{"id":2264,"date":"2012-02-25T06:19:29","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T14:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=2264"},"modified":"2012-02-25T06:19:29","modified_gmt":"2012-02-25T14:19:29","slug":"the-indie-authors-guide-to-the-universe-an-interview-with-jeff-bennington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/the-indie-authors-guide-to-the-universe-an-interview-with-jeff-bennington\/","title":{"rendered":"The Indie Author\u2019s Guide to the Universe: An Interview with Jeff Bennington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greet\u00adings, read\u00aders. Today, for the first time in the his\u00adto\u00adry of my blog, I\u2019m mak\u00ading some\u00adbody else the focus. Today I\u2019m going back to my roots as a news\u00adpa\u00adper reporter and inter\u00adview\u00ading Jeff Ben\u00adning\u00adton, cre\u00adator of The Kin\u00addle Book Review and author of a new book about the indie pub\u00adlish\u00ading phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnon, The Indie Author\u2019s Guide to the Uni\u00adverse<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ever since I inde\u00adpen\u00addent\u00adly pub\u00adlished      A Real Piece of Work<\/em> late last year, I\u2019ve been struck by how col\u00adle\u00adgial and sup\u00adport\u00adive the indie author\/publisher com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty is. For exam\u00adple, out of hun\u00addreds of poten\u00adtial reviews to run on The Kin\u00addle Book Review, Jeff chose one about my nov\u00adel. Grate\u00adful for his gen\u00aderos\u00adi\u00adty, I want\u00aded to pay him back some\u00adhow, and so I\u2019m run\u00adning this inter\u00adview.<\/p>\n

The indie author\/publisher world is a fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading one, and as one of the world\u2019s movers and shak\u00aders, Jeff is well qual\u00adi\u00adfied to talk about its cur\u00adrent state, as well as its promis\u00ading future. So, with\u00adout fur\u00adther ado, here\u2019s my inter\u00adview with Jeff:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What inspired you to write THE INDIE AUTHOR\u2019S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE<\/em>?
\n<\/strong>The inspi\u00adra\u00adtion to write TIAGt\u00adtU came from my desire to learn from my past mis\u00adtakes and share those lessons with oth\u00ader authors. I blogged about the lessons learned for near\u00adly a year. I was actu\u00adal\u00adly sur\u00adprised how thank\u00adful my read\u00aders were. I thought I was just being trans\u00adpar\u00adent, when in fact, I was offer\u00ading use\u00adful infor\u00adma\u00adtion that writ\u00aders were in des\u00adper\u00adate need of. The longer I immersed myself into the world of pub\u00adlish\u00ading, the more I watched oth\u00ader authors repeat the same mis\u00adtakes over and over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019re the founder of The Kin\u00addle Book Review. Where did the idea for that very pop\u00adu\u00adlar web\u00adsite come from?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jeff Ben\u00adning\u00adton<\/p><\/div>\n

The Kin\u00addle Book Review<\/a> was actu\u00adal\u00adly cre\u00adat\u00aded as part of my \u201cauthor plat\u00adform.\u201d I also want\u00aded to help pro\u00admote oth\u00ader authors in my genre via cross-pro\u00admo\u00adtion. What I didn\u2019t know is, the blog would trans\u00adform my plat\u00adform in ways I nev\u00ader imag\u00adined. So what start\u00aded as just anoth\u00ader blog, turned into a review site, and then into a pro\u00admo\u00adtion\u00adal tool on a larg\u00ader scale. Every day the num\u00adber of vis\u00adi\u00adtors increased. One day we had 400, and then 450 the next and then 500 and then 525 and then 600. It\u2019s just amaz\u00ading how fast it\u2019s grow\u00ading. We now have about 20 review\u00aders and sev\u00ader\u00adal pro\u00admo\u00adtion\u00adal venues for any bud\u00adget, includ\u00ading a \u201cMedia Buzz\u201d pro\u00admo\u00adtion that is work\u00ading great. We\u2019ve teamed up with WorldLiteraryCafe.com<\/a> and DigitalBookToday.com<\/a> to make this pro\u00admo\u00adtion extra effec\u00adtive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the dif\u00adfer\u00adence, as you see it, between self-pub\u00adlished and indie-pub\u00adlished? What are the advan\u00adtages of being an inde\u00adpen\u00addent pub\u00adlish\u00ader?
\n<\/strong>Good ques\u00adtion. I address this in the book because I don\u2019t think there is clear def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion. Here\u2019s what I say in the book:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been down the roads of self-pub\u00adlish\u00ading and what I call indie pub\u00adlish\u00ading. An indie author, in my opin\u00adion, is in com\u00adplete con\u00adtrol of their pub\u00adlish\u00ading project, includ\u00ading cov\u00ader design, pric\u00ading, edit\u00ading, for\u00admat\u00adting, and own\u00ader\u00adship of the ISBN. As an indie author, you report to no one but your read\u00aders.<\/p>\n

A self-pub\u00adlish\u00ader, as I see it, is one who con\u00adtracts a pay-to-pub\u00adlish busi\u00adness such as Tate Pub\u00adlish\u00ading, Out\u00adskirts Press, Author House or any oth\u00ader ser\u00advice that charges to pub\u00adlish an author\u2019s book. I include 50\/50 pub\u00adlish\u00aders as well because they require the author to pay a por\u00adtion of the pro\u00adduc\u00adtion expens\u00ades. Sad\u00adly, after all the hype, the pub\u00adlish\u00ader usu\u00adal\u00adly owns the ISBN, ulti\u00admate\u00adly con\u00adtrols the price, and charges ridicu\u00adlous fees for the sim\u00adplest of tasks. In this case, you are self-pub\u00adlished, but you are not actu\u00adal\u00adly the pub\u00adlish\u00ader.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the most com\u00admon mis\u00adtake made by indie pub\u00adlish\u00aders and how can they rec\u00adti\u00adfy it?
\n<\/strong>I don\u2019t know if I can pin\u00adpoint one com\u00admon mis\u00adtake. But I think the most dam\u00adag\u00ading mis\u00adtake indie authors make is by refus\u00ading to pay for pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal edit\u00ading. What I\u2019ve seen is a men\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty that says, \u201cIf I sell some books, I\u2019ll afford to pay for an edi\u00adtor, book cov\u00ader design, and prop\u00ader for\u00admat\u00adting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, the oppo\u00adsite is true. If you invest in those ele\u00adments before pub\u00adlish\u00ading, you\u2019ll have a bet\u00adter chance of sell\u00ading, and a bet\u00adter chance of NOT killing your rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion as an author.<\/p>\n

I have a check\u00adlist I refer to when an author asks me for help. It\u2019s quite sim\u00adple:<\/p>\n