Indie Archives - Page 5 of 7 - David Mark Brown

Evolution of an Indie: Assume You Suck

March 15, 2012March 22, 2012 by David Mark Brown

Evolution of an Indie Entering my third year as an indie, it is my responsibility to impart sage wisdom to the world. (Don’t blink, or you might miss it.) See the series introduction post for more on my saga. But for now, lesson #2 for 2012:

In the beginning, assume you can’t do anything well.

A depressing bit of realism, I know. But I’m going somewhere with this. Indie publishing requires skills not just in writing, but in art, formatting, design, marketing, sales and social media. The fact might be that you are pretty dang good at most everything you do. If you are expressing indie art, then it’s a garunteed certainty you think you are. And that is exactly the problem.

Artists are renown for lofty passions detached from a cruel reality. We think everything we do is art, while everything else is cunning drivel at best. Unfortunately, we are wrong, most of the time. (Or at least this is often true in the beginning.)

What’s an Indie? Hoping Against Reality

March 19, 2012March 15, 2012 by David Mark Brown

Today, we at the green porch (yes I refer to myself as plural) welcome Independent author and novelist Scott Bury to discuss with us his definition of being indie! Check out his blog, Written Words, for my “Best and Worst.” (And no, they aren’t incriminating photos. Get your mind out of the gutter.) His novel, The Bones of the Earth (The Dark Age), can be found at Amazon as well as many other fine ebook retailers. Enjoy! Scott Bury

What it isn’t: richifyin’—a way to make money. If you have a cockamamie get-rich-quick scheme, it’s probably a more reliable way to earn a living than writing novels.

What it is:

1.) empowering — I can create characters, plots, even whole worlds and do exactly what I want with them. In my own little way, I can be God.

2.) liberating — Because I am independent, I don’t have to listen to any pesky agents, editors or publishers telling me which way to go, add plot points, make the character a little more this and a little less that.

Evolution of an Indie: Write Novels, Sell Units

March 13, 2012March 12, 2012 by David Mark Brown

Evolution of an Indie Entering my third year as an Indie, it is my responsibility to impart sage wisdom to the world. (Don’t blink, or you might miss it.) See the series introduction post for more on my saga. But for now, lesson #1 for 2012:

Write Novels, Sell Units

You are running a small business. Have a business plan and execute it. I always start with this one. If you want to make money as a writer (*see disclaimer at bottom), you cannot shirk this truth! To an extent your art must become “units” and “product.”

Now, I’m a liberal arts major, like the majority of you flaky writerly types. I don’t have much of a clue on how to create a business plan, other than it involves some sort of plan for doing business. But I do know any legitimate business plan involves “crunching numbers.” So let’s start crunching.