In Praise of The Indie Experience

I became an Indie author to publish and sell my book. I have done both, but there is so much more.

Making friends and meeting people is top of the list. Online through twitter, @brendah Sedgwick, through this blog, and through goodreads and facebook. Then there are the talks and people you meet anywhere anywhen.”Yes, I’ve written a book – how about you? Do you enjoy reading or writing?”

The originality and variety of indie books exceeds that of celebrity books and well known authors. It takes a few extra minutes to find something you are interested in.

There many nonfiction indie books with information that is easily accessed by everybody. These books can be for small niche markets and important. Only available because of indie publishing.

Some indie books lack good grammar and need more spelling checks. Indie authors don’t have an army working for them. It’s the story that counts for me;  the pictures painted with words in them. It’s like a song well written but lacking life or a song full of life but with faults.

A whole room of people can write a professional blurb. An indie blurb will be written by one or two inexperienced people.

Give me an indie book and suprise me.

The covers have beautiful art work. Through indie books, covers have become the opportunity for more artists to show their amazing talents Remember the record sleeves that were works of art and have a monetry value in themselves? Can this happen to book covers?. Limited editions?

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Will there be shops that sell only indie books that become a hub of activity with downloading facilities and book clubs only for self published authors,. Could they  be more fun than the conventional reading groups?

There is a new dawn for Indie books yet to be  seen. How many great books never made it past the agent’s desk? We know about Beatrice Potter and Lord of the Flies , by William Golding, etc  that only just made it. How many great stories went in the bin we will never know. Indie books may not be perfect, but there are more good ones  ones that will make it through to popularity by the indie route,  and will be around for future generations.

Another reason for not getting across the agent’s desk is age. It takes a lot of money and time to promote someone and they want lots of books and a long future. Older people can write amazing books that are a good read for all ages and in all genres..

Recently I have read writers who have a mainstream published series to their name, and the authors are coming up to middle age. Unfortunately, I have found them lacking in story content after the first one or two. Some indie book stories I have found to have originality and to be buzzing with life.Books that will stay in my memory.

For the value of indie books and writers to be appreciated readers must be willing to experiment, and accept that some books don’t make the mark anymore than mainstream books do.

You can meet your author on twitter,on  websites, through blogging and on Facebook pages. There’s an author’s page for books on Goodreads and about the author on Amazon. So much background to be discovered before and after you read the book. You can even ask an author questions.

It’s no longer about a book or an indie book, but it comes with information that makes the reading experience  more interesting.

Book clubs could, perhaps should, have an indie night now and again, when they read different genres in indie publishing and find out what the overall response is.

If you can’t read a book where you think a comma is wrong, then stick to the mainstream published books or try to write one that is perfect in every way.

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Club Notes

Reading Clubs have sent me good feedback for my book. There are discussion suggestions in the back of the book. Some serious; some fun.

One reading group decided to wear something turquoise because Natalie describes her life as turquoise.

BOOK CLUB NOTES

 

Life changes at forty for Natalie. She expects to remain in her comfort zone in a sleepy market town. She has a job as a bingo caller, a daughter preparing for college and an elderly father making his own life. She has been married to Gerry for eighteen years but he loves sport more than her.

Gerry has a cycling accident in France. Natalie and her little dog Spike go to collect him. Poor map-reading skills take her on a journey through France and Spain. She finds a new self, but has to return home.

Emotions run high as Natalie tries to make a difficult marriage work. At her fortieth, birthday party, comes a painful revelation. Now she is released into a new exciting life of love and marriage. Her new lifestyle attracts media acclaim and celebrity status.

Natalie’s journey brings her laughter, tears, and surprises.

DISCUSSIONS

Was Gerry a likeable character?

If Gerry and Natalie had talked more, could it have stopped the demise of their marriage

Why was Gerry unfaithful?

Should Natalie have tried to keep her marriage going?

If Natalie had not gone on her journey what would her life have been like?

What reasons caused a lack of self-confidence for Natalie in the early part of the book?

To what extent did being unable to have more children make Natalie less valued in her own eyes?

How much did the divorce affect Katy?

Natalie describes this period of her life as turquoise; if you described a phase of your life by a colour what would it be?

Is travelling alone a good or a bad thing, and does it matter what age you are when you go?

Marriage, A Journey and A Dog

Today I received my first feedback from a reading group. It was a great feeling to know that people had read my book and continued with the reading club notes at the back. I was surprised, as it is still only an ebook. A day preparing the cover for the paperback is scheduled for April and the paperback will be available May 2015.

Many debut ebooks still have the odd mistakes. It is inevitable when you are your own editor, but there are good stories around that would benefit from the odd tweak but worth reading.

When I berated myself for a spelling mistake in 90.000 words I realised that the other 89,999 could be right. The best news is that readers are enjoying the story and I can’t ask more than that.

I also heard that 2 more groups are waiting for the paperback. Hardly the thousands of a successful…

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