Why Indie Publishing?

I’ve been doing this ePublishing thing – actually, INDIE-PUBLISHING (since a sale to a “traditional” publisher could result in an ePublication, and createspace means I’m not JUST ePublishing, either) for 2-1/2 years now. There are plenty of people out there sharing their experiences, so I thought I’d take a few moments to document mine, for what they’re worth.

Why did I start indie-publishing? Well, let’s start with why I write.

I’m a creative sort. (This isn’t to say I didn’t play sports – but what little I did has become more story than exertion – part of the lore that defines who I am.) Throughout the earliest portion of my life, I gravitated towards “the arts” :

Music: I started playing trumpet in 4^th grade (still have it) – then French horn, B-flat Horn, Alto horn and Trombone, with a bit of guitar thrown in. I wrote a dozen or more songs in my late teens / early twenties (I still have them moth-balled in my guitar case.) I’ve always enjoyed singing, but I didn’t discover karaoke until my late 30’s.

Acting: (formalized pretending – that thing most of us stop doing when we grow up) I got that first taste of living in an alternate reality in 6^th grade, and it’s what I went to college for the first time (BTW – I enjoyed rehearsal far more than performance.)

Writing / Story-Telling: I’m blessed / cursed with an overactive imagination. As far back as I can remember I made things up – in my teens it became more formalized and I actually wrote down poetry, plays, stories, even made a couple of starts on a novel. Of course, none of this still exists other than in my mind.

By the time I reached my late twenties, “reality” and taking care of “every-day life” curtailed much of this. Things like nowhere to play my trumpet without disturbing others, no time to be involved in acting, too tired from working over-time and putting myself through school at the same time for a bankable degree (you know – practical, marketable, geared toward getting a “real job”) left me with no energy to do anything else.

Most all my creative outlets fell by the wayside. I believe this happens with most people (we can’t all make money doing what we love); it takes energy to “make a living” and “live” at the same time. But I encourage EVERYONE to do what you can to keep your dreams alive and not too far from your life. You need them for your heart and soul.

In my late 40’s I was hit with my midlife renaissance. I realized I’d let almost all the creativity disappear from my life – I needed to find an outlet. I decided on writing because it was something I could do anywhere at any time.

I could have just written and never let anyone see it, but that doesn’t fit with my personality. I have a little “show-off” in me (“A little?” my wife would say; she’s endured the embarrassment of me singing – loudly – in public more times than anyone should have to bear), and once I’ve created something, I need to share it. As much of a loner as I am, it seems pointless, otherwise.

I continue to pursue traditional publication of my work, but doing that without success means a very small audience (only the editors who are  rejecting me) would ever see my stories.

And then along came the ease of ePublishing and print on demand. I can cut out the middle man (the gatekeepers are no longer just the professional Editors – now they’re you, the Readers.) I can put my stories out there, and if anyone sees something that strikes their fancy, they can buy it and read it.

Why not just give it away instead of selling it? Two reasons:

1       1. Selling is validation that my stories are worth reading (and don’t we ALL need validation?)
2.   I have a hard time finding time to write – the more I sell, the easier it is to justify that time. And who knows - if I make enough money I could do this full time.

We all need to dream, don’t we?

Just saying…

<<<>>> 

BTW - my last 2 ePublications were done on smashwords and Amazon only. I decided to stop ePublishing directly on Barnes & Noble's “nookpress” tool because:

1. I’ve run into frustrations ePublishing on nookpress. It might just be browser compatibility issues, but I wind up using a combination of IE, Chrome & my Nook to get through the process, and that’s just TOO MUCH WORK.

2. Stories published through smashwords are still available through their premium catalog at Barnes & Noble (although delayed a week or so.)

3. It appears that in many cases my royalties are higher on a sale to Barnes & Noble through smashwords than through nookpress.

4. Why take the extra time to prepare a third document when the first two result in the same exposure? This gives me more time for writing.

<<<>>> 

William Mangieri’s writing (including his latest ePublication “The Re-Entanglement of Grant Decker”) can be found in many places, such as:

·         His Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008O8CBDY

·         Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/william-mangieri?store=book&keyword=william+mangieri

·         Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/NoTimeToThink

·         Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=william+mangieri&sitesearch_type=STORE

Connect with him on Facebook at:   http://www.facebook.com/NoTimeToThink