In the last year or so, self-publishing - or indie publishing, as some prefer - has taken off exponentially. Thanks to the Kindle, Nook, and digital publishing, what used to be called "vanity publishing" is now a truly viable way for writers to earn a living from their work. Established authors are republishing their out-of-print back lists. New authors whose work doesn't appeal to New York because it's somehow too far outside the traditional box are finding readers, and an income. Readers are grabbing up books that are less expensive because there are fewer middle men.
Win-win? Maybe not totally. The indie revolution has its drawbacks. Many readers and writers are learning (or being reminded) that those nasty “gatekeepers” did perform a valid function in terms of maintaining quality. Without a publisher standing between her and the reader, the author is solely responsible for editing and proofreading. Many indie authors – including Writers Gone Wild Jenn, Maree, Robin and Saranna, who’ve taken the indie plunge – accept the responsibility that comes with the freedom of indie publishing. They’re making sure their self-published works are of professional quality, including the production values. But this is a self-imposed requirement. There’s nothing to stop a writer from offering total garbage for sale, and some are doing just that.
For example... in early December, I discovered that a multi-published author whose work I enjoy had self-published an old novella, and it was available for free (reduced from 99 cents). So I grabbed it up for my new Kindle. The results, from my posted review:
“This book is funny and sexy and exactly what readers of [the author’s trad published books] would expect from her. It's a quick, light, enjoyable read.
"However... this is also the kind of book that gives indie publishing a bad name! OMG, the typos, typos, and yet more typos! And this is the "second edition" - why didn't [the author] clean up the mistakes from the first edition? If I'd had to pay for this book, I'd be seriously annoyed.”
I kid you not, there was a typo on almost every page! Clearly the manuscript hadn’t been proofread, or even run through spellcheck. And two months later, I’m still pissed off. I can’t understand why the author, whose career I used to think of as one to copy, would allow her name to go on such a totally shoddy product. It feels like she disrespected her readers; like she believes we'll accept, and deserve, any old crap. And even though I know her traditionally published books will be edited, I feel more wary about buying them. She’s lost some of my trust.
Indie writers, what, if anything, do you do to make sure editing, proofreading, and formatting problems don’t diminish the quality of the reading experience? And readers, have you experienced quality problems with indie books?
7 comments:
I hear you, Gail. It's funny, one of the members of my local chapter who was working on re-releasing a traditionally published book was griping about how many errors she had to fix before she could even format!
Not sure what the answer is here, other than to hope that authors will start to realize that it is their name on the book, their reputation and brand on the line. Indie books should not excuse lazy publishing. Mistakes happen, but their are ways (free ways) to minimize errors.
This is definitely something indie authors should be wary of! I just got an email from an aspiring indie author this morning asking me about self-pubbing on Amazon, which I know nothing about. I did caution her to hire or at least find someone to carefully proofread and copyedit (if not completely edit) the book, then consider hiring a cover artist, since she's never published anything before. I'm kind of worried for her!
It's so much more important for us Indies to be perfect. It drives me crazy, but it's the truth. I read a Hugo and Nebula Award winning book recently with typos all over the place. No one blasts that, but if we have one comma wrong it's smashin' time. But that's the reality and we have to do everything we can to be the author who did things right so we rise above the muck. Thanks for this.
Pav
I completely agree. Readers cannot (and should not) know how much polishing and editing goes into producing a professional, quality publication. When we encounter eBooks riddled with grammatical errors and typos, it's sort of like seeing a movie star on laundry day without makeup. Your books are a product you're selling - I can't imagine why any author would be satisfied with putting their name on a shoddy piece of work.
I'm reissuing my first indie book. The first thing I did was have it re-edited. The last thing I did was run a spell check. It makes a difference. If we want to be taken seriously, we have to be serious.
Maybe there needs to be a writer-editor match-making website.
Upload book, select editor, get competently marked-up manuscript.
Hmmm... I do know some programmers...
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'm glad it's understood that I wasn't bashing indies - just indies who do a bad job and disappoint readers.
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