How I Became a Successful Independently Published Author
Tags: Biographies And Memoirs, Self Publishing, Authors, Marketing, Startup

How I Became a Successful Independently Published Author

Photo by Doran Erickson on Unsplash

I published “Radical Spirits: India’s First Woman Doctor and Her American Champions” on March 8, 2020. I chose that particular date because March 8 is International Women’s Day and the story that my book tells is about women’s empowerment. I had the freedom to choose the date, just like I had the freedom to choose every aspect of my book’s appearance and content, because I am an independent scholar, author, and publisher.

In this essay, I describe the opportunities and challenges inherent to being an “indie” and why I highly recommend it.

Image courtesy of Nandini Patwardhan

Becoming a biographer

I credit a serendipitous discovery of an aspect of the story that Radical Spirits tells with setting me on this path. The factoid awakened my curiosity and I felt such a personal connection to it that I just could not let it go. I started digging just to find as much information as I could.

With a graduate degree in Mathematics, my career was in software development. In other words, I was as far as one can be from the worlds of letters, history, and sociology. I decided not to let that stop me.

There were other hurdles to overcome. Even though I have lived experience and possess language proficiency in both countries (India and the US) where the story unfolds, in the early stages, I lacked confidence and a sense of authority. To overcome this, I hired a supportive and engaged writing instructor as a coach. Thanks to her thoughtful feedback and encouragement, I gradually achieved a state of flow. I had graduated beyond “training wheels.”

Becoming a publisher

Writing the first draft of Radical Spirits took over seven years. Although I managed to find an agent who believed in my book, she was not able to land a publisher. In hindsight I realize that my book and I were victims of the many issues that currently afflict the publishing industry.

I was an unknown author. Even though my book was about a well-known Indian personality, half the the story took place in the United States. In addition, it had crossover multicultural worldwide appeal. This, even though books in the same genre — The Man Who Knew Infinity, Victoria and Abdul, Hidden Figures — have been successful as books as well as as major motion pictures. Even so, the market potential was not deemed high enough to justify the risk of backing it.

Loathe to letting my manuscript gather “virtual dust” on my computer drive, I decided to publish independently.

Taking charge and charging ahead

So, I cofounded Story Artisan Press with a friend, one year before the actual publication of Radical Spirits. The goal was to learn as much as possible about indie publishing. To that end, over the course of that first year, the press published five small books consisting of our own writing.

We started using social media to create awareness about our indie press and our books and to connect with the larger writing community. We researched best practices relating to purchasing ISBNs, sending advance review copies, getting reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon, finding professionals for cover and interior layout design, editing, etc.

As a result, I had all my ducks lined up in a row by the time I was ready to publish Radical Spirits. I sent advance review copies six months before the publication date and received blurbs from renowned biographers and historians. I joined the Independent Book Publishers Association and took advantage of their discounts for ISBNs, Netgalley (for advance reviews), IngramSpark (for library and bookstore sales), and library eBlasts. In short, I managed to access most services that traditional publishers use.

I also focused on marketing and publicity. Using Publisher Rocket, I fine-tuned the keywords and added ten additional categories to the paperback and e-book listings of the book on Amazon. Radical Spirits soon achieved #1 ranking as a new release in the “women’s studies history” category.

Learning how to advertise effectively on Amazon is a project in itself. Researching podcasts, book bloggers, reviewers, and historians, I reach out to the ones whose interests align with the “women’s empowerment” theme of Radical Spirits.

Hurdles remain

Even though indie authors/publishers no longer carry the stigma of vanity publishing, there are still many areas where we are treated, at best, as step-cousins.

Indie published books cannot be entered in most contests. They are not considered for review by established publications. Most indie bookstores are not welcoming; some even require payment before they will stock indie books on consignment. Even public libraries consider purchasing only the books that have been reviewed by one of the mainstream reviewers.

It remains a struggle to pry open some closed doors.

Success, finally

Print-on-demand was the biggest factor in making indie publishing affordable. I did not have to incur the cost of printing several thousand copies beforehand.

A whole ecosystem of service providers was available to me for every step of the book production process (editing, copyediting, and cover design). I harnessed social media, podcast interviews, and blog reviews to create awareness about my independently published book.

Radical Spirits had almost twenty reviews on Goodreads on launch day! Additional reviews keep trickling in. These independent votes of confidence are instrumental in landing media attention. I have been interviewed on several podcasts. A Q&A with me was published in a newspaper.

As a result, I can now confidently say that I am a publisher and a published author. I am also a startup founder and the “venture capitalist” for my startup.

Looking back on my journey, I recommend indie publishing without hesitation. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that not publishing would be tragic… like hiding under a rock for no good reason. There is great satisfaction in having had my say. I no longer feel muzzled.

Like a proud mother, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I think of the learning, productivity, and creativity that went into creating my “baby.”