AMA: Misconceptions about Indie Publishing?

[duckprintspress]

https://www.tiktok.com/@duckprintspress/video/7618609115929103647?_r=1&_t=ZP-94nJH5w7pz4

(Video ID: a white person with short reddish hair in glasses sits in front of a book case and talks. /end ID)

Transcript: So my next question is, what are some misconceptions that people have about publishing in general or about indie publishing that I would like to talk about?

So, I think the big one for me as an indie publisher is this pervasive idea that indie publishing is somehow “less,” that what we publish is worse, which is really nonsense. There’s a ton of reasons to not do traditional publishing or that traditional publishing would not be interested in your work that has nothing to do with a work’s quality.

In the end the Big Five traditional publishers are ginormous corporations primarily interested in Number Go Up. They’ve got investors and traditional stock stuff going on. If they don’t show returns, they don’t succeed. And so they won’t take risks, especially on things that don’t fit neatly into a category, so they frown on indie – uh, sorry – cross genre. They don’t like to takes risks on queer works, as we all know. They don’t like to take chances on new authors, because what if they lose money on that new author? They don’t want people who don’t have existing followings. And so what gets published by the Big Five aren’t the best books. That’s not even what they’re trying to publish. The Big Five are trying to publish the books they think will make the most money. Which is not at all the same as the best books.

And I’m not saying indie publishing is publishing the best books either. Book quality is part of making money, so yes, a lot of what Tradpub publishes are good books, no contesting that. But a lot of what indie presses publish are also good books. They’re just books that don’t fit neatly into the boxes that indie pub – that traditional publishing likes to try to shove everything into. And so this idea that – that indie publishing is somehow “less” quality is not only wrong, it’s just completely unhinged from what the purpose of traditional publishing and indie publishing are.

Indie publishing is a space for people taking different kinds of risks, for people whose works don’t fit neatly into boxes, for works that the Big Five don’t think will make that much money. And that gives us a lot of room to find really amazing, amazing things to publish that wouldn’t see the light of day otherwise. To amplify voices that don’t usually get heard. To take risks and, you know, push outside of boxes. So, yeah, support indie publishing! We’re not “tradpub light.” We’re awesome! And we’re different! We’re trying to do something different and that’s important.

This has been an Indie Press Month Ask Me Anything with Claire. Feel free to drop me any asks you might have in the comments. Bye!

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>So, I think the big one for me as an indie publisher is this pervasive idea that indie publishing is somehow “less,” that what we publish is worse, which is really nonsense.<<

*laugh* That is an easily falsifiable statement, especially nowadays. All anyone has to do is examine two groups of test cases, then compare the results.

Now 40 years ago, the mainstream publishers were better -- before they quit cultivating their midlist, fired a bunch of staff, and started turning out a lot of repetitive slush. Also that was before indie publishing had the nicer tools it had today, which made it harder to do. Plus indie is where new genres start, like women's lit and queer lit; it always takes time to develop serious writing skills. So while there have always been gems and rocks on both sides, the proportion has shifted around repeatedly over time.

Nowadays, mainstream books are often littered with typos, the cover art is frequently AI slop or clip art or just a title, few editors really showcase personal taste anymore, the vast majority of fiction is repetitive, and the nonfiction often has iffy accuracy -- it's depressing. I have cookbooks with ingredients missing or listed ingredients with no directions. :/

Meanwhile, some of the best and most innovating writing comes from indie publishers, crowdfunding like Kickstarter or what people post in their own blogs, even fanfic. Places the gatekeepers can't homogenize. With the bottleneck broken by electronic publication, home printers, and places that will run off a few hundred books, people are much freer to create and consume whatever they want. That's pretty awesome.

I do miss being able to walk into a bookstore and find an armload of exciting things. But hell, Barnes & Noble isn't even organized for frequent browsing anymore; it's organized for people who visit once or twice a year. I get frustrated and browse friends' crowdfunding instead, or go out on Kickstarter to look for something more interesting.

Re: Thoughts

[duckprintspress]

nodnod I 100% agree, the editing on mainstream books I get now is surprisingly poor. But I think a lot of people still cling to this older idea. I think they also don't understand just how much publishing has consolidated now - I think a lot of people think all those imprints they see at a bookstore are different publishers, when in fact most of them are owned by the same small number of companies.

tho... there was always a lot of repetitive slush in the mix lol.

That's wild about the cookbooks thought! I don't really buy cookbooks, just grab recipes online, I had no idea things had gotten to that state.

The entire industry gatekeeps against places that crowdfund, too, like we can't get Publishers Weekly deal announcements or anything. It's very very frustrating, but whatevs, we'll just keep being out here doing our own thing. As you say, I love the part where it means we and other indie publishers are free to create and consume how we wish to.

I find the bookstores I now like visiting best (and can still definitely leave with an armful of books) are small indie bookstores, because they are so heavily curated that if I can find one that matches my taste, I know they'll have good stuff. Like there are two local indies I shop at around me, and both have a lot of queer stuff, one has a lot of local history and great children's books, the other has a whole collection of works by First Nations, Native American, and indigenous peoples... they almost become like lil specialty libraries, except I can buy and keep the books!

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> But I think a lot of people still cling to this older idea. <<

This matches my observation.

>> I think they also don't understand just how much publishing has consolidated now - I think a lot of people think all those imprints they see at a bookstore are different publishers, when in fact most of them are owned by the same small number of companies.<<

*sigh* The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction was just acquired by the publisher who also now owns Asimov's, Analog, and Ellery Queen. The appearance of each is being standardized so they all look alike. Since our subscription to Asimov's turned out to be a poor choice -- the quality is poor and the tone downright depressing, plus the pages are hard to read -- I was dating other magazines to see if I liked them better. This change does not incline me to take out a new subscription. :/

>>tho... there was always a lot of repetitive slush in the mix lol.<<

That's true. Sturgeon's Law has always been a thing. But at least the books used to come with real covers and people were properly ashamed by a first-page typo, and editors put genuine effort into cultivating writers over time.

>> The entire industry gatekeeps against places that crowdfund, too, like we can't get Publishers Weekly deal announcements or anything. <<

*snort* It's like how I gave up on the Science Fiction Writer's Association because the markets I was paying bills with weren't "good enough" to count as "professional." So basically it's a clique, and I'm not into that.

Electronic publishing, I knew what was up as soon as it started, and responded accordingly. I was involved in some of the first online magazines. Back then nobody thought it would amount to anything. I'm still laughing over that.

The thing about gatekeeping is that if you don't have high quality, people tend to get tired of you. Big publishers just don't have the bottleneck they used to have. They may have sales, for a while, because they do have that echo chamber. But the more people who realize where the groundbreaking work is nowadays, the more that erodes over time. And I'm happy to help that process.

I encourage crowdfunded and indie folks to make their own awards, review columns, and other support networks. The Rose and Bay Awards have been running on crowdfunding since 2010. Huh, I need to get the winners list up, we had a runoff this year so I was waiting on that.

>>I find the bookstores I now like visiting best (and can still definitely leave with an armful of books) are small indie bookstores<<

The only indie bookstores around here are used books, which I do browse, and I think there might be a Christian one that I ignore.

>>works by First Nations, Native American, and indigenous peoples...<<

Now I'm just envious. Closest source of that to me is a powwow store about an hour and a half away.

>> they almost become like lil specialty libraries, except I can buy and keep the books! <<

Awesome.

Given the attacks on public libraries and school libraries, I'm coming to feel it's time to revive private ones -- with a rule that members shall not demand, request, allow, perform, or in any other way support censorship of library materials. Ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances.

[lb_lee]

Over the years, I’ve come to own way more small or self-published works, because it seems that’s more and more where the stuff I want COMES from. The “adult comics” publishers of the ‘90s mostly seem to have folded or (as the main people in them had kids) stopped putting out erotic work. The queer stuff I read is OVERWHELMINGLY from small or self publishers. They just seem generally more what I’m into! The Big Five on my shelves is restricted to: art reference/design books of old, some children’s books, and a couple comics from First Second (Random House) and Vertigo/DC/Warner Bros. that managed to catch my attention.

[duckprintspress]

Yeah same. My wife reads more mainstream than I do, and when she reads something she thinks I'll like she usually passes it on to me, but the vast majority of what I buy and read myself comes from indie publishers. That's true both of the prose books I read and the graphic novels and manga and stuff. The Big Five have drifted into queer a bit, tho I gather they've cut that back a lot in the current political climate, and meanwhile all us indie people just keep doing our queer thing.

I'm glad we can at least count on each other.