The internet can be a pretty depressing place. Looking at sites where people can talk to each other online (forums, LinkedIn communities, Facebook groups) in particular is a\u00a0sure-fire\u00a0way of devastating the trust you might have in humanity.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it\u2019s best to avoid those places altogether, but they are able to give one some insight into people. In this case, it\u2019s taught me that there are basically 4 types of indie writers.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m starting with the worst group (well,\u00a0almost<\/em> the worst group, #2 is a tad more serious): the people who think they\u2019re somehow better than others. You know, people who, just because they have been able to put a book on the market, think they\u2019re the new overlords of the universe. They see someone post a, shall we say,\u00a0grammatically-\u00a0and spellingly-challenged message, and immediately jump on them like a pack of hyenas, often spewing their contempt in a post that itself has at least one blatant error (but of course, since they\u2019re Important Book Novelist Writer People\u00ae, they\u2019re absolutely right to do so).<\/p>\n So, you wrote a book. What should I do, kneel and kiss your feet? Look, I know it\u2019s quite an achievement to write and publish a\u00a0book (let alone a\u00a0good<\/em> book), and chances are I\u2019ll be just as happy for you as you yourself are. But not if you\u2019re using that \u201cachievement\u201d as a sword, cleaving through the masses of inferior people (who may not be able to spell as well as you do) as you ride your high horse out of the gates of Helm\u2019s Deep.<\/p>\n Yes, you read that right. Many of them aren\u2019t even writers, although they\u2019re good at writing ads for their own company. These are the people who will gladly pop up in any sort of discussion thread to\u00a0kindly<\/em> offer their services (but you don\u2019t have to use them, it\u2019s okay if you don\u2019t, but in case you should, I\u2019ll just leave my site URL, e-mail address, Facebook page, Twitter profile and any other relevant and irrelevant contact information here).<\/p>\n Do note that some people are genuinely trying to help (other) indie authors get published. These are the people who painstakingly design a cover, to suit the writer\u2019s every needs. The people who spend hours organizing blog tours for their clients, the editors and proofreaders who go over the entire book with a comb that has teeth so fine that amoebae have a hard time wriggling their way through. They belong to group #4.<\/p>\n But the people here in group #2\u2026 they\u2019re the swindlers. Crooks. Common thieves. They will charge hundreds, thousands of dollars to get your book published. Isn\u2019t that awesome! Your book is getting published, hooray, and it only cost you your life\u2019s savings! But that\u2019s okay, you realized your dream, and it\u2019s all right if you pay through the nose to realize your dream.<\/p>\n Maybe it is. But not when you could have done all that for cheap, or even for free. Getting a stock image for your cover doesn\u2019t have to be expensive. There are free stock photography sites, such as stock.xchng<\/a>, or\u00a0Flickr<\/a>, which also has a lot of material with a Creative Commons<\/a> licence. You can get beautiful fonts cheaply, and often even free (also for commerical use!). FontSpace<\/a> is my go-to place for those. And with a bit of practice, trial and error, you can format your book for both electronic and paper publishing yourself.<\/p>\n Actually putting your book out there is\u00a0completely<\/em> free. I personally use Smashwords and CreateSpace, but there are plenty of other options open to you. All free.<\/p>\n So think again before you jump on that opportunity the swindlers are offering you. It\u2019s okay to hire someone to do things you can\u2019t do well yourself, but be sensible: shop around first.<\/p>\n That brings me to my third group. The victims. The easy targets for the swindlers. They\u2019re not stupid, just uneducated.<\/p>\n It\u2019s very tragic when you read how good-natured people have written a book that they\u2019re proud of, and now they\u2019re trying to get it published. Maybe they\u2019ve sent it to publishers and got rejected (that can happen to the best of us, and is often no indication of an author\u2019s prowess). Now they\u2019ve heard about self-publishing and want to get aboard that train too. So what do they do?<\/p>\n They sign up with a company from group #2, thinking to themselves, hey, that\u2019s cheap, only 1,000 dollars (or more)! Let\u2019s do it!<\/p>\n The tragedy about this is that, if someone had just told them they had other, non-bank-breaking options, they could have not only saved a lot of money, but end up with a product they\u2019d feel much better about. Something they could\u00a0truly\u00a0<\/em>be proud of. And that\u2019s where group #4 comes in.<\/p>\n This is, I sincerely hope, the silent majority of indie writers. Those people who just go about their business, writing cool stories, publishing them now and again, reading other people\u2019s works, being positive, sometimes leaving criticism where necessary (but always in an uplifting manner, never in the way group #1 comment on other people\u2019s work), and are just generally really nice, appropriately humble people to get along with.<\/p>\n It just wouldn\u2019t hurt if they\u2026 we\u2026 would speak up now and then. If you see a swindler commenting somewhere, call them out on their ridiculous prices. Point out that there are much cheaper (not to mention better) options out there. Avoid getting into long-winded discussions with group #1, they can only end badly. And most importantly, support the people in group #3. If you see they have that holy fire, that drive to be good and better writers, help them out! Lead them on the way that you yourself have already walked. Guide them around those stumbling blocks you tripped over on your own journey to authordom.<\/p>\n And finally, let\u2019s all just get along, dear people in group #4. Let\u2019s never become like group #1.<\/p>\n And if you are reading this and recognize you\u2019re currently in group #1 or #2\u2026 it\u2019s never too late to join us here in group #4. It\u2019s lovely in here.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The internet can be a pretty depressing place. Looking at sites where people can talk to each other online (forums, LinkedIn communities, Facebook groups) in particular is a\u00a0sure-fire\u00a0way of devastating the trust you might have in humanity. Perhaps it\u2019s best to avoid those places altogether, but they are able to give one some insight into 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Swindlers<\/h2>\n
3. Victims<\/h2>\n
4. The rest of us<\/h2>\n