Things People Get Wrong About Indie Authors

Before I became an indie author, I thought the job was pretty straightforward.

Write a book.

Publish the book.

Write another book.

That’s adorable.

Apparently, somewhere along the way, I also became an editor, proofreader, graphic designer, website manager, social media manager, marketing department, newsletter writer, review coordinator, customer service department, and the person screaming at a paperback file because IT IS THE EXACT SAME SIZE IT WAS FIVE MINUTES AGO.

Oh, and occasionally I still write books.

I’ve been doing this for years now, and I think one of the biggest misconceptions about indie authors is that we spend most of our time writing. I WISH. There are definitely days when I get to sit down with a notebook and disappear into another world for hours, but there are also entire weeks when I barely write a single new word because I’m too busy doing all the other things that come with publishing books.

And this summer has been a perfect example.

I’ve rewritten Summer Love Autumn Goodbye, Self Inflicted, and Scars Fade. I’m currently working my way through Time Heals. There have been new covers, formatting, proofreading, uploading files, fixing things that somehow broke even though I swear I didn’t touch them, updating websites, sending newsletters, looking for reviewers, making graphics, creating videos, posting on social media…

And somewhere in there, I’m also supposed to finish a fantasy series.

So let’s talk about some of the things people get wrong about indie authors.

We Don’t Just Write the Book

Writing the book is actually the fun part.

Okay, sometimes writing the book makes me want to throw my notebook across the room, especially when my characters decide they aren’t going to cooperate with whatever carefully thought-out plan I had for them. But compared to everything that happens afterward?

Writing is the part where I get to play.

Once the story is finished, the completely different job of turning that story into an actual book begins.

There’s editing. Then more editing. Then proofreading. Then formatting. Then realizing you missed something and going back to editing again. Then uploading everything. Then checking the files. Then checking them again because apparently I don’t trust myself. Then finding something approximately thirty seconds after you were absolutely positive you’d checked everything.

And that’s before anyone actually reads it.

There Isn’t a Giant Publishing Team Hiding Behind Me

I think sometimes people hear “published author” and picture an entire group of people working behind the scenes.

For many indie authors, that group is considerably smaller than you’d expect.

Sometimes it’s literally just us sitting at a computer thinking, Okay… how the hell do I do this?

We can absolutely hire people for parts of the process, and there are some incredible editors, designers, formatters, and other professionals who work with indie authors. But at the end of the day, we’re also running a business, and every one of those services costs money. Sometimes you hire someone. Sometimes you learn how to do something yourself. Sometimes you torture a friend for several hours by sending them approximately seventeen versions of a book cover and asking, “Okay, but what about THIS one?”

Sorry again.

And thank you. 😂

We Have to Get People to Notice the Book Exists

This might actually be the hardest part.

You can write the greatest book in the world, but that doesn’t mean anyone knows it exists.

So once we’ve spent months—or years—writing, rewriting, editing, proofreading, formatting, and publishing the thing, we get to become marketers.

And let me tell you…

Marketing yourself is WEIRD.

“Hey! I wrote this thing! You should give me money and read it!”

No pressure. 😂

That’s why you see authors talking about their books repeatedly. It’s why we make graphics, record Reels, post excerpts, send newsletters, look for reviewers, run giveaways, write blog posts, create reader groups, and celebrate every single review that appears.

We’re trying to convince an algorithm to show our books to someone who might love them.

And the algorithm is apparently a temperamental little beast that requires constant sacrifices.

Reviews Matter More Than You Probably Realize

This is something I don’t think readers always know.

Reviews are HUGE for indie authors.

And no, I don’t mean we need everyone to tell us our book is the greatest thing they’ve ever read.

I want honest reviews.

Obviously, I would prefer you didn’t hate my book. 😂 But if you did? That’s okay. Not every book is for every reader.

Reviews help other readers decide whether a story is something they might enjoy. They give books credibility. They help with visibility. They tell algorithms that people are actually reading and talking about the book.

That’s why I’m constantly looking for reviewers and why I’m willing to give away ebooks in exchange for honest reviews.

A reader taking a few minutes to leave a review might feel like a tiny thing.

To an indie author, it really isn’t.

The Book Isn’t Finished When It’s Published

This one has become especially obvious to me lately.

I could have left my older books alone.

They were published. People had read them. Technically, they were finished.

But I wasn’t the same writer anymore.

When I went back and looked at Summer Love Autumn Goodbye, I knew I could make it stronger. Then I looked at Self Inflicted. Then Scars Fade. And apparently I decided I hated having free time because now I’m working through Time Heals too.

Going back through books I wrote years ago has been equal parts rewarding and horrifying.

There are scenes I’ve rediscovered and thought, Oh, I LOVE this.

There are others where I’ve wondered what Past Morgan was thinking.

And there are plenty where I’ve realized the idea was there—I just didn’t have the same skills then that I have now to put it onto the page the way I wanted.

That’s one of the benefits of being an indie author. These are my books. I can decide they deserve another pass. I can give them new covers. I can rewrite them. I can make them better.

It’s also one of the dangers of being an indie author because apparently nobody is here to tell me, “Morgan, put the old book down and go write the new one.”

We Notice Every Little Bit of Support

This might be the biggest one.

When you’re supporting an indie author, there’s a very good chance that person actually sees it.

I see when you share one of my posts.

I recognize names that keep showing up in my comments.

I notice when someone leaves reviews on multiple books.

I see people recommending my stories to other readers.

I notice when the follower number moves up by one.

I definitely noticed when we hit 500.

Those things matter.

You don’t have to buy every book an indie author writes to support them. You don’t even necessarily have to spend money.

Follow their page.

Share a post.

Tell someone about a book you loved.

Request their book from your library.

Leave a review.

Comment on their posts so the algorithm decides maybe somebody actually wants to see them.

All of those little things add up.

And Yes, We Actually Do Write Sometimes

After all the editing, formatting, uploading, marketing, website updates, social media posts, newsletters, review requests, graphics, covers, and everything else…

Sometimes I even open a notebook and remember what started all of this in the first place.

I love telling stories.

That’s the part that keeps me doing everything else.

I love creating characters who become real enough in my head that I miss them when their stories are over. I love starting with a completely blank notebook and watching it slowly fill with an entire world that didn’t exist before. I love when someone tells me one of my books made them cry, or helped them feel less alone, or stayed with them after they finished reading.

That’s why I deal with all the other stuff.

Even the paperback files.

Even the algorithms.

Even the marketing.

Even staring at a computer at some ridiculous hour wondering why something that worked perfectly yesterday has suddenly decided it doesn’t work anymore.

Being an indie author is a lot more than writing books.

Some days I’m a writer.

Some days I’m an editor.

Some days I’m a designer.

Some days I’m a marketer.

Some days I’m tech support with absolutely no qualifications to be tech support.

And some days I’m all of them before lunch.

But at the end of all of it, I get to look at a book and say:

I made that.

And that’s still pretty damn cool.