Protection by multiple men with enormous penises isn't everything...

So, other writers always say to me that going Indie and speaking your mind means that no epublisher will EVER want you and aren’t you afraid of that? The short answer? No. The long answer? It takes a lot to scare me and publishers are not god. No really. They’re not. However, the thing is, I do get emails from regular publishers who want me to write stuff for them. Why? I think it’s because I’m very direct about what I want and where I’m coming from and negotiations should always start that way. I’m not going to be all Susie Sunshine and beg them to have me because I don’t have to. I also find it interesting that publishers write what Indie authors read. That tells me that maybe they’re looking for something that doesn't toe the company line like the multiple-every-single-story-is-the-same-virgin-menage-five-cowboy-we’ll-protect-the-heroine-with-our-dicks-sex. Being Indie means you can write whatever the hell you want without some publisher telling you there is not enough sex and can’t the heroine be shagged in each chapter by different men with enormous penises so the reader has to wonder how she will walk each time.  But seriously, that has happened to me…er, the editor thing not the being shagged by enormous penises...

So…want to go Indie because you’re tired of the epublishing bullshit? Do it. Protection by multiple men with enormous penises isn’t everything and Indie writers are getting read by publishers. Got the tits to do it? 

Blood out of the stoned…

So, I spent a great deal of time wading through 16 spreadsheets of royalties payments during work today. No wonder ebook authors go Indie. Some publishers get it so very wrong. Obvious things like tax treaties between countries and the correct rate of withholding money due to said tax treaty should be a no-brainer. And I owe you money? Are you stoned? I have sent back notes as to why the spreadsheets are wrong. I shouldn’t have to. It’s not my job to do their accounts.

Thinking of writing? For god sake sus out the publisher first. Check who has had trouble with them. Ask an Indie author. They'll tell you who sucks because most of the Indie have been burned and they're not scared to say it. Learn from people who have been there and done that.     

Nuh...

I had a chat to an author just recently who said to me was I scared that going down the indie publishing track meant no epublisher would ever again take me on because I would be considered too much of a wild card? Nuh. Weak people get scared.

Whatever...

You know, I’m trying to be real patient with the Noble Romance Publishing debacle that you’re all no doubt sick to death of hearing about as am I. I haven’t been paid for ages due to the previous CEO or whatever she was or wasn’t and her lack of communication and general ridiculous, hissy fit ideas when it came to royalties and tax for non US citizens. Every other publisher had no drama with it. Only that one couldn't get it.  The current CEO dude is being all happy faced and I’m waiting for the first promised payments this week. I expect a year's worth. Seriously.  A year. Yeah. To be absolutely honest I got so sick to death of dealing with the past whatever the hell she was that I just switched off from it for my own sanity. Several months ago I got back onto her and all the bullshit began again. I’m glad she’s gone. I hope the new CEO honours his promises but to be honest I’m real sceptical.  

As Anny Cook quoted on my facebook - Sigh. Yep. After a while you just take everything everyone says with a heaping cup or two of salt... 

Trust in epublishing? Go Indie. Trust no one but yourself. The rest as fcuk'd.

Just my opinion but what a load of…

…clap trap. While I do the indie author thing myself and I believe Indie books are just as good, if not better, than books published by the standard epublishing companies because we are less inclined to play with ourselves, I also believe that no one owes a writer a living. You have to fight and struggle to get ahead and images like this annoy me. Why? So it took you two years to write a book. So what? That doesn’t mean that it’s going to fly off the shelves due to the effort you put in and emotional clap trap like this picture indicates to me that a reality check is needed. Epublishing is a shitty, backbiting, hard business.  The hard facts are not everyone is going to buy your book. Many would actually prefer to buy a cup of coffee. If a reader does buy your book then be bloody happy and grateful. You had a win.   

As for equating your ebook with a cup of coffee poured by some poor bugger whose probably making only minimum wage working for a large blood sucking conglomerate who owns half the coffee in the world, don’t under estimate what each $3.50 can mean to the worker or the drinker. We each chose our own poison. For writers, it’s thoughts in head and arse on chair as keys are banged furiously as words spew forth as we look to make money from it. For the waitress who just wants to serve the coffee and get off her feet – well, if none of us were buying her coffee, she’d be out of a job. For the poor sod that’s had a shit of a morning and the only thing holding them together is knowing they can buy a coffee – you think they’re going swap that for a book? Get frigging real.      

Everything is relative. Emotional claptrap? Save it for your writing and leave people to make their own choices without that corny angst of comparing chalk and cheese. 

But then, that’s just my own sweet, shy opinion…     

Going indie…

So, I was thinking’s that’s been a bit over 6 months since I went indie and started pubbing my own stories. It’s been an interesting experience. Do I regret it? Oh hell no. There is nothing like the freedom of doing it on your own terms. Has it been a learning curve? Oh yeah. I have come to view established publishing as being made up of shysters, dopey divas and nongheads who make publishing way more difficult than it has to be. I cannot fathom why e-books have to be so expensive when overheards are low. But that’s greed for you. Has going indie been worth it? Yes. Nothing tastes as good as freedom does. From a slow start it’s been consistent in an upward movement.

Thinking of going indie? It’s hard work but then nothing worthwhile is easy. Indie publishers aren’t about following the mainstream. It’s not about yes-men and screwing authors over. It’s not about dodgy royalty cheques and suspect editor/authors who know nothing but have their lips on the butt of the publisher. It’s about relying on yourself and your instinct. If you have the skin of a rhino, the persistence to carry on even when you wonder what the hell you are doing, a defiant streak of anti-establishment within you and the ability to laugh when all goes wrong then go indie.