Being and Indie Author

So, there are upsides and downsides of being an indie author. When I started down this path I knew it was not going to be easy, but I never imagined how difficult it really is.

So, first... Why I decided to be an indie author... Well, I looked into publishing services and went, "Holy crap! I can't afford that!" Then I looked into Amazon's free self publishing services.

First there is Kindle Direct Publishing. Here's what their site says about the service:

With Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) you can self-publish your books on the Amazon Kindle Store. It's free, fast, and easy. Books self-published through KDP can participate in the 70% royalty program and are available for purchase on Kindle devices and Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, and Android-based devices. With KDP, you can self-publish books in many languages - including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian - and specify pricing in US Dollars, Pounds Sterling, and Euros. You will also find useful information on our active community forum.

They also offer their Kindle Select service, also free:

Introducing KDP Select - a new option to make money and promote your book. When you make your book exclusive to Kindle for at least 90 days, it will be part of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library for the same period and you will earn your share of a monthly fund when readers borrow your books from the library. You will also be able to promote your book as free for up to 5 days during these 90 days. 

So, I signed up, uploaded my novel, cover and looked into their other service.

Create Space is a print-on-demand service also offered for free from Amazon. Yes, it's free, yes it lets you get your book out there in print format, but wow do they take a lot of the profits! Because of this you need to ask more for the book.

So now your book is published, here's the fun part. How do you sell it? I mean, those expensive publishing services do the work for you, but if you can't afford to do that, what can you do? Sell yourself. Here is where I am having the hardest time. Trying to get my book out there without spending money is extremely difficult, but not impossible.

So, here I am trying to write the second book in the trilogy, raise a family and promote my book. It's a trial for sure, but it is worth it. I've done one interview (stay tuned for its release) so far and hoping to do another one soon. I have an authors page and ad on Goodreads, I am now on FictFact, I tweet daily on Twitter, I even have an authors page on Facebook! Still it does not seem to be enough. All I can do though is keep trying and not give up.

If you are looking to help out please share this link to my book. Even if you can't buy it right now, if you share the link you are still doing something to help the cause, and thank you!