5 Steps to Succeed as an Indie Author

I recently spoke with my local library about being a speaker for their Indie Author Day event coming up in November, and it got me thinking about last year’s event. While I was excited for this event, two of the three speakers last year were traditionally published authors, and while I’m an advocate for both traditional and indie publishing, it was disappointing that these authors weren’t able to answer many of the questions those in the audience had about becoming an indie author. One of the big questions asked was “how can an indie author be successful?”

This got me thinking about the steps to succeed as an indie author. The truth is, being an author of any kind these days is hard. While the rise of indie publishing is wonderful in that it allows for less gatekeeping in the industry, it also means the market is flooded with new books being released hourly. Succeeding as an indie author is not impossible, but it does require consistent effort and perseverance. The first step is understanding the overall picture and what you’ll need to do. So, I’ve broken the journey down into five “steps” for indie authors with the hope that this can provide a foundational understanding for anyone considering going the indie author route of what will be required in pursuing this path.

Step 1: Find a Writing Community

I’m a huge advocate of finding a community of writers that you click with to help you learn and grow as a writer as well as navigate each stage of your writing career. While I’ve been a writer all my life, it wasn’t until I found and joined the Women’s Fiction Writers Association that I was truly able to grow as a writer. Finding a community of other like-minded writers who I could bounce ideas off of, get tips on which craft books or workshops were helpful, find critique partners, and read responses to questions I hadn’t even thought to ask allowed me to get a better understanding of the writing industry and strengthen my own skills as a writer.

Having a community you connect with is invaluable. At each stage of the indie author path, you’ll have new questions and need guidance on things you never realized you needed guidance on before. Having that community to fall back on throughout the process can take a lot of the guess work out of the process. While it might take some time to find a community that feels right for you, I highly encourage you to keep trying until you find one (or more) that fits. With the internet and social media, there are numerous options for finding communities, but also don’t overlook any local writing groups or communities that might be available where you live.

Step 2: Write a Good Book

While this might seem obvious, at the end of the day, your book is going to be the face of your indie author business. But the process of writing a book can be long and challenging, and writing a good book can take multiple rounds of revision and sometimes make you want to pull your hair out. And if you know your plan is to become an indie author, it can be tempting to declare your story “good enough” and hit the publish button. After all, who’s stopping you?

While I completely understand wanting to rush the process, I always encourage my coaching clients to slow down and remember that the journey is just as worthwhile as the end result of being a published author. Taking the time to do the work and make your story as strong as it can be will pay off in the end. If you rush to put out a story that isn’t the best it can be, you won’t build a devoted reader base. Readers may buy your book based on the premise or the cover, but if the story inside doesn’t live up to their expectations, they likely won’t buy your next one.

Creating a strong story that resonates with readers is likely one of the main reasons you wanted to become an author in the first place, so put in the work to create that story. Your first few drafts aren’t going to be perfect, and that’s okay. Lean into that community you found to exchange critiques with other writers and find resources to help you strengthen the story. Even if it takes longer than you originally wanted to publish your story, I promise that taking the time to do the work to create a story your readers will rave about will feel far more satisfying in the end than rushing the process and being met with poor reviews.

Step 3: Create a Clear Vision for Your Book

While there are some issues with the traditional publishing model and the gatekeeping that their model creates, one lesson indie authors can learn from their process is the need to fully understand who your book is meant to appeal to and how best to attract those readers. Understanding your ideal reader will inform everything from the way you revise your story to how you ultimately package it. For example, if your vision is to create a romance book, but your story does not include a happily ever after or happy for now ending, then you’ll need to either change the ending or rethink your genre to avoid disappointing readers. This will also guide your cover, your book blurb, your marketing, etc.

While traditional publishing turns away countless manuscripts daily because they believe the story “won’t sell,” my view is that any story can find a market if it’s well written and well packaged. Depending on your story, your market may not be the largest, but if you wrote a story because it interested you, then it’s highly likely there are other readers out there looking for what you’re writing. Just because it may not be what traditional publishers believe is selling at the moment doesn’t mean there aren’t readers out there for your story. But in order to find those readers, it’s essential that you have a clear understanding of what your story is and who it’s meant for.

Step 4: Hire Out!

I worked for a psychologist years ago whose catchphrase was “hire out!” He understood what he was good at and what he wasn’t, and he happily hired out in areas that weren’t his strong suit. This mentality has stuck with me, and it’s one I highly advocate for indie authors.

While there are some who say you can’t possibly create a quality book without hiring out for everything from a developmental edit, a copy edit, a cover designer, a formatter, etc., I don’t think that’s entirely true. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, and the key is to be honest with yourself about what your weaknesses are. I’m the first to admit I have no artistic ability whatsoever in terms of creating visual art, so I knew one of the areas I would need to spend money on when creating my book was a good cover designer who I trusted. Even though she asked for my input, I told her that these were just my thoughts, but if she thought a different direction would be better suited to my book, then I trusted her judgment. But just because I knew I couldn’t design my own cover doesn’t mean all authors are inherently bad at cover design. It’s entirely possible for someone to be a strong writer and graphic designer, and in those instances, go right ahead and create your own cover! The key is to look at what needs to be done and assess your own ability to do those things to a quality standard. And in the areas where you know your skills are questionable or lacking, it’s best to seek out professionals who will be able to fill in for your gap in skills.

It’s also important here to really consider who you’ll trust with your book. Fields like editing and cover design are not regulated industries, meaning that anyone can put their virtual shingle out and offer these services. It’s up to us as indie authors to vet the professionals we hire for our book. While it can be tempting to go with the cheapest options, this is often a case of “you get what you pay for.” While it’s not necessarily the case that the highest bid is the best choice, if someone is charging significantly lower than others in their industry, it’s important as an indie author to question why that might be. They may just be starting out and working to build a client base, which doesn’t automatically mean they’re not good, but then you want to ask some questions to be sure they’re capable of doing a professional job. Don’t be afraid to ask those questions! As an indie author, you’re the CEO of your writing business. The professionals you invite into your process are there to help you reach your vision of a quality book, and you have every right to ask the questions and do the research you need to feel confident that you’re choosing the best person for the job.

Step 5: Launch and Market, Market, Market

The last step is to launch your book and market the hell out of it! As disheartening as it can sound, no matter how amazing of a story you’ve written and how professional of a book you’ve created, if you don’t market it, no one will know it exists. Getting your book out into the world and finding your ideal readers is just as important in being a successful indie author as creating a quality book.

Marketing is an ongoing process, and I know most authors (traditional and indie alike) have a tendency to abhor it. But it doesn’t have to be a dreaded activity. As C. D’Angelo said in our recent interview, marketing is about experimenting. Try different things and see what works for you and your book. This is another place where leaning on that writing community can be very useful. Compare notes with other authors to see what they’ve done that worked or didn’t work. But remember that just because something works or doesn’t for one author doesn’t mean the same will be true for you as well. Experiment, try to have some fun with it, and remember the most important thing is keeping your book visible and in front of your ideal readers.

Bonus Tip: Write the Next Book

At the end of the day, the best way to maintain a successful indie author career is to keep publishing books. Of course you’re going to spend a lot of time producing and launching and marketing your present book, but be sure to keep time for working on your next manuscript. The goal with your first book is to find your readers and turn them into fans; be sure you have another book for them to look forward to!