Getting Involved in the On-line Writing Business.

Could you be an Aspirant Indie-Author?

Everyone has a story to tell—is yours worthy of publishing?

It would seem everyone is in the business of telling stories these days. The diversity is great, ranging from bedtime tales and memoirs to theatre plays, films and novels. The dawn of the new technological age in the nineties, ushered in a trend toward increased professionalism by amateur story-tellers whose conceptual creations would have otherwise remained wishful thinking.

The major spark that has caused this rising tide of authorship is the on-line industry of Amazon.com who has driven the vision for self-publishing through the Kindle revolution. No longer are books the subjects of bookrooms and libraries. They are now available to anyone immediately through quick download facilities at affordable prices. Paperback book publishing, initially provided by printing businesses and traditional publishing houses has also been revolutionized by print-on-demand publishing, available through businesses like Amazon’s Create Space facility.

It is now much easier for aspiring writers to self-publish their works. This, however, does not in any way ensure success. The competition has risen dramatically and the marketing of individual works has become the Achilles Heel of the majority. The terrain is constantly changing, making many aspirant authors wonder if the time spent on their work’s-of-art is really worth the effort. The group of writers surfing on the wave of this new revolution are known as Indie-Authors; meaning ‘individual, self-published author.’ From the outside, the industry appears to be a lucrative business that will suit the avid writer—any aspirant author who does not want to bother with the journey through traditional publishing. This perception is largely deceptive.

It is at this point, I would like to offer my experience, having two self-published books on the Amazon Kindle list. There are hundreds of sites giving good advice on the Indie-business and I certainly am not an expert in the field but my experience might lend its weight to decisions readers will make in starting up their own venture. Following in the wake of my blogs on ‘making a good decision’ the first aspect, of this type of authoring, is deciding to get involved with the online culture in a way that will probably take you out of your comfort zone. I hope to, over the next few blogs, break down the steps of involvement as I have personally experienced them in my journey so far. The blogs should account for the following:

·              Deciding to break into the self-publishing business.

·              Starting that first draft.

·              Do I need an editor?

·              What are the dynamics of dealing with a self-publishing, online company?

·              Who markets my new book?

Deciding to break into the self-publishing business.

This decision is entirely your own. I would say that if you love to write or tell stories the decision is almost a foregone conclusion. One thing you should consider is a plan of action and involvement. How much time do you have to spare for your writing gig? An hour a day, 5 hours a week or perhaps full-time? To help you place things into perspective, on an average, I spend about  6 hours a day on all aspects of my writing.  I do this for at least 6 days a week. I tend to fit my schedule in with my wife’s working hours so that we have adequate communication. I do, however, write every day, if possible. My goal for this year is to write three novels and one non-fiction book, perhaps a total of 300,000 words. This has to include time for my personal editing and research.

According to statistics you need to be prolific with your writing if you want to be successful in catching the minds of readers.

Write on things you are passionate about. Whatever genre you read will more than likely be the genre your own writing will follow. Believe you can do it and you will!

                                                     

Next week: Starting that first  draft.