Indie Tuesday—Writing Out of the Box

@AuthorKeller here: today I've ask my friend, fellow indie author, and two time Genesis award finalist, Sally Bradley to talk about her journey to self publishing and how writing an out of the box story helped her decide to become an indie author.

Also I need to announce who won the signed paperback copy of Searching for Home that was up for grabs last week: Gwendolyn Gage! Congratulations, I'll be sending you an email today.

Back to the subject at hand, please welcome Sally and her take on the freedom found in indie publishing.

Writing Out of the Box

by Sally Bradley @SallyBWrites

Earlier this year, I emailed an editor who had my proposal somewhere in her inbox and let her know I was withdrawing it to go indie. A week before the book debuted, an acquisitions editor at a small press asked to see it, based on the recommendation of a friend. I turned that request down too.

A year ago, neither of those scenarios would have happened.

There are so many reasons indie novelists forgo traditional publishing and release our books ourselves. One of the biggest is the freedom to write exactly what we want in the exact way we want it.

It seems to the reading public—and the yet-unpublished novelist—that once a book sells, a writer keeps writing whatever she wants. But this is often not the case. A publisher may require a word count that forces the writer to delete or add an entire subplot. Or a publisher may turn down an author’s ideas and ask them to write a completely different book, a book they’re not excited about. Requested rewrites may completely change the book. And the story the writer longs to write may never find a home.

To be fair, publishers tend to know what sells for them. Their goal is to please that market and keep their company profitable. They’re not interested in trying something new or in selling what the author wants to write. And since it’s their publishing house and their money, they have that final say.

But that’s also where the beauty of indie publishing comes in.

I faced this myself with Kept. An editor wanted to see it but only if it came in at a certain word count. I couldn’t reach that word count. (Well, okay, I could have, but in this case, it would have harmed the story.) At another time, an agent was impressed with my writing but wasn’t comfortable with the topic of Kept. She was interested in me if I had anything different, but I wasn’t passionate about the type of stories she was looking for.

Other writers have been in similar scenarios. They’re told their genre doesn’t sell or that the market is full. Maybe their book idea needs to reach the public right now to stay relevant and saleable.

What indie publishing has proven and continues to prove is that the reading public is far wider and more adventurous than publishing houses can keep up with.

Since I had some interest in my book, it may seem like being able to write what I wanted wasn’t an issue, but when Kept hit the market, various feedback made me realize that it would not have sold to a Christian publisher. It was too out of the box. While all the professional feedback was amazing, no one wanted to touch it. If I’d gotten a contract, there were key aspects of the novel I would have had to change. And I wouldn’t have been happy about that.

Indie publishing is full of stories like this. Heather Day Gilbert’s Viking novel, God’s Daughter, was rejected by several publishers and has gone on to find a loyal following as an indie novel. Nancy Kimball’s gladiator novel, Chasing the Lion, also didn’t find a home but has certainly gained many readers since it released. And I could name so many others who never found a publishing home or were released by their publisher. Many of these novelists are now thankful for being able to write what’s on their heart and make a better living than ever.

Indie publishing is not a second-class option. You very well might be wondering if it’s truly a viable alternative, and I can tell you as a debut novelist with a tiny, tiny following before release that indie publishing truly is an amazing opportunity to publish the stories of your heart, make a living, and reach readers who are longing and looking for the kinds of books you write.

And I’m not alone. So many of us are grateful for this revolutionary opportunity.

Kept

Miska Tomlinson knows there are no honorable men. Her womanizing brothers, her absentee father, and Mark, the married baseball player who claims to love her—all have proven undependable. But Miska has life under control. She runs her editing business from her luxury condo, stays fit with jogs along Chicago's lakefront, and in her free time blogs anonymously about life as a kept woman.

When Dillan Foster moves in next door, his unexpected friendship challenges her views on men. Her relationship with Mark deteriorates, but just as she realizes what a catch Dillan is, he discovers exactly who she is and what she has done. Caught in a scandal breaking across the nation, Miska wonders if the God Dillan talks about will bother with a woman like her--a woman who's gone too far and done too much.

Tweetables

"Indie publishing is not a second-class option." - @SallyBWrites shares her #publishing journey #indiepub #publishing (Click to Tweet)

Out of the box stories find a home in indie #publishing -via @SallyBWrites #indiepub #IndieBooksBeSeen (Click to Tweet)

Sally Bradley writes big-city fiction with real issues and real hope. A Chicagoan since age five, she finds herself fascinated by all things related to the city—except for the crime, taxes, and traffic. She now lives in the Kansas City area where she works as a freelance fiction editor and is a busy wife and mom of three. Fiction has been her passion since childhood, and she’s thrilled to write books that entertain and point back to Christ. Visit Sally online at sallybradley.com, @SallyBWrites on Twitter, and at Sally Bradley, Writer on Facebook.