Sustainable Storytelling

Evolution of an Indie: Assume You Suck

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Evolution of an IndieEntering 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.)

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RRS Roundup: Weird and Western

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Howdy, gentle partners. This week’s Read it! Review it! Share it! Goes West with a bit of weird. But first a West that’s just quirky. The Mule Tamer Ah, the wilds of Arizona during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Where else would you rather be? The Mule Tamer builds off of a strong … Read more RRS Roundup: Weird and Western

What’s an Indie? Hoping Against Reality

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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.

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