Decision Time

I’m very proud to be an independent author. Releasing my books in this way has been one of the most exciting and life-changing decisions of my life. So why would I want to consider changing tack and exploring traditional publication instead?

For authors this is a familiar debate, so I’m not going to recount for the 1,000th time the pros and cons of each business model. You can find lots of articles, podcasts and videos which explore this topic in depth. I’m firmly in the camp that each approach is a legitimate way to reach readers, and I don’t think one is intrinsically better than another. A lot of this comes down to the marketplaces you want to reach. Bricks and mortar stores? You need to go the traditional route. Happy to build your business on eBooks? Indie is worth a very serious look.

Obviously it’s not that simple and there are nuances here I’m not going to get into for the purposes of this post. I’m just going to talk about my own specific situation and why looking at traditional publication feels like the right decision for me – although only for certain projects.

The most important point to begin with here is I’m an agented author. Back in 2011, when I first started to consider writing as a serious career, I wasn’t really aware of the independent author model (yes, I’ve been around for a long, long time). Frankly, that route to publication wasn’t as well established or respected as it is now. One of the biggest drawbacks to traditional publication is the fact that, before you can even submit to one of the major publishing houses, you need to be represented. I was fortunate to find myself in that position after my second submission to John Jarrold’s literary agency in 2015.

The lack of an agent doesn’t mean you can’t be successful – far from it. There are many roads through the forest, and what I love about the explosion of indie publishing in the past decade or so is that so many more books, a significant proportion of which would not have met the requirements of the traditional publishing houses, have been able to find an outlet and reach their readership. I’ve said before that I think we’re in a golden age of publishing, where the range of books on offer to readers has never been greater.

If you don’t have an agent, you’re faced with a very different set of considerations. Getting an agent can feel like an insurmountable obstacle, approaching a traditional publication house an unobtainable dream. If you’re seeking an agent then there’s no doubt you’ll face a delay in your books being released. In contrast, nothing can beat the speed of indie publication. What I would say is that your chances of being accepted, if you’ve mastered your craft and submit the right book to the right agent (I can’t emphasise enough the importance of doing your research when it comes to this), are higher than you might expect.

Having an agent opens up possibilities you wouldn’t otherwise have, including access to the traditional publishing houses and wider markets through translation rights. I’ve always been very open about my sales figures and the costs of being in this business. My experience of the financial side of indie publishing has been brutal, so if I have options to bring my books to market without that initial outlay, I’m going to seriously look at that.

I feel it’s time to explore the traditional route once more with my next two projects. I feel both have potential and offer something different, which should appeal to traditional publishers. Once those have been submitted, though, I’m firmly back in the indie camp as I return to my sequence of interconnected standalones, which began with A Quiet Vengeance. A Quiet Vengeance has already been released independently, so the follow up, A Quiet Betrayal, will follow the same route. I intend to write this book in late 2026 to early 2027, and I’m looking forward to putting that novel out on my own terms. The freedom that comes with indie publishing is part of the fun, and I plan to play around with the format of this book in a way I would never be able to do if I went down the traditional route.

Are you going wide for the win, and putting your all into indie publishing? Well, all power to you! I hope you find your readership and achieve your goals. Write the books you want and revel in the readers that love your work. Are you aiming for a deal with a publishing house? Well, I wish you the very same! Regardless of the choice you make, the goal here is to write what puts fire in your belly and find your readership.

I find myself with a foot in both camps, something I’m quite comfortable with. Approaching traditional publishers once more is exciting and, although querying can be a very up and down experience, I’m looking forward to exploring the possibilities once more.

And my current indie projects? You can prise those out of my cold, dead fingers.*

* Although I’m willing to discuss terms, if the price is right, obviously…