Hey ya'll,
Welcome to KMJ Book Reveals! This is my first post back after a long hiatus. However, I am ready to tackle some big questions and issues that seem to be brewing up a storm within the publishing world. In 2018, I had a big year of traveling and doing author events. One of the major topics that would often come up between my author friends and I would be the hesitation of indie authors to conduct business similar to traditionally published authors.
In the publishing world there seems to be a notion that if you are an indie author then you are not a "real" author and therefore, you should not be able to conduct business the same way (I am using her because she is so widely known to make a point) J.K. Rowling does. I believe that this notion is wrong. Why can't indie authors be business professionals and get paid accordingly for their hard work? J. K. Rowling does. I know that you may be thinking that the difference between J. K. Rowling and indie authors is that she has millions of fans. That's true and a valid reason for a difference in pay and book royalties. However, why should indie authors be expected to put in their own money and their time for events and guest posts, among other things, when they and J. K. Rowling are doing the same job. In fact, I have indie author friends who I have seen attend events and they put so much energy into their presentation and are extremely inviting to fans, while my celebrity encounters have not been as exciting....
Maybe the way to best solve this issue is that indie authors have to speak up and set professional boundaries to change the perception that we are "sort-of-maybe" authors and we do not need to get paid for our time. You should not have to go through this as an author, especially if you have 3 plus years in the industry (basically you put in the work to cultivate a brand for yourself). This is the same reason I feel there are unfair consignment agreements (new post about this coming up this Wednesday), which I will be discussing the extent of later this week.
I believe that it is time for indie authors to change the game. So go ahead and make that request for travel accommodations! There is nothing wrong with it, especially if you are serving as a guest or panelist or being inconvenienced geographically to meet someone else's needs.
These are my thoughts on the matter, but I want to hear what you have to say!
Until next time my friends :)
Love,
Author KMJ
