Why I Love the Indie Author Movement

I am a twenty something college student who was first published in 2013 during my senior year of high school.  I continually slaved away at sending query letters to agents, hoping and praying to find someone who would accept my work and help me get traditionally published.  I wanted to spread my work with the world in the biggest way possible and I felt that being traditionally published would help me achieve this.

But that was not the case.

I got rejected time and time again, and I would be lying if I said that it didn't damper my passion for writing and my characters and stories as a whole.   I felt that no one wanted to read my stories and that they weren't even good enough to be looked at.  I started to lose my passion to spread my writing around, and stopped writing for awhile because I just couldn't get over the rejection.  But that was when I found the indie author community.

Never have I felt so included and loved by a community, even an online one.  Ever since I have become active in the community and have had my two books self published I have now regained my passion and my love for my stories and characters.  Being in the community has helped me to understand the problems with both of my books (editing, mostly) and has allowed me to act on them and not feel ashamed or as though I am a terrible writer.

But the best part of being an indie author and a reviewer has been being able to read all of your stories and understand how passionate you are about them. I know how much time and effort you all have put into your work, and I take my reviews very seriously.  For many of us, the stories we have published were worked on for years before they were finalized and they deserve to be heard.

When I read indie novels, I feel as though I am reading the soul of the author and I handle it very carefully.  Indie books are not "lesser", and in my opinion they have had more opportunity to thrive because they aren't revised and edited in order to match the current market.  They are free, just as all novels should be.

I just want you all to know how much I love you, both the writers and the readers, and that I urge anyone who hasn't considered indie books to go out and pick one up right this second.  I guarantee that you won't be disappointed, and if you need recommendations, then absolutely contact me at peachykeenreviews@gmail.com and I will have a mouthful for you.  I can also direct you to the authors themselves who can prove to you just how important their work is to them.

Thank you all for reading my blog and trusting me with your books.  And thank you to the readers who care enough to read the reviews I write and take the novels reviewed into consideration.  No one is to be excluded from this community, and please know that I am here for anything you need, even if it is just someone to talk to.

Much love,

Ashley

P.S. Please join the indie author movement.  Check out: Indie Books Be Seen and my own subscription bibliotherapy box program: https://goindienow.cratejoy.com/