I Know the Difference

If you’ve followed my blogs for very long, you know that I’m pretty nutty-excited over the world of self publishing. For me, there’s an added dimension of having worked under the thumb of publishing houses for many years. That means that now in my years of being an Indie author I know the difference!

Were there things I appreciated about working with conventional publishers? Yes there were. Not a lot, but there were some. (Trying to be positive here.)

No Control

The thing that was the most difficult in working with publishing houses had to do with control. So many facets of my books were totally out of my control. I felt like a bystander watching as people made crucial decisions about my books – my creations.

One of the issues of control had to do with copyright and ISBN numbers. I knew from the outset of becoming an indie author that I wanted to purchase my own ISBN numbers. It mattered not that many of the self publishing venues (such as CreateSpace, Lulu, BookBaby, etc.) offered to add ISBN numbers right into the package – and for a lot less that it would cost me. I did not care. I knew I wanted my own numbers in my own name. And they are not cheap. (Bowker has a real monopoly thing going here, folks.)

Insightful Article

And on that subject, just today I ran across this article that says all that I have been thinking and sensing about this area. It is titled: Why Indie Authors & Publishers Should Buy Their Own ISBNs.  Sooo… instead of continuing my rant, I’ll let you read it for yourself.

If such things don’t matter to you, I understand. And that’s fine. But they matter big-time to me. As long as I can continue to use my own ISBN numbers I will do so, even if it means taking longer to get my hands on the needed cash. To my way of thinking it’s well worth the wait! Again, here’s that link to the article.

At least after reading this article you can make an informed decision, and not rely simply on taking the cheapest route.

Second Title in the Norma Jean Lutz Classic Collection

Tiger Beetle at Kendallwood

Available on Amazon Kindle