Now, there's a whole debate about whether this is a good or a bad thing. By-passing the middleman can also mean by-passing the filters of editors, proofreaders, agents and consultants who have traditionally acted as gatekeepers to the world of publishing.
And true enough there are indie authors who, before putting their work on the market, choose to purchase the services of freelance editors, etc, to bolster the quality of their work or help with marketing. But for all intents and purposes the burgeoning author-publisher scene is one where individuals can write and publish instantly through e-book avenues such as e-readers like Amazon's Kindle, print-on-demand publishing, or both.
There is a correlation between what is happening now in the world of publishing and what happened in the late 1970s when, during the punk and new wave era, independent music exploded in the UK. Back then numerous music artists who were unable to attract the interest of the major record label secured their own creative outlet, either through small, cottage industry-style independent record labels (The Police released their debut Fall Out on Illegal Records) or by totally self-financing their first recordings, such as Thomas Leer with Private Plane.
Today, we are witnessing an even more fundamental democratising of publishing, a process that has gathered substantial momentum in recent years. Authors are taking control of their output to a hitherto unheard of degree.
As for quality control, well yes, when you take out editors, proofreaders and such like, quality will fluctuate and reflect the writer's technical skills. But readers can quickly gauge things with pre-purchase 'look inside' sneak previews or, increasingly, limit their risk by opting for a free or cheap (99c) taster introduction to a new author-publisher.
If you want to find out what makes these author-publishers tick,Indie Authors Naked has some answers. It is a collection of essays and interviews with prominent and emerging talent within the self-publishing scene. It is important to note this book is not a 'how to be a successful indie author-publisher' manuel, although there are plenty of insights and tips worth mining within its 172 pages. It's an eclectic collection of interviews with writers across a broad spectrum of genres and disciplines, including authors of romance, science fiction, contemporary literature and erotica, to poets and even an independent bookstore operating an expresso indie book publishing machine.
The book's format is interesting. Each interview is prefaced with an introduction essay written by another writer, in some cases a traditionally published author, who either knows or has a connection with the interviewee. The interviews, conducted by editor Loren Kleinman, are presented in a highly readable question-and-answer style.
One of the featured writers is Orna Ross, who also wrote the foreword. She had two books published by Penguin in the mid-2000s, but was dismayed by the way her vision for the books as "page-turning fiction" with educated, inspired language, was viewed differently by the publishing house which, she says, squeezed and altered the work to fit a 'chick lit/love angle' interpretation. "Where I thought reader, they thought retailer," says Ross. When her first book came out, complete with pink cover, she said, "I hardly recognised it as mine."
The books were bestsellers, nevertheless Ross felt they did not reflect her intention. Then, a number of years later, and with the widespread availability of digital publishing, she re-acquired the rights to her books and republished them in the style she originally intended. Shortly afterwards she founded the Alliance of Independent Authors.
The interviews and essays in Indie Authors Naked highlight some of the best new indie writers, states author Amy Holman Edelman in the introduction. "Their books resonate with readers who really couldn't give a damn if they came through the hallowed halls of a traditional publisher or just via their e-readers."
While reading this book I found myself almost constantly checking out the new names I was coming across with internet searches of their work and successes. None more so than Hugh Howey, whose meteoric rise from a one-time bookstore employee earning an hourly-wage to star of indie publishing looks set to eclipse even the remarkable story of multi-millionaire indie author Amanda Hocking.
The essay introducing Howey is written by David Gatewood, who now helps edit Howey's work after sending him (at the time a complete stranger) a blunt e-mail with the subject line '163 errors in Wool', which referred to Howey's hit indie science-fiction novel Wool. The runaway success of the Wool series brought Howey to the attention of publishers Simon & Schuster, to whom he contracted the print-only distribution rights for a six-figure sum (keeping hold of the lucrative digital rights himself). Film-maker Ridley Scott has a film option on the series, and a graphic novel of the book has also been released.
In the three years since he self-published the original Wool story, Howey has become a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestseller. If the only thing I gleaned from Indie Authors Naked was an insight into the story of Howey, I would have been more than satisfied. However, there was a lot more.
One interview that particularly caught my attention was with Ted Heller, who could be described as a somewhat reluctant author-publisher. The son of Catch 22 author Joseph Heller, he has had three books released through a big US publishing house, garnering critical praise from the likes of the New York Times and Vanity Fair. But when sales failed to match the glowing reviews, the publisher passed on his next offering, and so Heller found himself taking the self-publishing route for his newest release West of Babylon.
It has been a humbling and frustrating experience for Heller. Kleinman asks him, "You're the son of novelist Joseph Heller, author of Catch 22. Blessing or a curse?" To which he replies, "I'll say it's been somewhat of a blurse."
Heller is bluntly honest. He refers to self-publishing as "Hell on Earth" and speaks of how it felt to stand in a post office sending out books to newspapers that might not even review books anymore, or ordering copies of his own book from Amazon UK to send to British newspapers in the hope of a review.
If you have the slightest curiosity or interest in the reshaping of the publishing landscape and the shift from old school to new world publishing, then I'd recommend Indie Authors Naked as a great starting place. The fairly short chapters, and the question and answer format, make it an easy read to pick up and put down when you have a spare moment. The book's genesis was a series of blog interviews from the IndieReader website. What you get in addition are insightful essay introductions, and the discovery of fresh up-and-coming voices in a brave new literary landscape.
Finally, New York Times bestselling memoirist and novelist Joni Rodgers, one of the essayists writing about the shift between old and new world publishing, had this to say. "The 'must read' books coming out of New York were becoming more homogenised and less satisfying, heavily influenced by a narrow ilk of editors who were shackled by the values system of a dying business model. I realised I wanted to read the work of writers: broad, fearless risk-takers dedicated to craft and beholden to no one."
Indie Authors Naked is published by IndieReader Publishing.
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