Why Indie Publishing Might Be Best For Your Book

Caroline Donahue shares the highs and lows of her indie publishing journey

There’s a quiet revolution going on in publishing right now, as more and more writers take back creative and commercial control and publish independently. As alternative publishing options open up, I’m intrigued by the possibilities this offers to ambitious authors who might decide a mainstream deal isn’t for them, or might have struggled to find the right home for their book. But, I don’t have personal experience, so when I got the chance to talk to Caroline Donahue, whose latest book Writing Through Fear came out in May, I jumped at the chance to bring her knowledge and experience to The Inkwell.

Caroline is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, an amazing book coach with a masters in psychology, and host of the Secret Library Podcast, so she knows her stuff. I asked her a few questions…

Caroline Donahue

Q: You’ve written about why you ‘didn’t wait for a book deal’ over on your Substack, Book Alchemy. Can you sum up why you made that decision?

A: Absolutely. I always consider my ultimate goal for each book when I choose how to publish. Given that this book was nonfiction and contained information I wanted to get to students and clients (and potential students and clients) in a timely fashion, I was concerned about speed. Mainstream publishing is not known for speed. I knew that if I went that route, it might be two years or more until the book came out. 

I have a podcast audience who is used to hearing from me about writing-related content, so I knew it would be possible to market to the audience I have. I found a cover designer, Jessica Bell, who does gorgeous work, and I knew I'd be happy with the cover. I also found an excellent nonfiction editor, Liz Dexter, so I was confident that the quality of the book would be up to my standard.

Finally, when a book comes out via a big publisher, there is an enormous amount of pressure to earn out the advance as quickly as possible. If a book hasn't done that in a few months, then the publisher is disappointed. This way, I get to decide how long the book is in print, and the advance I'm earning out is much smaller – the cost I've invested in editing and cover design. After that, I am making income on the book every time it sells. This felt like a better business decision, and one that was far less stressful. 

Q: What is your latest book about and why did it make sense for you to go it alone?
A: Writing though Fear is a catalogue of forty of the most common fears I've seen writing students and clients have when trying to complete books. The insidious thing about the inner critic is how it convinces you that you're the only one with this issue. Far from it. In working with hundreds of students over the past ten years or so, I see patterns all the time. I have a master’s in psychology, so talking about fear and creativity is an area of strength for me and I felt my credentials and experience would carry the book without the backing of a publisher's stamp of approval. 

In addition, I teach how to use tarot to overcome writing blocks. This is a topic that's gaining interest as tarot itself becomes more mainstream, but I wasn't entirely sure a publisher would buy into the concept. I was very clear about how I wanted to present the book, so I wrote it according to that concept. 

Q: What have you enjoyed most about the experience?
A: The speed and the control. I find nonfiction very comfortable to write as I've been writing articles, posts, newsletters and creating courses on writing for close to ten years. Once I have a structure, I can write straight through. I wrote this book between January and April, finishing exactly on the date I'd planned and sent it off to the editor. That was extremely satisfying. I wish I could say I write fiction the same way, but I am nowhere near as precise as characters in fiction are far more slippery. 

I adored the experience working with my editor and cover designer. It was wonderful having a team of women supporting the book and who were investing in it being its best. I am sure that would have been the case if I'd been with a publisher as well, but Jessica and Liz in particular made the process wonderful. I also liked that the decisions were down to me rather than out of my hands. 

I had a really wonderful experience with my audience. I asked if anyone wanted to read a review copy in exchange for an honest review on various online platforms like Goodreads and Amazon, and we had an unbelievable response. The majority of people did read the book thoroughly and offered fair and measured responses and it made a huge difference to people being able to find the book. 

Finally, I love that I can log into my distributors and see the numbers and know what my royalties will be and how the book is selling. That transparency is huge. I have a friend who has published independently in the past, which he leveraged into multiple book deals with publishers and the loss of this information has been more disappointing to him than he expected.

Q: And what have been the biggest challenges so far?
A: It was a lot of admin in the period leading up to launch day. Getting all the files prepped and uploaded on the timeline the distributors needed meant that my days were entirely filed with admin for a week or two, which is not my favorite.

In addition, all the marketing has been down to me. It's hard to pitch yourself to media, and it's not my favorite part of the process. Thankfully, having my podcast has allowed me to build up some wonderful colleagues in the writing world, so Joanna Penn of the Creative Penn was very supportive of the book and had me on her show, which was a big boost. I've also found the Substack community to be excellent and got another podcast appearance via a contact on here. I will keep pitching, but what I love most is when people pop up and want to have me on, and I can't plan for that. 

Q: What would you do differently next time round?
A: I'd give myself a longer timeline for the admin, and I'd open pre-orders for the book much earlier. This time, I had about a month and it did get me into some bestseller lists on Amazon, but I could have done even better with that. I do have an incredible assistant, and I would have her help more. I plan to create some videos walking through the steps so we both know how to do it next time and won't have to start with a blank slate. 

In addition, I will be more strategic about how I distribute the book. When I put my first book out five years ago, the previous edition of The Author's Journey, then titled Story Arcana, I just put the book out via Ingram Spark, because it felt less overwhelming to work with one distributor. They are excellent for print, but I am now seeing how going directly to the eBook platforms can give you better results and sales. This time I went to Kindle Direct Publishing for Kindle sales and used Ingram for print and the other platforms for eBooks, like Kobo, Barnes & Noble's Nook and iBooks. 

Next time, I will do the eBook platforms individually and just use Ingram for print, as that's their real strength. And by doing the fussy admin of individually submitting to eBook platforms, I can optimize for best results at each of those, as they are all different. Monica Leonelle writes a wonderful series of books on the process, and I've learned a ton from her about this.

Q: I often encounter the belief that if a book isn’t published by a mainstream press, then it doesn’t really count as ‘getting published'. I'm guilty of that myself! What’s your take on that? And where do you think this belief comes from?

A: This belief really makes me laugh, as mainstream publishing is historically very new. What people don't realize is that many authors who are now household names, like Virginia Woolf, ran their own presses to publish their books. Hogarth Press ran for years after Virginia's death and ironically is now an imprint of Penguin Random House, but originally operated out of their living room and published the likes of Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. 

There are other stories like this: Jane Austen published Emma and Sense & Sensibility herself initially, Beatrix Potter put The Tale of Peter Rabbit out herself because she didn't agree with the changes publishers asked for, and Ernest Hemingway put his first collection out himself. 

I think the stigma comes from the idea that you need a stamp of approval from someone else to be considered a real writer. Also, people seem to think the quality isn't there with indie books, but there's a range of quality in mainstream publishing just like there is in indie. We like getting gold stars just like we did in school, but the idea that a publisher decides who the real writers are has never sat well with me. For one thing, the people that have been chosen until recently tend to be wealthy cis het white men for the most part, which has meant us missing out on most of the population's stories that are essential for us to read to get a real picture of humanity. 

Thankfully, this is changing in publishing today, but a lot of changes I've seen, such as the boom in queer romance, have started with pioneering efforts by indie authors. Indie publishing is an excellent way to influence mainstream, because seeing that books sell well helps publishers open to a wider catalogue. Publishing is a business, not a public service, and it's a business that is as strapped as any other these days with overworked employees doing much more work now than they were likely to when they were hired. 

I see independent publishing as an essential part of the ecosystem that can move mainstream publishing in a broader, more inclusive direction where we are all the better for it. 

Q: I get the sense that a shift is happening in publishing, with more authors choosing to take control and go indie or use a different approach with platforms like Kickstarter and Substack. Any predictions for what we might see happening in coming years?
A: I see this shift happening as well and it's incredibly exciting to witness. I have spoken to multiple authors recently who admit to me that they are seriously considering publishing their next books independently even after having gone traditional. This is especially true for nonfiction authors. If they have a platform and already have the stamp of approval, then they'd rather publish themselves and keep more of the profits. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see huge numbers of authors try nonfiction on their own. 

We're also seeing an increase in beautiful special editions, some done by mainstream publishing and some done independently on Kickstarter. I think we'll keep seeing a hybrid of people reading on eReaders but also wanting a beautiful book object, which they can get in collector editions. 

Craig Mod, a wonderful writer and photographer out of Japan, got the most fascinating book deal I've heard about recently: he was allowed to publish an art edition of his book, Things Become Other Things, over a year before an entirely different version published by Random House comes out. We had a thorough conversation about this deal on The Secret Library Podcast. This project felt like a unicorn deal, but I doubt we'll see it as so unusual in a few years. People who make their own way if mainstream publishing doesn't accept them immediately are getting rewarded in the long term. 

Q: What about fiction? Do you think it’s harder for indie novelists to break though the noise?
A: I have seen huge loyalty and dedication from fiction readers for indie novelists, and it's growing all the time. The people who have the easiest time are definitely those who write genre fiction or in series, and even better if they do both. For example, a mystery, thriller or romance series works really well. The general strategy is to offer the first book at a low price and hook potential readers to keep going. Literary fiction is harder, but not impossible and I've seen lots of growth in serialized fiction, which has roots all the way back to classic authors and Dickens, who did extremely well that way. Anything is possible for writers willing to experiment. This is a great time to dive in!

Q: What three pieces of advice would you give to anyone considering indie publishing?
A: Spend some time to consider what you really want most for your book and your writing. After writing for many years, I realized my ideas about publishing were outdated. I wanted the kind of mainstream publishing experience that no one gets anymore: the paid-for book tour and all marketing taken out of my hands. Publishing houses no longer have the staff or the budget for that. It was my inner seven-year-old who wanted the fancy publishing deal. But upon reflection, that pub deal wasn't so fancy after all. 

My advice is to ask yourself the following questions:

• What matters most to you about the publishing process?

• What does success look like to you as a writer (both in the short and long term)? 

• Which outlet is more likely to give you this experience?

I don't feel there is a one-size-fits-all answer for every book you'll write. Ask these questions when you're ready to publish, try not to get tangled up thinking about it too much before the book is finished, and make your best choice in that moment. 

Nothing is permanent either. Indie published books end up getting picked up by mainstream publishers when they do well, and authors get the rights back to their works when they go out of print at a publishing house so they can release a version on their own. Ask lots of questions along the way, knowing that you can always write another book or even get a chance to make a new choice later with this one. 

Trust yourself above all. The world is changing really fast, so staying open and curious is the most useful position to take. 

Good luck!

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Caroline Donahue is an American writer, podcaster, and book coach living in Berlin. She holds a masters degree in Psychology. Since 2016, she's hosted the award-winning Secret Library podcast about writing and publishing. She’s the author of The Story Arcana Guides: The Author’s Journey and Writing through Fear, the Substack Book Alchemy and is currently working on the first book in a mystery series.