# So what's your biggest frustration these days as an indie author?



## omar (Mar 10, 2014)

Hey guys, what is your own personal biggest challenge to overcome as an indie author these days? I got mine. What's yours...


----------



## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Getting books back up the way I want them after getting out of a publishing contract that wasn't in either our best interests.  I am so glad to be on my own again, though, it's worth the pile of work.


----------



## Rayven T. Hill (Jul 24, 2013)

My biggest challenge is to figure out how to quit wasting time and write more.


----------



## LeeBee (Feb 19, 2014)

Rayven T. Hill said:


> My biggest challenge is to figure out how to quit wasting time and write more.


Watch my avatar for a while. I find that helps.


----------



## 60169 (May 18, 2012)

I'm a pretty happy little Prawn these days. No frustrations here.


----------



## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

The fact that I'm not a millionaire yet. It burns. Oh how it burns.


----------



## Guest (Mar 19, 2014)

My biggest frustration today is the same thing it was in 2004 when I first published.

Get-rich-quick people who think this is a friggin' gold rush and don't want to do the heavy lifting required to be successful. The happy-little-snowflakes who think their opus is perfect, and ye gods help you if you say otherwise.


----------



## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Biggest frustration is that there isn't enough hours in the day to even get the laundry done, let alone find time to write and promote.


----------



## beccaprice (Oct 1, 2011)

These days, my biggest frustration is my health.  I get tired so easily! and now my primary care physician wants me to see a neurologist for the hands shaking problem - I think they want to rule out early-onset Parkensons. Oh, joy.

my second frustration is money - I've got a couple of  books written that really want illustrations, and I don't have the money - not working a day job anymore (see paragraph 1)


----------



## Lisa Grace (Jul 3, 2011)

I don't write or edit as fast as I would like to. It's a problem I can fix. Second is loading books up to all the stores.


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

My biggest frustration is how to get the word out about a new release in my series. I went through my email list--such as it is--did the FB/twitter/blog thing, have good reviews coming in from those who bought, but then it pretty much stopped. I think it's time to move on from the series.


----------



## Cheyanne (Jan 9, 2013)

Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson said:


> Biggest frustration is that there isn't enough hours in the day to even get the laundry done, let alone find time to write and promote.


This... exactly this.

*stares at pile of unfolded laundry on the bed*


----------



## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

I folded my laundry today. It had been sitting there for a long time. It must be laundry day.


----------



## Jill James (May 8, 2011)

I was frustrated that I have to be happy for any day that has 1 sale as opposed to no sales. Then I read J.A.Konrath's blog and realized that yes, I am happy for every single sale. Every single reader. Every time one person takes a chance on me.


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

My biggest frustration is that every market except Amazon is underperforming.  I hear about other authors doing well in other places, but it's not happening for me.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

My biggest frustration is that I cannot get any damn sales on Amazon to save my life. I sell well everywhere else, but even with a bunch of freebies, Amazon sales continue to be an elusive and slippery beast.


----------



## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

That's easy. Finding time to write. I'm an over the road truck driver and usually haul over sized loads. It's a stressful job, but since I can only drive during daylight I have quite a few free hours after I shut down. Problem is, days like today, when I drove 600 miles through Atlanta, Birmingham and Jackson, my brain's too scrambled to put together coherent dialogue.


----------



## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Cheyanne said:


> This... exactly this.
> 
> *stares at pile of unfolded laundry on the bed*





Annabelle Fogerty said:


> I folded my laundry today. It had been sitting there for a long time. It must be laundry day.





Wayne Stinnett said:


> That's easy. Finding time to write. I'm an over the road truck driver and usually haul over sized loads. It's a stressful job, but since I can only drive during daylight I have quite a few free hours after I shut down. Problem is, days like today, when I drove 600 miles through Atlanta, Birmingham and Jackson, my brain's too scrambled to put together coherent dialogue.


Glad to know I'm not alone. But then again, this isn't really a good thing, is it?


----------



## Twizzlers (Feb 6, 2014)

That I waited too long to follow my passion and now I don't have time everyday because I have to work an EDJ.


----------



## CEMartin2 (May 26, 2012)

Promotion to the target audience


----------



## Vaalingrade (Feb 19, 2013)

Lack of control where I should clearly have it: Things like having to wait for price changes, Amazon's lack of transparency, and depending on reviews to be allowed to buy ads.

Also covers. I've said it before: I write books specifically because I can't draw comics. This choice should have freed me from the visual arts forever.


----------



## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

LisaGraceBooks said:


> I don't write or edit as fast as I would like to. It's a problem I can fix.


This is mine as well. I also have trouble being objective with my work which makes the editing part harder. I can write really fast, the editing, not so much.

Anyone got tips on how to edit quicker?


----------



## Sylvia R. Frost (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm not an indie author yet, but I still do write here and there. I would say my biggest frustration is that lately I've been so much more visually inspired than I have with words. I can sit down and make covers for 10 hours straight and not even notice the time, but I can't get myself to write a paragraph of fiction. 

And while not professional, I think I'm not a half-horrible writer. I just can't do it. I'm so jealous of you folk who can just sit down and write. What's your secret?


----------



## RMercer (Mar 1, 2014)

My biggest frustration is writing something longer than a short story. Anything longer than 8000-12000 words makes me feel like bashing my head in with a brick. I don't know what it is. But I'm working through it. I've written a 20,000 word fantasy novella and slowly it's getting easier and easier for me to expand my writing horizons.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

Sophia Feddersen said:


> I just can't do it. I'm so jealous of you folk who can just sit down and write. What's your secret?


Self-discipline.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

JRODell said:


> That I waited too long to follow my passion and now I don't have time everyday because I have to work an EDJ.


What's an EDJ?


----------



## twilcox (Oct 16, 2012)

Not having the funds to even publish a novella. I'm thinking of running a small fundraiser on my website

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

twilcox said:


> Not having the funds to even publish a novella. I'm thinking of running a small fundraiser on my website
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


Maybe someone would be willing to swap/barter with you for editing and/or cover services?


----------



## tknite (Feb 18, 2014)

My biggest frustration is that two months in, I still haven't hit my 50 sale milestone for my first book, and I have to watch my book sink lower and lower in the rankings everyday. And while I know the real solution is "more product," I never feel like I'm writing enough fast enough to keep up with everybody else. And I worry that the problem is only going to get worse when I start working full time in August as opposed to being in college full time like I am now.

Young adult impatience and anxiety about the future, basically. 

If only my logic could overrule my feelings. Unfortunately, it can't, and I still feel blue about this frequently.


----------



## Fictionista (Sep 14, 2012)

What's my biggest frustration? Feeling like I don't have enough time to get all the books written that I have all mapped out.


----------



## I Give Up (Jan 27, 2014)

Having more money than I've ever had in my life but being unable to touch it until May.


----------



## markobeezy (Jan 30, 2012)

My biggest frustration is lack of marketing/sales/business skills. Otherwise, I'm good


----------



## Joe_Nobody (Oct 23, 2012)

Taxes.


----------



## jlmarten (May 9, 2012)

violarivard said:


> Having more money than I've ever had in my life but being unable to touch it until May.


Somehow I'm thinking this is a frustration more of us would trade for the legitimate ones that plague us.

Mine is having written over 350k words over the past couple years, yet having nothing to show for it yet in terms of published pieces. I'm the guy who sprints the first six miles of the marathon, then is found collapsed and wheezing at the twenty mile marker.


----------



## Incognita (Apr 3, 2011)

swolf said:


> My biggest frustration is that every market except Amazon is underperforming. I hear about other authors doing well in other places, but it's not happening for me.


I'm in the same boat. I'm extremely happy with my Amazon sales, but I just can't seem to get much of a foothold in the other stores. There are worse problems to have, though!


----------



## Twizzlers (Feb 6, 2014)

emilycantore said:


> Updating backmatter.
> 
> It makes money to put direct links in the backs of books. I know this. But I just don't have the time/inclination to update all my titles. I have 55 just under this name and oy vey.


This is something I fear. Especially because do I need to put a different link in each file? Like an Amazon link in the back of my Amazon version, SW in my SW version? I agree, oy vey.


----------



## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

emilycantore said:


> Updating backmatter.
> 
> It makes money to put direct links in the backs of books. I know this. But I just don't have the time/inclination to update all my titles. I have 55 just under this name and oy vey.


I've started using the pretty links plugin from Wordpress that allows me to use an editable shortcode. If the link changes, I only need to update the plugin, and there is no need to update the entire file.


----------



## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Sophia Feddersen said:


> I'm not an indie author yet, but I still do write here and there. I would say my biggest frustration is that lately I've been so much more visually inspired than I have with words. I can sit down and make covers for 10 hours straight and not even notice the time, but I can't get myself to write a paragraph of fiction.
> 
> And while not professional, I think I'm not a half-horrible writer. I just can't do it. I'm so jealous of you folk who can just sit down and write. What's your secret?


We could tell you, but ...well, you probably know what we'd have to do to you then.  Seriously, it's no big secret--you just have to write. Some people write fast and some slow but if you write even a paragraph a day, eventually you would have a book.


----------



## GUTMAN (Dec 22, 2011)

Wayne Stinnett said:


> That's easy. Finding time to write. I'm an over the road truck driver and usually haul over sized loads. It's a stressful job, but since I can only drive during daylight I have quite a few free hours after I shut down. Problem is, days like today, when I drove 600 miles through Atlanta, Birmingham and Jackson, my brain's too scrambled to put together coherent dialogue.


Wayne, I'm a middle school teacher. Many nights my brain feels the same way!


----------



## Jason Eric Pryor (Jan 30, 2013)

Wanting more time to write. I started writing Book One of my Crash Wagon series 2 days after getting laid off of work. I was able to write all day and I loved it. I get frustrated when I'm at work because I want to be home writing. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have the job. But I would LOVE to be able to finally write for a full time living.


----------



## travelingjohn69 (Mar 20, 2014)

Finding my target audience and exposure. You would think with a book like mine it would be a majority of men throughout the world.

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-ultimate-guide-traveling-ebook/dp/B00737IBFE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1336101598&sr=1-1

I wonder who can help me out with this.


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I have only two frustrating challenges: I wish I could writer faster and I'd like more advertising options. I'm willing to pay, there just aren't many places worth the money.


----------



## Wayne Stinnett (Feb 5, 2014)

Joe_Nobody said:


> Taxes.


Yeah, those pesky six figure tax bills gotta be really frustrating.


----------



## Sylvia R. Frost (Jan 8, 2014)

Greer said:


> Self-discipline.


Certainly, that's a part of it, but I used to be able to sit down and force myself to write good things. Now I sit down and nothing really that great comes out! Oh well! I guess I'll leave the writing to you guys and you can leave the cover design to me!  Maybe I'll come back to it soon.


----------



## MT Berlyn (Mar 27, 2012)

Finding the novel's target audience has been the most frustrating for me.  Readers who like dark fantasy/paranormal mystery without fluff, romantic gloss or gratuitous violence.  I know they're out there, I just don't seem able to reach them.


----------



## Moist_Tissue (Dec 6, 2013)

The cottage industry that has popped up around the self-publishing boom town.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

Sophia Feddersen said:


> Certainly, that's a part of it, but I used to be able to sit down and force myself to write good things. Now I sit down and nothing really that great comes out! Oh well! I guess I'll leave the writing to you guys and you can leave the cover design to me!  Maybe I'll come back to it soon.


Sometimes you just have to force it. Sit down and write crap. Write a scene of nothing but dialogue and fill in the detail after. Try something completely different - choose a genre you've never tried before, or a length, or a form. When I get stuck on a story or don't know what to write next, I write fluffy fanfic.

Also, sometimes it helps if you already know what you're going to write when you sit down, so always carry a notebook to write ideas in. And if you have some menial activity that you can do while thinking about other things, maybe you could work on your plot then. That way you don't have to sit down and stare at a blank screen.

I've used each and every one of those to help kick start me at various times. Maybe one of them might work for you, too.


----------



## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Sophia Feddersen said:


> I'm not an indie author yet, but I still do write here and there. I would say my biggest frustration is that lately I've been so much more visually inspired than I have with words. I can sit down and make covers for 10 hours straight and not even notice the time, but I can't get myself to write a paragraph of fiction.
> 
> And while not professional, I think I'm not a half-horrible writer. I just can't do it. I'm so jealous of you folk who can just sit down and write. What's your secret?


Here are 4 things I do that keeps me blasting away at my manuscripts.

1) Routine. The mind is a very interesting thing. You can literally program it to do what you want with enough practice. If you do the same thing every day at the same time at some point your subconscious takes over. It's best to have a a set routine for when and how you write. For Ernest Hemingway it was to write drunk. J.K. Rowlings, on the other hand, writes every word of her books at her favorite coffee shop. Find a routine and stick with it.

2) Ernest Hemingway had a practice of editing the last few pages he wrote then picking up from where he left off. I used to be real OCD about editing as I write. So this was a technique I used frequently that never failed to get me typing away. I highly suggest trying it.

3) Never sit down to write without first thinking about what it is you plan to write during the session. That way as soon as you sit down to write, you can start typing and not have to pause to figure things out. This is the equivalent of a movie director having Storyboards to use to film his movie.

4) Write your story out of sequence. There are days you just don't feel like writing a particular scene. Writing your story out of order allows you to write your favorite parts, then go back and tie up the loose ends. Of all the techniques on this list, this is the one that works the best for me.

I think you'll find that using one (or all) of these 4 techniques could help you with the problem you're having. I recommend trying them out and see if they work for you.


----------



## ricola (Mar 3, 2014)

Housekeeping, getting sick all the time, and chronic pain.    #1 can be dealt with through money, #2 as the kids get older and stop being petri dishes, but #3 I'm stuck with due to a genetic disorder.  I also feel whiny tonight, 'cuz the prescription-strength ibuprofen ain't cutting it and I refuse to break out the big guns until I go to sleep.


----------



## LeeBee (Feb 19, 2014)

SM Reine said:


> I feel like I've run into a bit of a wall, craft-wise. I used to get this "Wow! This is the best book I've ever written!" feeling at least once per book (somewhere in between "THIS IS THE WORST BOOK I'VE EVER WRITTEN" and "I can't handle this, I'm going to go become a Starbucks barista"). I still reach a point where I'm deeply satisfied with the book, but I don't feel like I'm breaking new ground with the craft.
> 
> I think I need to write something new. _Really _new-new. Completely new genre (not a subgenre of urban fantasy, something like romantic suspense or literary), completely new characters, completely new voice/tone/themes. But I still have SO MUCH to write in my existing universe. It's what I love, my readers love it, I don't want to leave. But it's hard to grow as an artist within the confines of a single series/genre/universe after a while.


Maybe it's just a matter of figuring out a way to shake things up in your existing universe. Come at something from a completely different angle than you usually do. Write a villain - or a protagonist - that forces you completely out of your comfort zone. Then see where that takes you.


----------



## Redacted1111 (Oct 26, 2013)

When Afterword won't update.


----------



## Sylvia R. Frost (Jan 8, 2014)

Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson said:


> Here are 4 things I do that keeps me blasting away at my manuscripts.
> 
> 1) Routine. The mind is a very interesting thing. You can literally program it to do what you want with enough practice. If you do the same thing every day at the same time at some point your subconscious takes over. It's best to have a a set routine for when and how you write. For Ernest Hemingway it was to write drunk. J.K. Rowlings, on the other hand, writes every word of her books at her favorite coffee shop. Find a routine and stick with it.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advice, Kevis! I like the last one the best, I'd never thought of that!


vmblack said:


> Housekeeping, getting sick all the time, and chronic pain.  #1 can be dealt with through money, #2 as the kids get older and stop being petri dishes, but #3 I'm stuck with due to a genetic disorder. I also feel whiny tonight, 'cuz the prescription-strength ibuprofen ain't cutting it and I refuse to break out the big guns until I go to sleep.


I hope you feel better!! :-( Being ill/pain is the absolute worst!


----------



## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

omar said:


> Hey guys, what is your own personal biggest challenge to overcome as an indie author these days? I got mine. What's yours...


Marketing, promoting, selling.


----------



## rjspears (Sep 25, 2011)

My biggest frustrations are not having enough time to write (have a day job) and getting readers to discover my books.  If only I had some marketing money.  Sigh.


----------



## Guest (Mar 20, 2014)

Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson said:


> 2) Ernest Hemingway had a practice of editing the last few pages he wrote then picking up from where he left off. I used to be real OCD about editing as I write. So this was a technique I used frequently that never failed to get me typing away. I highly suggest trying it.


Just one of the many reasons I love Ernest!

~~~

My biggest frustration is that I don't have a 48 hour day.


----------



## Sonya Bateman (Feb 3, 2013)

Sophia Feddersen said:


> Certainly, that's a part of it, but I used to be able to sit down and force myself to write good things. Now I sit down and nothing really that great comes out! Oh well! I guess I'll leave the writing to you guys and you can leave the cover design to me!  Maybe I'll come back to it soon.


Well, you do make very pretty covers! 

Sometimes it does work to sit down and force yourself to write. Sometimes it doesn't, and eventually it comes back on its own, after you've given yourself a creative recharge (like designing book covers!). At least that's my experience. Hoping it works out for you!


----------



## Carol Davis (Dec 9, 2013)

Sending good thoughts to those who are dealing with chronic pain and illness.  It makes other issues sound a lot less significant!

I can't sit for long periods at a desk, either.  I do the majority of my writing on a laptop, sitting in my big green recliner.

Major frustration for me... I guess it's a lot of little ones.  Not having free time to write when the juices are really flowing.  Reminding myself that this is a long game, and getting a toehold will take time, when I'm feeling sad about lack of sales and no reviews.  Having the IRS eat up in taxes EVERY LAST DIME I earned last year, even after my accountant scratched up every deduction we could think of.

March has actually been a lot better for sales than Jan-Feb were, which does a lot to wipe away the things I've been pouting about.  Now that spring is here (right? it's coming? right?) I'm going to focus on staying positive, and producing more titles.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

SM Reine said:


> I think I need to write something new. _Really _new-new. Completely new genre (not a subgenre of urban fantasy, something like romantic suspense or literary), completely new characters, completely new voice/tone/themes. But I still have SO MUCH to write in my existing universe. It's what I love, my readers love it, I don't want to leave. But it's hard to grow as an artist within the confines of a single series/genre/universe after a while.


This was how I felt, except that with my genre being historical, I'd already exhausted my characters' existence. I didn't have a choice but to move on. And now I am writing something totally new and I love, love, LOVE it, but it comes with its own challenges. It's almost like starting completely over to try to find new readers, although I know the ropes this time. Still, it doesn't make it easier.

My biggest frustration is fighting for visibility. The market is constantly changing and there's far more competition than when I started four years ago.


----------



## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson said:


> Biggest frustration is that there isn't enough hours in the day to even get the laundry done, let alone find time to write and promote.


Seconded!


----------



## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

omar said:


> Hey guys, what is your own personal biggest challenge to overcome as an indie author these days? I got mine. What's yours...


Waiting to publish. My fiancee and I are moving in the spring or summer, and I want to get a local UPS mail box to use on my business paperwork, so all that is a little bit in the air right now. In the meantime, I'm writing and building a backlog of product, but have to sit on it until I get all the necessary background stuff together.


----------



## Guest (Mar 20, 2014)

("...not really my problem, but at a pinch it's *getting you writertypes to take these forums more seriously*..." ventured the goblin, explaining "..._forum readership_ is on the ups, it's interactive, it's free, and it shows those readers there just how well you write too, but which of you writers ever stop to think of becoming known by your posts now, in short whose posts should I be reading, yours or someone else's, yes that my frustration and I dare say that it is shared by most readers who turn up upon writer's forums...", at which point the goblin asked to be forgiven for the way he wrote then)


----------



## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

Kobo.


----------



## FH (Jul 30, 2012)

Snooki getting a book deal.

If my dog vomited onto paper it would be worth more than that oxygen thief waste of DNA's  ramblings.

This is what it comes to. The artists starve while the feckless feast.


----------



## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

My biggest frustration is myself. I have had ample opportunity to get loads of writing done and get many stories finished, but I fart around too much on the internet or read too many books (my Kindle is both a blessing and a curse!).


----------



## lynnfromthesouth (Jun 21, 2012)

Like Becca and Eelkat, my health. It seems like I sorta get one thing under control and something else goes barmy...


----------



## Anne Glynn (Jan 19, 2014)

My speed. I write with another person and, between the two of us, it's taken almost a year for us to complete our 62,000 word manuscript. (Complete/complete, ready to hit the *publish* button.) There are people in the Cafe who seemingly knock out 62,000 words between coffee breaks and I'm so jealous of them. They've got skills.


----------



## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

omar said:


> So what's your biggest frustration these days as an indie author?


People referring to me as an "_indie_ author", when they mean "self-published author", I think: I've been self-published and I've been trade published (which those same people typically call "trad published"), but I've never been published by an independent small press.


----------



## Wansit (Sep 27, 2012)

Exhaustion and TAXES.


----------



## AutumnKQ (Jul 27, 2013)

I've had a month-long cold and now I have the beginning symptoms of carpal tunnel. Can't record music OR write for long periods. So boo.


----------



## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Marketing, marketing, marketing

I f-ing hate it! I hate writing my blog, I hate posting on twitter, I feel nothing but loathing for facebook, goodreads exhausts me, I check reviewer websites and lose the heart to approach them, I think about blog tours and cover reveals and I want to pull the duvet over my head. I even resent the people on my mailing list because now i have to do something about them. I have to do it all myself, using all the free resources at my disposal because I dont have the money to do it any other way.

I just wish I had a green fairy to do it all for me. Marketing is frustrating. I understand it's necessity, but I wish I could pay someone else to do it, I'm crap at it because i dont care, and I feel like it wastes huge amounts of my writing time.

*All I want to do is write (and read a lot), and for the money to roll in and for me to be left alone! *

I read SM Reine's post (the mega big one on writing instead of marketing) pretty much twice a week, just to keep me going sometimes when i get bogged down in marketing and start to lose the will to write at all...

Anyway, that's mine. Did the OP ever say what his was?


----------



## psychotick (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi,

My fingers! For some reason they refuse to type what I want them to type and because I'm not a touch typist I have to go back every line and fix the typos. (At the moment for some reason I seem to not be hitting the "d" key for some reason an it's drivingme nuts!)

There's also the pain in my back supplied by a drunk woman in a car she didn't own, driving at night with no lights, no licence, and trying to talk on the phone.

To those who mentioned finding trouble sitting and typing I sympathise. My solution much of this last year has been a laptop, a coffee table and a couch.

Cheers, Greg.


----------



## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

Stella Wilkinson said:


> Marketing, marketing, marketing
> 
> I f-ing hate it!





Stella Wilkinson said:


> *All I want to do is write (and read a lot), and for the money to roll in and for me to be left alone! *


Please excuse my commenting that to me, that sounds like a great reason to have an agent and publisher, rather than being self-published and voluntarily taking on full responsibility for the marketing and all those other publisher's roles?


----------



## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

zoe tate said:


> Please excuse my commenting that to me, that sounds like a great reason to have an agent and publisher, rather than being self-published and voluntarily taking on full responsibility for the marketing and all those other publisher's roles?


Well.... Yes (I know we're supposed to bang the Indie drum, but if I got a decent offer, then _obviously_ given my preferences!)


----------



## Cherise (May 13, 2012)

KJCOLT said:


> This is mine as well. I also have trouble being objective with my work which makes the editing part harder. I can write really fast, the editing, not so much.
> 
> Anyone got tips on how to edit quicker?


Pay me to do it for you?



Seriously, maybe we should all be happy about what we CAN do. I love to edit. It comes easily for me. Covers, generating new words, and marketing? I suck at those. Although I've got to say I actually enjoy the marketing part. I'm not going to quit generating new words, because having written them is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world. But dang, I am a slooooooooow writer of new fiction words.

I suppose my biggest frustration is that there aren't enough promotional sites like Ereader News Today. I wish there were 365 so I could promote every day and only pay 25% of my gross. Why aren't there?


----------



## Justawriter (Jul 24, 2012)

zoe tate said:


> People referring to me as an "_indie_ author", when they mean "self-published author", I think: I've been self-published and I've been trade published (which those same people typically call "trad published"), but I've never been published by an independent small press.


The definition has evolved though so that Indie published is interchangeable with self-published. I actually think Indie fits better as most people don't do it all themselves, they have a team that helps them get their books out, editors, cover artists, formatters, etc. So it really is like running an independent small press, with one key client.


----------



## LeeBee (Feb 19, 2014)

PamelaKelley said:


> The definition has evolved though so that Indie published is interchangeable with self-published. I actually think Indie fits better as most people don't do it all themselves, they have a team that helps them get their books out, editors, cover artists, formatters, etc. So it really is like running an independent small press, with one key client.


I agree, and I think there's an added benefit that "indie author" has less of a stigma to the general public than "self-published author," and thus using the former actually helps to rehabilitate the concept of publishing yourself.


----------



## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

I'm still a newbie (celebrated my one-year self-publishing anniversary last Sunday, or would have if I'd remembered it) and I'm pleased to say I don't have any major frustrations as yet. I'm sure they'll turn up at some point, though.


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

Greer said:


> What's an EDJ?


Evil desk job. Sorry, looks like you got overlooked.


----------



## JeanetteRaleigh (Jan 1, 2013)

I'm sure mine is much like everyone else's.  I want everything to happen at once, and this is a profession that requires patience. Also, as others have said, there's not enough time in the day...in the year for that matter.


----------



## ricola (Mar 3, 2014)

violarivard said:


> Having more money than I've ever had in my life but being unable to touch it until May.


LOL! Your book #2 is PERMANENTLY glued to the top of my "also boughts" with my free download. Like GLUE.


----------



## ricola (Mar 3, 2014)

Jamie Klaire said:


> Evil desk job. Sorry, looks like you got overlooked.


DJ I read as "day job." ED I read as "erectile dysfunction." Could not put the two together.

So yesterday, someone posted something about how "nice guys don't finish last," and I went, "yes, they do!" before I realized they weren't actually talking about sex. Oh.


----------



## Greer (Sep 24, 2011)

Jamie Klaire said:


> Evil desk job. Sorry, looks like you got overlooked.


Ah, merci. I was reading DJ as 'day job' but couldn't figure out what the 'E' stood for.


----------



## Steve Voelker (Feb 27, 2014)

[/quote]


zoe tate said:


> People referring to me as an "_indie_ author", when they mean "self-published author", I think: I've been self-published and I've been trade published (which those same people typically call "trad published"), but I've never been published by an independent small press.


I feel like "indie" is taking over for "self-published." Many self-pubbed authors have adopted the term to remove themselves from the negatives associated with self-pub and position themselves as more in line with "indie" music and film. Just a matter of public perception.

As a reader, I can say that it is getting harder to tell the difference anyway.


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

Greer said:


> Ah, merci. I was reading DJ as 'day job' but couldn't figure out what the 'E' stood for.


Desk job/ day job part is interchangeable. But definitely evil, evil I tell you.


----------



## Going Incognito (Oct 13, 2013)

vmblack said:


> DJ I read as "day job." ED I read as "erectile dysfunction." Could not put the two together.
> 
> So yesterday, someone posted something about how "nice guys don't finish last," and I went, "yes, they do!" before I realized they weren't actually talking about sex. Oh.


That's funny. I wrote a tad bit of ED into a swinger's club scene once in my milder pen name. So much visual/audio stimulation the poor guy couldn't perform.


----------



## Heather Hamilton-Senter (May 25, 2013)

Biggest frustration? With myself!

Because it's all on me. I work well to outwardly imposed deadlines, not so well to self-imposed ones. Even though I've been self-employed all my life, as a singer/actor, I had to show up or the show didn't go on. As a photographer, the wedding wouldn't wait for me to arrive and I had no control over the events.

As a writer, it's up to me to pull the trigger - and I keep delaying and waiting and wondering and jiggering......

I wish someone would just make me say 'enough is enough' . On the flip side, I don't want to pay anyone for that privilege!


----------



## FH (Jul 30, 2012)

I thought EBJ was the new online replacement for a BBBJ. 

you'll get the first one free then 99c after and all the traditional providers will complain you are putting them out of business.


----------



## kyokominamino (Jan 23, 2014)

It's a tie, for me. It's either (a) my complete and total love for my work and the fact that no one gives a rat's ass (yet) or (b) how it seems like every other author out there is selling thousands of copies and I can't even give mine away. I know that the latter is just the vocal minority on social media, but it's really hard to see it every single day and you're offering your book for free via email subscription and still no one cares. Sigh.

But that's indie author life. I've got plans to make it all change, hopefully, so I'll just have to bide my time in the trenches until my next two books are finished and I can try to get some traction. Until then, though...*opens a new box of pity chocolate*


----------



## miadrey (Feb 14, 2014)

Time.

I have 3 kids (age 5 and younger, and one is an exclusively nursing infant who wakes multiple times per night). I'm dedicated about regular exercise, plus making most of our foods homemade (home-baked bread, jam from my blueberry bushes, etc.). I homeschool my kids. And my spouse demands all my time after the kids are in bed.

I still try to write 1,000 words a day or at least put in an hour of "publishing" work (covers, book descriptions, etc.). Some days it's hard, though. I've been feeling burnt out.


----------



## Sam Kates (Aug 28, 2012)

Visibility (or lack of it). Without doubt my biggest frustration.

I know I need to spend more time promoting, but time is at a premium (I, too, have an EDJ) and writing the next book is more important.

Like someone said upthread, I'd also consider splashing some cash on advertising if I only knew of somewhere where it would be an investment, rather than just chucking the money away.


----------



## zoe tate (Dec 18, 2013)

Voelker58 said:


> Many self-pubbed authors have adopted the term to remove themselves from the negatives associated with self-pub and position themselves as more in line with "indie" music and film.


Yes; they have. Often being blissfully unaware that in the world of publishing, the term "indie author" _already means something else_.



Voelker58 said:


> Just a matter of public perception.


My impression is very much that only self-published authors, often extolling the virtues of self-publishing by maligning trade publishing, refer to themselves as "indie authors", not the _reading public_ at all. I'm on both sides of the fence, here: I'm trade published and self-published. I also happen to live in a pretty literary environment in which referring to self-published authors as "indies" would (understandably) get me laughed at. 



Voelker58 said:


> As a reader, I can say that it is getting harder to tell the difference anyway.


Well, that speaks highly of self-publishing, certainly.


----------



## LeeBee (Feb 19, 2014)

A great deal of the "reading public" - at least, the ebook reading public - doesn't seem to care how a book was published, as long as they enjoy reading it.


----------



## Kia Zi Shiru (Feb 7, 2011)

Homework, university homework is my biggest frustration. I wanna spend my time writing instead of doing that :/


----------



## CelinaGrace (Nov 20, 2013)

I'm actually pretty happy with the old writing life and feel incredibly lucky to be doing this but as many people ^^^ have said before, the main problem is time. I have two small children and when they're around, I can forget about doing anything; writing, marketing, editing, ANYTHING. My husband and I try and give each other 'working space' by sharing the childcare but he's approaching a critical point in his career so mine really has to take a back seat for the next month. It's frustrating.

However, it's a small gripe. I really, really feel privileged to be able to do what I do and make a living at it.


----------



## Lisa J. Yarde (Jul 15, 2010)

That I feel I have to go into KDP Select to stay afloat. This can only end in tears.


----------

