Reading Indie
Posted by Zoe Winters on July 12th, 2010Do you read indie? My question isn’t really: “Have you read an indie author?” My question is more: “Do you go out of your way to read indie?”
In movies and music, there is a subset of consumer who, tired of the mass consumer crap put out by major movie studios and record labels, go out of their way to listen to indie music and watch indie films.
Even though there are a million crappy youtube videos as well as bad garage bands on itunes, there is still this image in the popular mind that an indie film or band is going to just be “better” and more unique. No one stops to think that an indie film “couldn’t get a studio to back them” or that a musician “couldn’t get a record label.”
The assumption is that the indie wanted to create something a certain way and wanted to maintain creative freedom, or that it was a business decision to keep more of the profits.
In publishing, it’s different. In an early discussion I had with someone about self-publishing, this argument was brought up, that indie film and music were different because they contributed something new and different to the landscape that the massively popular music and movies weren’t providing. But the impression was that indie books were not “different”. They were just the “same crap” except they couldn’t get a publisher. So they were therefore lesser.
I’ve read a bunch of indie books, and I do feel a lot of them are different enough to be seen as “indie” as a distinct concept. But one of the problems in publishing is that writers as a group tend to be less independently-minded than their counterparts in film and music.
Or at least those serious about writing. Writers join writing groups where they are trained not to self-publish because it’s naughty and wrong and shameful because you should never try to take a “shortcut.” We’re trained early on to believe that the gatekeepers: publishers, editors, agents are practically magical elves and are all-knowing. If they reject you, you just aren’t good enough.
Even when most in traditional publishing circles admit that they buy what they think will sell, not necessarily the “best-written books”, it’s still somehow the author’s fault. They just have to write a “better book”, one that can’t be ignored by anybody’s marketing department.
We’re taught that if we keep getting rejected, we need to write something “more marketable” (i.e. the same things being published already by everybody else.) Though at the same time, we’re told not to try to capitalize on trends since publishing moves so slowly. i.e. submitting a vampire book tomorrow to an agent probably won’t get an enthusiastic reply. But werewolves might. Werewolves are the new black.
So if indie-produced books sometimes seem to have this same ‘feel’ as what is mass-produced, my guess would be that it’s because writers have been so well-conditioned by the traditional system. And it may take a decade of indie authorship before things truly change toward more distinct voices and ideas.
In self-publishing there are in general three groups (I’m not including people who self-publish just for their family and friends to get a copy. They aren’t seeking to join the general marketplace.):
1. Those not ready for prime time who rushed to publish too soon and at that point probably “couldn’t get a publisher”.
2. Those who are good writers and are ready, but they’ve had their heads so far up the butts of agents and editors and have been to every convention and workshop that they’ve basically been trained to “write a certain way” and haven’t gotten out of that yet.
3. Writers who are ready, and are telling their own unique stories, not trying to be like “everybody else.”
We need more of the third option in order to create a culture of indie authorship that is just as strong as that of indie music and film. Digital publishing goes a long way in raising the visibility of indie, but more than anything else, the view in the public mind that an indie author offers something that isn’t just like what everybody else is offering, will be what gives indies their street cred.
Zoe Winters is an indie author of quirky paranormal romance and a passionate advocate of the indie author movement. Visit her at: http://www.zoewinters.org to try free samples of her fiction.
Tags: indie authors, indie books, indie reading, reading indie
A very interesting post indeed. The parallels with the film and music industries are true – up to a point. Feedback from the audience is much more immediate with film and music (as little as 3 minutes with music). Asking people to read indie authors is asking them to invest a significant amount of their leisure time in order to make a judgment.
Not really. Because your comparison doesn’t work for film. A movie is 2 hours long generally. That’s more than three minutes. But most people don’t sit through 2 hours of a crappy movie. And most people won’t sit through however long it takes them to read a book. (If it’s bad.)
The answer is to have short stories and novellas as more bite-sized samples of work, and have sample chapters for free. A reader can tell within a chapter if they want to keep reading.
Just like a movie viewer can usually tell in a few minutes.
I have no idea why people keep bringing this example up like books are “that much different”. From a 3 minute song? Yes… but you completely ignore the movie parallel and I think it’s because you know your viewpoint doesn’t work there. It’s the same as a book. Big time investment. Need a sample.
Thank you for making these points. I keep wondering why people think indie music and film are so “different.”
Like you, I tend to see the similarities. Your words have actually inspired me to try to take a few more chances with some of the more experimental writing I’ve been doing.
While it may not appeal to everyone, perhaps it will find enough of a niche audience to be viable product.
And the great thing about being indie is having the freedom and discretion to make these choices.
Most definitely, Debbi. The Zoe writing is my “commercial writing” that probably could have “made it” if I’d wanted a NY publisher. I write other more experimental things under a different name.
Hey Zoe, I wasn’t attacking your post. I agree with it. I was merely thinking out loud – trying to understand why people perceive indie music and film differently, and if we can understand it then perhaps we can market indie books better.
My observation is this: films and music – and art, come to that – is generally “consumed” in one sitting. It’s entertainment for an evening and the “consumer” can make a judgment about the quality of that entertainment in a fairly short space of time. Plus those things are performances – experiences that have the potential to be enjoyed instantly with other people, and certainly with live music performances, where applause gives the artist instant feedback.
Reading and writing are much more private activities; satisfaction is deferred; traditional publishing routes offer a short-cut form of “peer-review” to help readers select good books to read (a form of applause, perhaps).
I’m not saying this is right or wrong – I’m just observing and it’s just a theory. And of course, you’re absolutely right – sample chapters, short stories and novellas all help to give potential readers an idea of a writer’s style.
Averill, I didn’t think you were attacking it. And even if you were, you would just be attacking the post, not me. But you’re right, I did misunderstand what you were trying to say. I’m glad you came back to clarify.
I do that sometimes too, the thinking out loud thing haha. And then I’ve started an argument and I’m like “Wait, what?”
And I agree with what you’re saying here. Even if a movie is longer, it still doesn’t take a 10 hour time commitment to consume. Though that’s where we come back to the shorter works to hook people in.
The problem I have with all this though is that traditional publishers are publishing increasing numbers of crappy or just meh books. So I have no way of KNOWING that I can trust or will like a trad published book just because it’s been “vetted”.
Within a chapter you can tell if you like somebody’s writing style. Things like Kindle offer at least that much to people. You can also tell if they have a grasp on spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Beyond that it’s all opinion and taste.
I don’t think NY can tell people what to like.
Once I’ve gotten past and liked the first chapter, I’m just as likely to end up hating a NY book as an indie book.
I think also that this is where recommendations from others come in. If you write a good enough book, reviews and recommendations start happening.
I thought you might be interested in a UK blog on this subject here: http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com/2010/06/in-which-someone-else-says-what-i-think.html. Nicola says: “… books chosen by publishers are preferable to those not chosen by publishers because the chances that I’ll enjoy them are vastly higher. This is simply because there’s been a selection process in which someone other than the author has decided it’s worth investing money.”
Hey Averill, I think that’s kind of offensive to readers as a group. Like we’re all big morons who can’t select our own entertainment.
No one sits around saying: “I need a big record label to pick my music for me” or “I need a big movie studio to pick my movies for me.”
It’s insulting. Not to authors, but to readers. I think smart readers can pick their own books. They can look at a cover, tell if it sucks, look at reviews see if they’re obvious plants or genuine fans, look at the first few pages and see if they like the author’s style and story concept.
I don’t want stupid readers. They can stick to their vetted books.
[...] The above notwithstanding, kidding with plush toys might not be everyone’s cup of coffee, nor appropriate to many contexts. Still in the romance field, the two most prominent review blogs are: Dear Author, which is titled after its formula that consists of addressing the author directly at the second person in their reviews (instead of writing at the third person, in a more detached manner, as the overwhelmingly majority of reviewers do), and scathingly so if need be; and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, whose concept is to afflict its own genre with a healthy dose of stereotypical derision, as evidenced by the website’s corny graphical design and its sometimes mocking reviews. Among author blogs, you’ve probably heard of J. A. Konrath’s, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, whose formula is to elaborate on his marketing strategies, to everyone’s benefit, while voicing out some controversial opinions that attract detractors like a magnet. Then, among less prominent but equally ubiquitous authors, there’s the voluble Zoe Winters, with no less than two blogs: Zoe Winters, Paranormal Romance Author, which delivers similarly forthright opinions, sometimes in a trademark foulmouthed fashion (tell her she’s whoring herself, if you dare!); and another over at IndieReader, focusing instead on indie publishing news and tips while fostering the indie brand. [...]
Zoe, I just read your post above about stupid readers… I honestly had not read that before my comment in The Price is Right post. That is too funny! Now I understand the response… CRAPadoodle! lol! Btw, I’d love to know your other pen name so I can check out your other work. You can email me if it is not something you want on the blog.
oh and I forgot…to answer your question on the original post, “Do you go out of your way to read indie?”
Answer: YES!!! Abso-tootin-lutely!