How To Survive And Thrive As An Indie Writer

This post was finished then my word processor ate it! Yes, I know, I know, it's my fault for not saving. In any case, what follows is a shortened version.

Here's how to survive and thrive as an indie writer: Write good books, make sure they've been copyedited--either by a professional or a fellow writer--and publish.

I've just read two excellent posts on how to survive and thrive as an indie writer.

1. Kris Rusch: The Business Rusch: The Stages of An Indie Writer.

2. Hugh Howey: What do Self-Published Authors Need?

I'd like to add my own piece of advice: Read as many indie success stories as you can and examine what they did.

I'm not suggesting you do exactly what anyone else has done--Amanda Hocking once lived off of Red Bull and sweet-tarts for a week while she wrote Switched--but it shows you that the one thing they all had in common is that a) they published and b) they didn't give up in the face of criticism.

Here are a few stories I was inspired by:

Amanda Hocking: An epic tale of how it all happened.

Karen McQuestion: The Self-Publishing Bestseller On 'How I Did It'.

Joe Konrath: Independence; How To Sell Ebooks.

Hugh Howey: Hugh Howey: Self-publishing is the future — and great for writers; Author Hugh Howey gets richer by giving away his work;

The main thing is to do it! Don't edit your work forever. Put it out there and let readers give you feedback. I often publish stories on Smashwords first; I've found the feedback from readers there is excellent.

Whatever you do, all the best!

Photo credit: "cat daddy" by Robert Couse-Baker under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.