Why Indie Authors Aren’t Taken Seriously
In a changing publishing industry, despite the uprising of self-publishing, Indie Authors still aren’t taken seriously
The changing tide in the publishing industry has undoubtedly paved the way for the success of self-publishing indie authors.
With several platforms now existing to help authors get their work in front of readers, it seems that there aren’t any barriers between authors and readers.
However, as wonderful as this all is, Indie Authors are still struggling to get readers. Mainly due to the fact that self-publishing has carried a stigma for a long time now. But this is because, in the beginning, Indie Authors skipped crucial steps to publishing a polished product.
As a result of this, readers began to enter the indie author realm wearily for fear of running into plot holes and grammar mistakes.
Thankfully, there are now more resources available to Indie Authors, aiding them in releasing a polished product for readers.
If you are an Indie Author and want to be taken more seriously by readers, these are some things to be sure you are checking off of your list.
Develop a cohesive look between your social media platforms and website (color scheme, photos/ images)
Create a process to have your work proofread and edited (alpha readers, hire an editor, beta readers, and arc readers)
Create a publishing process and timeline (account for marketing, deadlines, reveals, finding reviewers, and release dates)
Research your market and genre before release (research keywords, titles, and images for the cover that will do well)
Market from day one (talking about your book/ concept from the beginning to the end of the process will build momentum)
If publishing on a platform that allows extra content, create it for your books page (Amazon has an A+ content feature, allowing authors to add additional information)
When authors use these processes and aspects to push their books to publish, they will begin to restore the faith in readers for the Indie Author realm.
Now the question is, how do you find these Indie Authors?
When you are looking at a book on say, Amazon, you can scroll down to the Product Details section for the book.
Under the section Publisher, it will look like this for a self-published book:
Paying attention to this section will help you determine who you are purchasing from.
The only way to change the way that readers see Indie Authors is to continue to release quality products.
Create a well-oiled process to release a quality book and we can all gain more readership.