After having a discussion with a fellow author about what #IndiePrideDay is all about, I realized how passionate I am about the subject, and decided I needed to share my thoughts about today, and what it means to me on a personal level.
As you scroll through social media today you’ll see a lot of #IndiePrideDay & #IndieBooksBeSeen posts. You’ll see pictures of authors with their books, blog posts, events, giveaways, and sales promos. A fair amount of them will be asking you to “buy my book”. We all do it. It’s part of the business. But how many of us woke up this morning and thought: Yes! #IndiePrideDay is here, time to become an overnight sensation!”
Okay, maybe a few.
Yes, we all want sales. Yes, we might see a nice boost today—we can only hope. With a trending #, our names and books will be in front of many faces that haven’t seen them before. If we’re lucky we can spark someone’s interest and be given the honor of having our words take them away into a world of our creation. That’s my goal; every day with every book. The more books I sell, the more emotions I can tug and adventures I can spark. So, sales are great. But that’s not what #IndiePrideDay is to me.
I have been writing my entire life. It took me a long time (way too long) to gather the courage to self-publish Magic-Price. Even when I finally crawled out of my comfort zone and hit that ‘publish’ button, I was convinced that other authors would be my competition. I thought I would plunge into the vast icy waters and there I would swim in circles: a tiny, lonely little fish in a giant sea of sharks. Then I discovered #IndieBooksBeSeen. I had no idea other authors could be so welcoming, supportive, and just plain helpful. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this wasn’t simply a group of individuals, it was a community. Being a part of something so positive changed my perceptions of authors, of self-publishing, and promoting.
In the spirit of #IndieBooksBeSeen, I try to make a difference where I can. I’m far from an expert. But I strive to pass on what I’ve learned, what I’ve done right, and what I’ve done wrong. I want this community to grow, because we truly are stronger together.
So, what do I think is at the heart of #IndiePrideDay? It isn’t sales. It’s not about ‘what’s in it for me.’ It’s not about saying we’re better than traditionally published authors—not in the least. It’s about community, positivity, and inspiration.
My hope for today is that someone out there might be like I was. They might be on the fence about publishing and nervous about sharing their writing with the world. They might be unsure how they will fit into the indie world. If that person is out there, I hope they see all of us crazy authors posting our pics and showing how proud we are of ourselves and each other, and they take the leap. They hit that ‘publish’ button, or vow to finish their novel, or decide to share their words with someone else for the first time. I hope they jump in with both feet—because the water isn’t as cold as you think.