Five Lessons Indie Press Taught Me:

1. 1. Write For Yourself. I sit at my laptop, hands on the keyboard, frozen by the thought, Have I gone too far? What would an editor think of that? Or, worst of all, What would Uncle Bill think? Editors, agents and a few family members are predominantly who make up a category we all carry around called ‘everybody’. They are those we assume will judge us be it on our clothes or our taste in music. Taking Play Fling to Smashwords allowed me to focus on my reading, buying audience and no one else. This lesson is likely late in coming to me in my writing, as well as in life. I cherish the freedom it has given me and will never relinquish it again. 2. Commas Count. I had assumed I was at least a decent grammarian, that in every submission I’d ever sent, superior quality existed. Now, I know better. Four separate pairs of editorial eyes passed over Play Fling’s final copy and each set found different, new errors. The human eye fills in blanks while reading. Your finished product is worth having one more person check it, extra time taken or not. I can’t take back the past but I can do better every day. 3. To Market, to market. Once I became the only person I could blame for the sales, be they high or low, I got out of my introverted comfort zone faster and farther than when I traditional publishing house was involved. I queried for guest blog spots and reviews, I jumped into a podcast, I started talking about my book to everyone who would, and wouldn’t, listen. I’m beginning to build a name and take responsibility for my author business. 4. Tougher Choices. Rather than relying on an editor’s experience as the final judge of what was working and what wasn’t, I had to make tougher revision choices. The comments and feedback my critique partners were taken with less grains of salt. I allowed myself a more critical eye because I was creating the final version. I walked more firmly in my readers’ shoes because of it. I don’t wonder if a thing works, I make it work and stand by each word. 5. Don’t Be In It For The Money. A small part of me thought being out there, available to millions of viewers would be all it took to rake in some sales. The truth is every sale is up to luck, taste, timing and is utterly beyond my control. Even bestselling authors strive to make a full time living off of their passion. So I cannot do it for the money. I can do it for the joy, the knowledge that I may have made someone laugh out loud or sigh at a happy ending.

~~~~~ Amber Scott is the author of several books, the latest, Play Fling, is available at Smashwords.  She is also a regular contributor to the author resource website 1st Turning Point.  You can hear Amber and I talking in Episode 5 of Romantically Speaking.

Tagged as: Craft, Guest, Romantically Speaking Podcast, Writing