(Sandra interrupts quickly here to note that she obviously decided to embrace her own sheer hubris.)

I also wrote about this on my blog, about the hubris of many self-published writers. It is always of the greatest importance to compare yourself and your writing with that of others. How have that and other communities for readers and writers been important to you in your career as an author? The stigma is less than it was only a few years ago, but you’ll never convince the reader who only buys from the New York Times bestseller list. Some readers still give you no chance because you are an independent author. The frustration is realizing that it does not matter whether your story is good, or is so well-edited that readers find no issues, typos, mistakes, or find it completely engaging.

The greatest rewards happen frequently: they are the words from readers, the thank you messages, comments like “from now on I’ll read whatever you write.” As an Indie writer, this is encouraged and I believe readers feel less intimidated and will often contact an Indie writer without fear, as opposed to trying to write to Stephen King, for example.

They pointed to “what the market wants” and said “nobody takes a risk on something at the edge.” But I decided I had to take the risk and prove to myself and others that writers cannot react passively to the market, but must be encouraged to innovate, forget about what sells, and write what they must.įor you, what have been the greatest rewards and frustrations of being indie? I got standard rejections but also some encouraging personal notes from agents. Like most, I started submitting manuscripts to agents. It lingered for over a year, so I joined a writers’ group for peer review and honing my skills. Then, after all seemed forgotten, a story found me and kicked hard to come out. I stopped when I started my studies in physics at the university, but the urge to write always lingered. The place and the setting came from those cover pictures, and I wasn’t that concerned with temporal or structural issues. I didn’t think in those days about plot and action, character development, building my voice, or what themes and belief systems I wanted to cover. Based on those covers, I created stories in my mind, then put them down on paper so that I could re-read and never forget them. I wasn’t allowed to read those magazines, but they also had astounding covers. Writing, for me, started early in my childhood. Massimo, give us a short history of how you came to be an indie author.

Daimones by Massimo Marino