The First Rule
Independent authors are simultaneously at the cutting edge and also the bottom of the barrel when it comes to any genre I can think of. You’ll find the absolute best of the best and also the worst of the worst – but a lot of those incredible authors have 3 reviews and have sold 20 copies in their lifetime. They’re out there, and any support they get is worth so much to them.
I’ve tried so many strange subgenres and niches that I didn’t really know even existed! Not to mention I’ve found (and met!) some of all-time favourite authors during our time running YPQ. And as a writer, it’s given me so much to think about when it comes to my own craft. It’s been a mind-expanding experience!
The lack of publisher oversight is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness – there’s nobody worrying about trends, TikTok, or marketability. These authors just want to get their stories out there to budding readers, and that opens them up to write what they really want to. There’s far less support and marketing for the indie author, so they do tend to get swept up and lost in the melee.
My personal recommendation is to find a collection of bloggers who cover the genres and styles of writing that you really love, and then sign up to whatever they’ve got going on, on whatever media channels you peruse. There are bloggers and content creators for every genre of indie fiction you can think of, and probably some that you can’t, and they’re a pretty easy search away.
