I am an independent author. Sometimes, just saying it aloud helps. 🙂 There’s a lot of stigma attached to being “independent” and a lot of negativity, usually slung from publishers and those authors and aspirational authors who believe the traditional route is the one and only route to being published. Well, in 2021, all I can say is “good luck with that.”
Being independent gives me and authors like me the freedom to decide pretty much everything. It also means we have to own our mistakes along the way. Like everything, there’s a learning curve, but learning is a big part of the reward. Can I do things better? Sure. How do I do things better? Well, I go and learn from people better than me in that area.
But one of the true freedoms can be found in the creative process, including everything from writing to cover design. I’ve always done my own covers – some are better than others, some are far better than others, meaning I really should go back and change one or two of my covers. And, because I’m independent, free to make my own mistakes, I can.
This year, a good friend I met through writing but have never met, put me on to 3D art. I’ve always enjoyed playing around with images in Photoshop, but felt something was missing – in a nutshell, it was “people” or characters who were missing. With 3D models and assets a whole new world opened up, and I could put a face on my characters. Now, there’s a danger here, and anyone who read The Lord of the Rings before Peter Jackson’s films probably experienced the same identity crisis as I did when Elijah Wood became the new Frodo. So, if I add Petra, one of my main characters, to a book cover or promo image, as I have started doing, then readers might experience the same thing.
I think I just compared Petra to Frodo, there. 🙂
Whatever the consequences, I’m actually fine with it, as what I’ve discovered is a new string to the creative bow. Now, when I create covers or promotional images I find I am adding to the story. Sometimes playing around with a cover inspires a story, which is what happened last night when Petra went back in time (see cover image).
I don’t yet know when or if I’ll write this story, but I’m seriously considering it, just to shake things up a bit.
Being an indie author gives me the freedom to do that.
Chris
Hi Chris. Re publishers….they do seem to forget who they need to run their business’s!!!
Re 3D art. Well,i put it the same category as the colour grey(though i’ve never thought it a colour…just somewhere on its way in between black and white,and never got there!!).Hopefully it will go out of fashion! But that’s me!
Brilliant! 🙂 Thanks, Graham. Big smiles over here!
Again, always nice to know other people around the world choose to take a different path. I’m an independent translation and I too get the stigma comments and the negativity. After 6 years, I’m finally assuming myself as a freelancer and don’t care about the people who think this is just a phase until I find “a real job”. Being independent is great! Yes, it is hard because we have to do all by ourselves, but then again working as an employee is hard because you have to put up with a lot of… awful things from colleagues and bosses. Here’s an idea for a future post: how do you publish as an independent? And how do you manage to publish in other countries? (By the way, I’m going to buy your book “Seven Graves One Winter” in Portuguese, edited by Quetzal Editores.) Oh, and Petra going back in time is a great idea for a book!
Hi Ana Catarina! I sometimes tell people that my job as an indie author is the very best job I have ever had, and it is also the hardest. I don’t mean it is hard in a negative one, just that it demands an awful lot, and I don’t ever “turn off” and the working day is … well, the working day is very long. However, sometimes I am at my most productive at 3 am. 🙂 As for being an independent translator – fantastic! I am very fortunate to work with an independent translator who is currently translating the Greenland Missing Persons series into French. Francoise is brilliant and a pleasure to work with. I can imagine you have to fight your corner to get publishing contracts, and you have my respect as I bet it is a competitive market. Thanks for picking up Um Inverno, Sete Sepulturas. I was very fortunate to be invited to speak at the Folio literary festival with Seven Graves, One Winter. I’m curious to hear what you think about it. Thanks again for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.
It’s a pleasure to comment, I’ll do it more often. I always think that people would like to have feedback and to know about good impressions that leave on other people. There is so much negativity in the world… Well, although I specialised in Literary Translation at the University, I’m an Academic Translator. Yes, there’s a lot of competition, but in this field the main problem is that researchers lack funding and they still have to publish an awful amount of articles in English… I’m now expanding for assisting academic researchers in projects, specially writing proposals for funding calls. Yes, I will let you know my thoughts on your book. I’m very curious about it because I’m fascinating about stories taking place in Artic landscapes… and I love crime fiction. So, sounds perfect! 🙂
I agree. I also sent you a mail, so look out for something in your spam filter as that’s where my super dooper privacy mail usually ends up. 🙁 Sigh.