22.12.2012 15:30

2012 - The Year of the Indie

2012 - What a year to be an indie author. Amazon introduced their Select programme, KUF grew into an even wider invaluable resource, and a traditional publisher picked up a dubious indie trilogy making it the fastest-selling paperback of all time. It is also the year that my career took off, along side many other self-published authors.

In exchange for ninety days of Amazon exclusivity, the Kindle self-publishing platform offered eBook authors the chance to give away their books for free. At face value, the Select programme didn't sound like a great deal. However, when free copies of books started flying off the virtual shelves, authors began to realise that there were huge advantages to enrolling in Select. Authors found that successful giveaways resulted in high chart positioning once free promotions ended and also, encouraged readers to pay for other titles by an author of a freebie title that they enjoyed.

The Select programme has given authors such as David Wailing, Linda Gruchy and myself, our first major breaks, as well as helping to strengthen careers of pre-established authors such as Steve Robinson, who made it to the number one spot in the Kindle freebies chart.

Kindle Users Forum (KUF) launched in August 2010, and this year, the membership hit the 10,000 mark. The popular forum is widely used by authors and readers alike and provides a valuable resource for people interested in any aspect of the Amazon Kindle world. Through KUF, I have met some great fellow writers as well as some avid readers and bloggers. I would love to list them here but a ludicrous Amazon review deletion campaign has left me reluctant to admit the specifics of my honest networking with other authors.

A similar resource, the UK Amazon Kindle Forum on Goodreads has become similarly prolific and authors prefer to hang out in these spots than the unmoderated official Amazon Kindle forum, in which authors are frequently sanctioned and attacked.

Both KUF and the UK Amazon Kindle Forum have produced group books this year - collections of works by some of their members. KUF produced the seasonal collection Summer Shorts, which included six short stories that shared a theme, and the UK Amazon Kindle Forum published A Splendid Salmagundi, which was a more eclectic collection. Both were exceptionally well received and provided opportunities for authors to showcase their talents.

You won't hear me saying many positive things about Fifty Shades of Grey but it could be considered a feather in the cap for indie writing. Although the current paperback edition is published by Vintage Books, the books were originally self-published online and then released using print on demand. In fact, Vintage Books signed E. L. James as a result of her eBooks' viral success. The books are widely accepted to be repetitive and badly written, yet they appear to be what millions of people want to read. It goes to show that we've moved past the days when authors need to mail synopses to traditional publishers in order to get noticed. In addition to this, the sudden acceptance of an erotic novel in the mainstream market shows how rapidly the industry is changing.

I can't exemplify Fifty Shades without adding how frustrating and damaging it is that the book blurs the line between consensual BDSM in a trusting relationship, and abuse. Now is not the time to launch a full blown rant about the subject but this post by LauraGT makes for insightful reading on the subject. Hopefully next year, I'll have an indie champion to cheer without wanting to stab myself in the head with my cake fork.

Popular print on demand service, FeedARead continues to expand and Amazon launched CreateSpace in Europe, meaning that it's never been easier (or cheaper!) for indie authors to see their work in paperback form.

Thanks to the 2012 indie publishing boom many writers, myself included, feel that for the first time, we can truly refer to ourselves as professional authors. The Select programme has allowed a number of us to gain Top 100 chart positions and enabled us to reach tens of thousands of readers both in the UK and abroad.

My personal favourite moment from 2012 was unwrapping the proof copy of Seesaw, my very first paperback novel, published by FeedARead. Other highlights include my short story (Lipstick and Knickers) topping Amazon's humorous fiction chart and my novel, Pompomberry House, getting to number one in Amazon's free book chart.

Those of you who've read the introduction to Seesaw will be aware that I suffer from bipolar disorder, which has severely impacted on my opportunities to work. However, fiction writing is something that I feel able to do because I can work around the restrictions imposed on me by my illness and am fortunate enough to be able to write relatively quickly. Until this year, writing was a hobby. However, after selling books in 2012, I am feeling positive about a future of self-employment. I may never be able to work full time but I am delighted to have found suitable profession to dip in and out of when my health permits. This is a big deal for me because I never thought I would be able to support myself, and if my career continues to develop in 2013, I may one day reach a point where I will be able to.

So what's next for indie publishing? Amazon's competitors claim that the Select programme has damaged the book industry and devalued eBooks. Certainly authors are reporting less favourable free promotion consequences than they were earlier in the year. Will Amazon offer a new deal for indie authors or will we have to find our own ways to promote our books?

The founder of KUF, Lou Wellman, has started a new forum called nobooko, which focusses on Kobo and Nook eReaders. Is this the first sign or a shift away from Amazon for indie authors?

Erotica books are arriving in their droves, trying to cash in on the Fifty Shades hype. Will there be another run away success this year? And if so, what will it be? Please let it be something that makes indies proud - that cake fork is going to leave a horrible scar...

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