(Or, Taking the Read Indie Pledge)
(A quick note here to say that I’m settling into a cycle where I’ll be able to manage three posts a month. Earlier I was targeting one a week, but one every ten days is more sustainable—meaning it’s a pace I find a bit more fun because it lets me explore thoughts here while still getting stuff done on my other projects. So, going forward, you should expect something to drop here roughly the 10th, 20th, and end of each month. “Roughly” being the key word, right?)
Some time ago, I took what I’m thinking of as the Read Indie Pledge. I think you should, too. If you know me, that might not be so surprising. As an independently published writer, I figure it’s my duty to focus on reading other independently published writers when I can.
I’m not snobbish about the idea. I don’t limit myself. I 100% did, for example, just write about reading Charles Stross and the first Nancy Drew books a little bit back, and I read Murderbots somewhere in between those—so obviously, reading Indie is a rule of thumb I break quite willingly. But I want to live my viewpoint, too, so I make reading independently published writers a habit. And, really, there’s a LOT of good stuff in the independent world these days.
It is, however, an unfortunate truth that to take the Read Indie pledge means you will have to kind of pan for gold.
Because, yes, there’s also a lot of Not-So-Good stuff in the independent world, but, to be completely fair, there is a lot of Not-So-Good stuff in the trad world, too. Hence trad sales are a hit-and-miss proposition in themselves. Obviously, though, I think it’s both important and worth it to spend the time it takes to weed through independently published stuff. If I can, I would rather support artists than publishers. Luckily, there are lots of good Indie books. So, while it’s like panning for gold, it’s also like panning for gold in a river that runs rich.
At least that’s the mentality that I’ve started to take with it.
The process feels a bit like the old days of standing in a section of the bookstore and picking out what handful I’m going home with. I scan the cover, maybe check out the blur, and (if there’s a look ahead) let the first paragraph do its thing. If I’m intrigued, I do the download thing and give it a go.
I’m thinking about that right now because…
…my daughter, Brigid, has joined a free giveaway to attract a few more readers her way. A giveaway, for those not so steeped in the publishing world, is an event where several writers get together and offer free books in return for the reader joining their mailing list. With Brigid involved, I grabbed five books–four from four authors I wasn’t familiar with and another from one I was. I’ve been working through them for the past few days, and found it to be much fun. As a result, I’ll likely add a writer to my list of those to be on the lookout for.
That’s a thing about these free giveaways. It’s a bit of a mixed bag.
For readers, they are easy steps into a writer’s world to see if they do things we like. For writers, they are a little more angsty.
I find that when I participate in those, my mailing list will grow quite rapidly, but the readthrough is spotty. Still, spotty is not zero. My readthrough rate for free giveaways is maybe 5%, give or take. Meaning that if I give away a hundred first books of a series, I’ll get maybe five readers who will stick through to book two and beyond. Free seekers are like that. If I can keep them through that, though, I’ve probably found a real reader. It’s a tough method to pan for the gold with, right? While there is gold in Giveaway River, a writer has to sift through a lot of sand to find it (and vice versa on the reader’s side).
Still, every true reader is really just that—gold.
As is every new writer you find.
Assuming this post goes out when I think it will, there will still be two days before the end of February, which is when the giveaway ends. If so, you can check out the fare here.
I’ve read two of the five I downloaded so far and am partway through a third.
Or, rather, I’ve completely read one of the five, given another a DNF, and am partway through that third that I’m liking enough that I’m optimistic. Assuming the writer can finish a story, though, things are looking good. If it finishes well, I’ll recommend it here or in my own newsletter.
Because Word of Mouth is part of the Read Indie Pledge.
Word of mouth is everything, right? If you’re on my newsletter, you know that roughly 80% of them include a blurb at the end to point to someone whose work I’ve liked.
I’d like to suggest you do the same.
This may be a bit of preaching to the choir. If you’re here, you probably read at least one independently published writer—that being me. And that means you’re likely already a convert to the indie world. But I’ll preach anyway. Mostly because I have several friends in the sphere of Indie writers who seem to be focused on reading trad/dependently published writers. At least I rarely see them pushing Indies. Some of that may be that they (like me) are generally getting to be of an age, which means they’ve cultivated their primary reading list during the time when the only writers available were those dependent upon the traditional houses.
So it’s all good.
People have their go-to folks from years back.
Again, I’m not a snob about this at all.
But I do challenge you—next time you have an urge to read something, rather than drop $10 or $15 bucks (or more for print) on a traditionally published writer, think about doing panning instead, and spending that same $10 or $15 bucks on three or five books from independently published writers. Or, go even cheaper and find a free giveaway and read like an editor. You’re speculating, right? Panning for gold. You can grab a book that looks interesting, and there’s no harm in putting it aside—like I’ve done with one of the five already. Or, like the other one I’ve finished, you enjoy it for what it is and go on.
For example: The Hard SF Book vs. The SF/Romance.
The two books (of the five free ones) that I’ve “finished” are interesting cases of what it can mean to Read Indie. The one I DNFed should have been right down my alley, but it died on the vine early. By chapter one, I was on alert, and by the middle of chapter three, I was done. The one I finished was a light SF/Romance, which wouldn’t normally have something I would pick up. I am not, in general, a romance reader, after all. But I liked the cover and the SFnal blurb of it, and having now evolved my reading (and writing) profile beyond the classic neanderthal male origins of my youth, I decided to use the book as a deeper foray into that genre.
The book I did not finish was clearly in my genre and written by a writer I am familiar with. Alas, it didn’t hit on any cylinders for me. Character, setting, and problem were not compellingly identified, and the writing was not what I was expecting, to the point that I found myself rewriting whole paragraphs inside my head as I went along.
I was sad, really. I had such high hopes.
Hopes that, to be honest, I did not have for the SF/Romance.
First, the writer is relatively new, which in the Indie circuit is always a little angsty because the one thing you can say for the tournament game of traditional publishing is that the survivors generally have been around long enough that you’re pretty sure you’re going to get something that is—at the bare minimum—a bona fide story.
Second, the genre is, as I noted, not my staple.
And it turned out that this SF/Romance had problems. The science was hand-wavium, the plot was rushed, and the fundamental pretense was … thin. But the book moved. The characters charactered, and despite a twist that wasn’t a twist, it was a light enough and fast enough read that I was interested in what was happening all the way through. It wasn’t enough that I’ll plan to read another book by the author, but even if I’d paid for it, I’d still feel fine.
Bottom line, this panning for gold method means I’ll finish the five—or at least I’ll start all five, and finish what I decide I want to finish—and in the end I expect I’ll find maybe two writers I’ll be interested in going forward.
That’s a pretty good ratio, I think.
Panning for gold is most fun when you know there’s gold in the sand that lies under those fast-running currents, and the fact of the matter is that there really is such gold.
So join me, won’t you?
Take the “Read Indie” Pledge.
In this day of corporatization of everything, find a few human beings doing work you like, and buy a lunch worth of their books. Or even just a proverbial cup of coffee worth.
It matters, you know?
And there really is gold in those currents.
To get you started, here are two memorable books by Indie writers that I think you really ought to have read. The QR code goes to my website, where I reviewed them.
