On Indie Publishing 1

To the Edge: Reflections on Kingdom Leadership, Mission, and Innovation is set to release one month from today. This is another one of my indie projects, and the third time I have used CreateSpace as my platform. While Kindle will allow for pre-order sales of the book, CreateSpace does not at this time. . . the only significant fault I have found with them to date. Other than this limitation, they are great.

In this post, I continue to share my periodic thoughts on writing.

I consider myself a hybrid author, believing in and operating within both the traditional and indie worlds. Before I continue, please understand that I am a strong advocate for publishing via the traditional publishing paradigm. I have done this many times and, Lord willing, plan to continue in this model with Apostolic Church Planting scheduled to be released this November through InterVarsity Press. I hope to share more about this paradigm in a future post. But here is my comment on independent publishing.

A simple Google search reveals numerous articles on the pros and cons of being an indie author. Check it out. There are strengths and limitations to publishing with any model. With indie publishing, the author has control over everything. Yes, he or she has the final say in the product and can set a higher royalty rate, but is also responsible for all of the important components trained professionals with publishing houses oversee, such as: editing, proofreading, internal formatting, cover design, marketing, and promotion. Google the pros and cons and read about them in detail.

After praying about a book project, how do I usually decide which publishing route to take?*

I ask myself: How niche specific is this book?

The Christian audience is a niche within the general book-buying market. I typically write in the category of missions. That is a niche within the Christian niche. And some of my books are even more specific than that niche, maybe even two additional degrees of specificity. Most publishers usually do not publish a large number of books related to the missions niche. Even fewer publishers will go to the next level, such as writings on church planting. And no one (William Carey being the exception) wants to publish beyond this level. . . based on my experience.

It is at these highly-specific levels I often turn an idea into an indie project.

For example, The Barnabas Factors was a message I felt compelled to share and met a need in the church planting world related to teams. That is several rungs down the niche-ladder. Though the book continues to do well in sales, there is not a large audience for it.

While it is difficult to get any book published via the traditional route (I plan to do a post on rejection letters.), and very hard work to self-publish, my encouragement to you when considering which option** to choose is to ask: “How specific is the audience for this book?” If very specific, do not attempt to shop around your idea; you are wasting time. Go indie.

*If you are one of few people who has a massive platform and leads a large tribe, then I have a different thought for you. Write me at jpayne@brookhills.org. My platform is about the size of a diving board with a tribe that could fit into a Volkswagen Beetle.

**A third (and very popular) option, which I have also used, is partial investment publishing. I hope to share more about this option in the future.

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To my regular readers: As mentioned above, indie authors have to do it all. I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider helping me spread the word on To the Edge. To show my appreciation to you, I plan to provide you guys with a deep discount on hard copies when the book is first released. I’ll share that discount code on the blog. Thanks, friends, for your consideration on this matter!