If You’re an Indie Author, How do you Establish Legitimacy? by Laurel Osterkamp

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If You’re an Indie Author, How do you Establish Legitimacy? by Laurel OsterkampLet’s welcome back Laurel Osterkamp as she shares with us “If You’re an Indie Author, How do you Establish Legitimacy?” Enjoy!

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This summer I went to an author event at a local bookstore. While I was happy to be there, I’ll admit I was also jealous and frustrated.

Because I knew there was little chance I’d be invited to have an event at this store.

I tried. Their website has an online form you can fill out. You need to have a good cover (check), be distributed by Ingram (check), a book that’s a romance (check), and preferably local (check). That’s just to be included on their shelves. In the message section, I explained that my novel, The Side Project, will be released in November, and I’d love to do an event.

Yeah, they never got back to me.

Another bookstore did; this one is in Bemidji, where my novel is set. And while I’m thrilled to do an event there, I was miffed when the owner assumed that I’m self-published, even after sending her my sell-sheet.

Many of my books are self-published, but The Side Project is published by The Wild Rose Press, who puts out thousands of books and has a great reputation.

But I’ve realized that unless people recognize your publisher’s name as Harper Collins, Penguin, or one of the other big 5, then they’ll still figure you’re self-published. And, I still find myself trying to prove that my books are just as worthy as the ones that have a big-name publisher behind them.

Elevate Yourself as an Indie Author

Here’s the truth: There is no magic-legitimacy pill you can take, but you can take steps to elevate yourself as an indie author. It’s no coincidence that the more effective the step, the more work is required.

Paid Reviews

I fell into the trap, thinking, If I get a Kirkus starred review, then the booksellers and readers will take notice! And I paid an embarrassingly hefty sum only for the reviewer to miscategorize my novel’s genre, just give examples from the first 50 or so pages, and ultimately pan my novel, not giving me a single line worth using as a blurb.

This was for my self-published book, The Next Breath, and I’m planning a future, detailed post about my experience.

Anyway, paid reviews can be handy, but I’ve come to believe that the priciest ones are exploiting indie authors and their desire to be seen.

Paid review services I recommend are Book Commentary, Indies Today, and LoveReading.

Contests

I’ve had great luck with contests, but I still advise being careful.

It’s easy to sink a lot of money into contests and not get anything in return.

It’s also easy to grow addicted to the supposed validation these contests give.

And, while listing your awards is a nice addition to your website or Amazon page, it’s unclear if they do much to drive sales.

Paid Promotions

Put your book on sale for 99 cents, or even make it free, and get it promoted on places like BookBub.

You’ll get lots of sales or downloads, accrue a bunch of Amazon reviews, and the algorithms will transform. The force will be with you and your book. Right?

Perhaps.

Except, I’ve been unable to get a BookBub deal in the last few years, except for a “New Releases For Less” promotion, which aren’t as effective.

There are tons of other promotion sites, and when I made The Next Breath free last summer I used a few of them, getting around ten-thousand downloads.

However, that didn’t translate to very many reviews, and it was no magic algorithm fix.

Still, paid promos can be a nice way to give your books an adrenaline shot.

Perhaps you’ve had more success, but whenever I do a paid promo I’m prepared to take a loss financially.

Facebook Ads

I’ve tried BookBub, Amazon, and Facebook ads.

With the first two, I’ve lost a lot of money and gained a lot of frustration.

With Facebook ads, I’ve had modest success. I recommend watching an online tutorial or reading the most recent instructions you can find, because with AI and other technology, the platform is ever-changing.

Website and Newsletter

Most experts would put this step as the #1 most important thing you can do. For me, it’s #2.

Perhaps one day, if I can figure out how to get more people to open my newsletter or visit my website, it will be #1.

Meanwhile, I subscribe to a few newsletters of very successful authors who either began as self-published or who still are.

What’s their secret to success?

Turns out it’s not a secret: they write fun, engaging newsletters that make readers feel valued, and their websites (plus their books) are super-appealing.

Networking and Social Media

When I was looking for people to be on The Side Project’s ARC team, I contacted a lot of authors. Some had books with thousands of Amazon reviews and stellar sales rankings. Others not so much. And I was astounded by the generosity and openness I received.

Most of the authors replied, many agreed to read and review my book, and others offered newsletter or Facebook group takeovers. I began following all of them on Instagram, where I already followed lots of Bookstagrammers, who are readers that like posting about books.

With Bookstagram, self-published vs. traditionally published doesn’t seem to matter. If you can give and take, like and share, and not ONLY post about your current or next release, you’ll find a supportive and engaged community.

Labor of Love and Believe in Yourself

Being any sort of an author is a huge labor of love, and every route has pitfalls. I hope this doesn’t sound trite – but the best way to establish legitimacy is by believing in yourself!

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About the Author 

Laurel OsterkampLaurel Osterkamp is from Minneapolis, where she teaches and writes like it’s going out of style. Her short fiction has been featured in Abandon Journal, Idle Ink, Tangled Locks Literary Journal, Bright Flash Literary Journal, and The Metawoker, among other places. Her new novel, The Side Project, will be released on November 13th by The Wild Rose Press.

Sign up to get all her news at https://laurellit.com.

Follow her on social media:

Follow to get notified of new book releases by following Laurel on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/laurel-osterkamp

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