Indie Guest Post w/ Claudia Lefeve

Contributed by @ClaudiaLefeve

When I was approached by LovelyLit to participate in Indie Author Month, I was flattered. Indie authors rely on book bloggers, as well as readers, to spread the word about our books, so it’s truly an honor to be asked.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to guest post on, but after some serious thought, I decided to follow the theme of Indie Author Month and truly capture the spirit of this event and the wonderful authors that it celebrates.

So what does it mean to be indie author? No, I’m not going to into the semantics of indie vs. self-published vs. traditional. I’m talking about what it takes to be an indie author.

For starters, most of us, have a full-time jobs. On any given morning or night, either before or after putting in a full eight hours at the ‘day job’, we spend several hours writing scenes, researching a certain topics for accuracy, and ultimately, proofing and editing.

Aside from a holding nine-to-five jobs, many authors are also parents. These dedicated authors work all day, tend to their children and spouses, yet still find the time to create literary worlds for readers to enjoy. My applause goes out to those that can do it all.

So, you may ask, if we’re so busy with life, why in the world do we write? We write because we love the written word. We write because if we didn’t write about the characters in our heads, we’d go crazy. We write because we don’t really need eight hours of sleep. We write because it’s a part of us.

But not only do we write, we’re also entrepreneurs. Once we’ve completed a book, it’s just the beginning. For many indie’s, we’re our own publishing company. Time is taken school ourselves in formatting, work on cover art, and ultimately search for that perfect editor to ensure it’s ready to publish.

I guess you can say we’re a ‘jack of all trades’, if you include marketing to our list of responsibilities. On any given day, you’ll find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, networking with other writers and touching base with readers. We provide guest posts and grant interviews on book blogs in order to introduce readers to our books. We even schedule blog tours, which is much easier than a traditional book tour, but hard work nonetheless.

And let’s not forget, all of this is done while working a day job, changing dirty diapers (or in my case, making sure my pugs don’t pee on the furniture), and immediately jumping into writing book two (or three, or four) in the series, or whatever work in progress happens to be next.

I admire every single indie author out there for their dedication, commitment, and determination. Every time I have wanted to give up my dream of becoming an author, I look to my supportive network of indie’s and realize that quitting isn’t an option. They’ve paved the way for many of us to succeed, most simply by leading by example.