Independent
I’m going to write this without the usual self-promotion. You won’t find a link to any of my books in this post. I’m doing it because I really believe in this cause.
I’m also going to try and refrain from painting anyone as a villain. That will also be quite different for me.
Not so long ago, publishers, and by publishers I mean anyone who produces media of any kind: books, music, movies, TV, etc., were limited by the physical nature of their product. Because they had to print, store, ship, and physically sell their product, by necessity, they needed to pay a lot of people.
So when deciding which artists to produce, an editor/agent/gatekeeper had to pick art they thought could sell a lot of copies. In order to take care of all those people in the supply chain, what they put out had to appeal to a huge swath of the media buying public. If they picked poorly, people all along the chain would suffer.
Of course, we don’t need to do that anymore. Electronic production and distribution has made it so you can reach people a lot cheaper and easier. Because of this, now more than ever, artists that have a niche, that only appeal to certain small groups, have a chance at making a living with their art.
But they still lack one vital component. It’s still difficult for them to find their audience in the mass of competition. They don’t have the money it takes to promote their art. Not like the established publishers do. Even though the internet has made the promotion cheaper, through podcasts, blogs, and social networks, it’s still hard to cut through the signal to noise ratio.
That’s where you come in. Indie artists desperately rely on word-of-mouth. You can amplify your broadcasting power lots of ways. You can mention the indie artists you like on your own blogs and social media. You can leave reviews on the websites where you buy their product. First and foremost, when you go looking for a new book, or music, or movie, consider an indie artist.
Imagine how happy you would be if you could make a living doing what you love. You can help someone else do just that, by choosing indie art and promoting it.
I’m not saying there isn’t room for the big guys. I would love to have my books printed in a special edition someday. But maybe our economy and our environment would be better off if we reserved physical media for the stuff we really love.
I’m standing up to do my part. If you’re an indie writer and have a book I can download, let me know, and I might review it on the next Geeks Out After Dark podcast.
Let me know about your other indie art, and I’ll promote it on my tumblr blog.
