If I was under a contract to a big company, I could only write the books that I was under contract for. I could write other things, but I’d likely have to sit on them for a different deal, or have to publish them under another publisher, under a pseudonym.
As an indy, I can publish whatever I want whenever I choose to.
Advantage: indie pub
If I was under a contract to a big company, I would be hampered to writing in just one genre, and just one style. If I was signed for one series, I would be forced to write for that series alone. If it was for novels (it often is) I could only write novels and not short stories or non-fiction (the exception being if they help to drive interest to your contracted novels, and if they don’t affect your contract time).
[Of course Steven King, James Patterson, and J.K. Rawlings are exceptions to this rule.]
Indy pub authors, on the other hand, can write and publish whatever I want and when I want to. I can start one series, then another, then put out an unrelated short story or a non-fiction work. I have that freedom.
ADVANTAGE: INDIE PUB
People under contract to a big publisher have no control over how their work is presented.
Indy pub authors control every aspect. The cover art is what they chose, as are the fonts (for a hardcopy book; for eBooks it’s still not under your control) and even illustrations inside the book .
You can print on demand and/or e-publish on Kindle/Nook/epub/Smashwords/whatever you choose.
[If you pick the Kindle KDP program you can’t try another for 90 days..]
ADVANTAGE: INDIE PUB
Audiobook? Indy Pub authors can do this at will, and profit from it. Authors on contract can too — if they’re on the contact to get paid for it. Otherwise the publisher might produce one, but all profits go to them.
ADVANTAGE: INDIE PUB
To play Devil’s Advocate, there is a big negative: all the costs (art, editing, advertising, etc.) come to you. After your first work sells, you can set money aside for the next one, but that first one may cost a lot.
advantage: traditional pub
The one minus doesn’t outweigh the positives though.
One Comment
For ebooks, the typography may not be under your control, but it is under the reader’s control. Unless you are trying to be unreadable, this is to your advantage.