Indie and proud!

I doubt there’ll be any turning back now. But I have a fair bit to get off my chest, and my guess is, thousands of independent authors will agree. Enough is enough, it is not reasonable in 2025 to belittle the passionate self publishing authors of the planet. We love, and in most cases prefer Indie music - it is their expression and freedom to do what they want to do, which attracts us. And this principle is exactly why we, the rogues, the scallywags, the besmirched bookies of the literature world are to be treasured and lauded.

I’ll start at the beginning. I’d found myself in a hole after completing five long years working towards a BSc in Geography. I had nothing to do, I was stifled to be honest, stifled and dangerously close to playing endless rounds of internet Scrabble. I needed a creative outlet, I couldn’t face reading or writing another academic paper, not for a while at least. I recalled a story a odd old friend of my mother’s had once told me in Cornwall, a truly peculiar account of a grubby dirty urchin boy who used to visit the her. She used to feed the kid titbits from the lounge window of her bungalow. I must have been eleven or twelve at the time and remember feeling horrified at the idea of a child living alone on the outskirts of Bodmin moor having to fend for himself. I don’t honestly know how much of what she told us was true, but the story has haunted me ever since. As an art student in the nineties I harboured an idea to embellish the story and, in my head I’d created a pretty gritty screenplay. No surprise that the film never came to fruition, I got a crap job and had a brilliant daughter. But last year, the anecdote returned to me. So I began to write, and I loved it. I found the yarn spinning freely from my fingertips. I was absorbed. I was method writing, I was sharing breathing space with my protagonist. I was developing strategies to make me despise my antagonists, I really needed to hate them to make them as awful as possible. Anyhow, to cut that long story short, I finished the manuscript several months later, and have seldom felt so proud in my near fifty years on the planet.

That elation was to then be smashed, shat on, put down and to a large degree ignored by a wider industry that I’m increasingly starting to loath.

Look, I’m under no illusions here. I don’t write this believing that I deserve a place at the top table of the publishers’ ball. I’m mindful that the cornucopia of writing aids has encouraged and enabled everyone the opportunity to write their story. I know that agents’ inboxes are overflowing like Boxing Day bins, and that quite understandably there are not enough hours in the day to consume the infinite amount of submissions. In that, I guess my gripe is not targeted at them directly. What I resent though, is the disdain towards authors who have decided to take the publishing into our own hands. It’s my belief that the general consensus from the gatekeepers, competition judges, general public and bookshop owners, is that we are no more than bloody amateurs.

This could not be further from the truth in my experience. Guided by the incredible hive mind that is the Alliance of independent authors Alli I have employed some talented professionals throughout the process. An editor, a proofreader, a graphic designer for the cover art. Not on the cheap either. The way I see it, both the manuscript and the end reader deserve, and will receive, a credible, well designed, polished and highly professional finished product.

So you’ll forgive me for being hacked off by yesterday’s experience at the independent bookshop of which I’m a reliable customer. It went something like this:

‘…Yes, I intend to release the book on the 23rd of May. As my local bookstore I’d love be able to direct customers to you to purchase the physical paper and hardback copies…Yes of course I’ll do it as a consignment…I’ll absolutely use social media and advertising to send custom to your shop…’

‘And who’s your publisher?’

‘Me!’ I beam. Well, the face on him. It was embarrassing frankly. I’m one of your own, I’m a writer, I have a fantastic commodity for you to sell. How can you not see this. You truly believe that supporting only your trusted mega publishing houses provides your customers with a complete spectrum of literature. No, me neither.

My aim is to create a space where independent authors can celebrate their monumental efforts and not feel vilified by a rather antiquated, impenetrable and tight knit industry.

Please feel free to add your thoughts, comments and experiences of this path we choose. let’s make this a free and open forum. Nothing is off limits. Lets vent! We are the Gallaghers bowling into the Brit awards flicking fag ash at pop stars, we are visualists storming the Oscars and robbing the big studios of their gongs. We are the creatives, and we control our destiny here. I’m ferociously proud to be an indie author. I know you all are.

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Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.