ummmm NO! Who told you that??

Indie authors are just people trying to write the stories they want to tell without interference from a “””well-meaning””” big publishing house editor or book agent.

That being said, I have read some truly awful indie books, but I’ve read way more great ones.

So get off your butt and support indie authors.

Especially if you wanna lay around and whine about not having representation for LGBT or POC people.

You can find all that in the indie world, my dude. Indie authors are out here doing the most. And you’re really missing out.