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This one’s for anyone who is an indie author or wants to be an indie author. 🙂

#1. Creative Freedom – You can write anything you want and you can write it how you want it. There’s no agent, publisher, or audience asking you to write in a certain genre or in a certain way. Your editor or beta readers may have feedback to give and by all means, take their advice if you think it will improve your story. In the end, though, you have the final say over what goes in your published book. Creative freedom is a great thing to have!

#2. Personal Accomplishment – It feels great knowing that your book was created and published by you and you alone. While there are many self-publishing platforms that are user friendly and make the process fairly simple, the act of writing, editing, and publishing a book is an accomplishment to be proud of in and of itself. When you’re working with an editor or a cover designer and discussing the story, it can create a buzz that makes you feel like a boss. I actually enjoy the publishing process quite a bit (aside from that pesky formatting bit)!

#3. Self-Discovery – With the freedom to go at your own pace and write what you want to write, you can really express yourself the way you want to in your writing. This creates a path where you can learn from mistakes through feedback from editors, beta readers, book reviews, etc. while writing stories that feel true to you.

#4. Unlimited Success – While it’s challenging to stand out from the millions of books that are out there, as an indie author, your earning potential can be high if you reach the right people through the right avenues. You get to keep the rights to your book, meaning that any high earnings you do make won’t be nearly as garnished as what they would be if you were with a traditional publisher.

#5. Book covers! You get to design the book cover you want as an indie author! It can be any style or mood you want it to be. I will say that some traditionally published books can look a little gawdy or cheesy depending on the genre. My pet peeve is seeing books with reviews written all over the cover. It takes away from the story’s mood for me. Some of the best book covers I’ve ever seen were the ones chosen by indie authors. They seem to have better taste than a lot of marketers at the big publishing houses. #sorrynotsorry

#6. The Challenge – Indie publishing often has a reputation for being a “last resort” for people who can’t get into a big publishing house. This isn’t always the case. A lot of indie authors prefer not to work with gate keepers or spend months sending queries to agents. Some authors enjoy the process of self-publishing and prefer having the license for their own work. Instead, they want to focus on getting their book out there once it’s ready. The challenge is to stand out from all the other books out there – indie and traditional – and come up with creative marketing techniques that will attract more readers. I like to set new goals every month and attempt to gain a new reader or sell a few more books.

Are you an indie author? What do you enjoy about publishing your own books? Do you have any points that you’d like to add?