5 Tips To Write Your Own Book, From Indie Writers

Writing your own book and publishing a book are two different jobs carried out by two different sets of people. But sometimes, writers publish their own books. They are known as Indie Writers. Indie writers write and publish Indie Books, which are not published by big publishing houses. Here, in this article, we will get to know about some Tips to write your own book as an Indie Writer.

Who is an Indie Writer?

An Indie Writer or an Indie Author according to the Alliance of Independent Authors is someone who:

1. Is an independent author and has published one book.
2. Should have complete control as the creative director of the book right from idea to the complete process, including publishing, marketing, and sales.
3. While negotiating partnerships, the author should be acknowledged as the creative director on contract papers. The contract could be a paid author or a publishing deal with agent.
4. If the author has an established author platform, the royalty received should be higher than an author who does not.
5. The author should be recognized as a creative director in the whole process of publishing and should be rewarded.
6. The author is proud of its ‘indie” status and carry the same self respect in all their ventures, negotiations, collaborations for own benefit and the benefit of all writers on the whole.

Why being an Indie Writer is different from Self Published Author?

An indie writer may not necessarily be a self-publishing author, because they might and do take help of specialists to publish their book. They also have a share of profits. Self-published authors are those who invest their own money in creating and publishing and promoting their book.

What are the pros and cons of being an Indie Writer?

Pros of being an Indie Writer

• Creative Control: You have absolute control over the design, placement, publishing, promotions, marketing and sales of your book. You can control the look, feel and design of your book. You have the final word on the way of publishing too.
• High Royalty Rates: You get to keep the highest royalty amount every time someone buys your book.
• Quick Payments: The payments for the sales profits and royalties you earn is quick and without hassle.
• Faster Time To Market:As there are no middlemen, your book reaches the market very fast.
• Control Over Format: You have absolute control over pre and post sales and marketing of your book.

Cons of being an Indie Writer

• Do Everything Yourself: Being an indie writer means doing everything by yourself. It becomes hard if you are a first-timer, because there are so many learning and a lot of trials and errors.
• No Prestige: Indie writers are often looked down because they are not in association with big publishing houses.
• Difficulty Getting on Store Shelves: Even if it is easier to reach market, indie writers find it extremely difficult to get their books on the shelves of popular bookstores.
• Assume All Financial Risk: Being an indie writer can be a financial liability, as all the expenses and losses are incurred by the writer alone.
• Lack of Marketing:No marketing is bad marketing. Even worse is if you do not know marketing.

Tips To Write Your Own Book

Write With All Your Heart

The first thing that makes an indie writer successful is writing. It is the only way an indie writer can sell their books.

Indie writer should concentrate on the storyline. Better if they rely on creating a series of titles. The storyline should be engaging and logical. It should be without grammar or syntax mistakes unless the storyline demands it.

Use short sentences and paragraphs and use a vigorous and positive tone of language. Your storyline needs a rhythm; listen to the characters of your storyline. Keep a tab on verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns, archaic and colloquial terms. Use vernaculars sparingly.

Write in the first person. Write for your reader. Use active voice. Give more information, avoid suspense. Delete unnecessary and boring details which do not add up to the storyline.

Set Writing Goals

Set up definite time, space and length of your writing. Make sure you set goals to achieve. Before starting on a new snippet, think over the whole episode and write them as points. Your narrative should be consistent. Write every day even if it is for a few minutes.

Strategize your Pricing and Timing

Now this is an important book writing tip. You can set your own pricing for your book. But before you do, make sure you have undertaken a research on how the books are priced in the market. This way, you can get the maximum monetary benefit. Also, make sure that you time your book release in such a way that it does not clash with other prominent writer or publishing house releases.

Invest in Marketing

If you want to sell your book quick, you need to invest in marketing. Reach out online bookstores that can sell your book. Make a video of the story snippet. Give free excerpts to interested readers. Make use of social media. Be sure that the book cover is loud in color and style. Make sure the author and the person come across as the same personality.

Connect with your readers

This is a great way to know the pulse of your readers. You can get new and brilliant ideas. This way, you will get new tips to write your own book that may become a bestseller. Interact with your readers, listen to them, answer questions, and solicit feedback.

We want to hear from you

Are you an indie writer too. Now, you can easily sell your book online at Showflipper.

Have you ever visited an online bookstore to buy books? Have you ever bought books written by an indie writer? We would like to know your experience.