I’ve been a full time writer for over a year now, and what a strange journey through the minefield of independent publishing this has been! I want to share some of the things I’ve learned, which may help some other indie writers or may simply add a sad commentary on a small niche of “what our world is coming to” for others. (Okay, there’s good stuff too, which I will get to.)
I had the idea for my first book rattling around in my brain (along with my second book, which is still in the works) for years before I had the time or motivation to put fingers to keyboard. I had separated from my job as a community college administrator but was still actively parenting my disabled adult daughter. It was October of 2024 before my daughter began a “supported living” program, when I was able to take a step back from my parent role and get down to writing.
My first book flowed thick and fast onto page after page. Once I had my first 50 pages, I was so well acquainted with my characters that I knew what they would do and say in any situation I gave them, whether a prison break or a graphic sex scene. (At the time, my book was called Sexbots of the Underground City, and it was graphic as, well, fuck.)
I have a superpower, which is that I don’t need to make a living from my writing. I can write whatever I want. That superpower has proved to be less potent than I had first assumed, because there are other constraints on independent writers. I put my book up on Amazon in August, 2025, and then discovered that Amazon let me post the book for sale, but Amazon Marketing wouldn’t advertise the book due to its explicit content. So, with a change of name, cover, a thorough rewrite, and three more rounds of editing, it’s finally preparing to launch. Furthermore, I can truthfully say that I think it’s a better book for the complete revision.
Here’s a quick glance at some of the topics I’m going to cover in subsequent blog posts:
Nigerian marketers!
Contests!
Short stories and publication rights!
What if all independent writers rebelled against the one-to-five star system of book reviews?