I have never met a writer that is as creative or as eloquent as my husband, Jeff Whelan. He has been a writer for years and has written some beautiful, and sometimes humorous, poetry. For example, in our house, our artwork consists of beautifully written poetry displayed lovingly on our walls written by Jeff. For our birthdays and other special occasions, our celebrations would not be complete without his special poetic dedication to our day.
Jeff tried for years to get published the traditional way, but time after time, he would receive yet another rejection letter. I watched helplessly as his confidence wavered. Then my sister turned him on to Amazon. He was able to publish his completed manuscript online. Of course, there are places in the eBook that would welcome professional editing, but without a publisher, it is difficult…so he had to rely on outside readers to look at it…mainly me.
So I applaud all those indie authors out there who got fed up with waiting for their manuscripts to be published and took publishing in their own hands. To me this is a fabulous proactive way to thumb their noses at the publishing companies. Who says indie authors have substandard work? Not me!
Besides reading my husband’s book, Space Orville http://jeffwhelan.wordpress.com/category/shorts/, I have read two other indie authors, and I enjoyed them very much. The first one I read was Golden Boys by R.G. Lawrence http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=golden+boys+r+g+lawrence. This realistic science fiction story centers around high school seniors who get a chance to take a glimpse at their future. It’s both heartwarming and bittersweet. An excellent read for sure.
So if you have a Nook, a Kindle, or even a computer, you can choose a number of eBooks to download—some for free! I guarantee, once you start reading indie authors, you’ll be clamoring for more!
Well done to your husband for going the Indie route. It's not an easy decision. It's also a lot of hard work as no doubt he is finding out.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it wasn't an easy decision...also, he spends so much time marketing his eBook, that he's up much too late, but that's a battle I've yet to win!
ReplyDeleteI agree Amy and I have even encouraged a friend of mine down this route after reading a very encouraging article about how some authors find success that they would have otherwise missed out on if they had just held out for a traditional publisher. You can always go back to trying that route for your next book but nowadays getting a following and readers first can really pave the way.
ReplyDeleteProbably a losing battle, too, as long as those tiny but cute little royalty checks keep coming in and other folks keep expressing an interest.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, babe - thank you so much for your wonderful words and your unending support of me and other indies. None of this could have happened without you, you know. You are my inspiration!
And I would have shared this in twitter if I hadn't already maxed out my limit for the night. There's always tomorrow! I love you!