Write for Yourself: Tips from an Indie Author

Indie author K.P. Ambroziak urges self-publishers to worry less about reviews and making mistakes along the way.

K.P. Ambroziak knows the sense of fulfillment and independence that going indie can bring. After self-publishing her vampire novel, The Journal of Vincent Du Maurier, Ambroziak received a positive review from Publishers Weekly, with our reviewer calling her book “fast-paced [and] suspenseful” and saying “science fiction and horror fans alike will anxiously race toward this journal’s end and eagerly request the next installment.”   

Ambroziak has studied the indie market, but spends more time writing than promoting. The way she sees it, “without a good story, one that is polished and well-written, you’ve got nothing to sell.” Her response is also rooted in the fact that indie authors must fight against the stigma of “bad” writing. Still, Ambroziak says she was surprised by how good it felt to know someone had read her story. “The first review I received was unsolicited, and the thrill I felt at knowing I’d shared something intimate (my words) with someone (a stranger) was most surprising.”

We asked author K. P. Ambroziak if she had any tips for other self-published authors:

Mistakes are Part of the Process

“The lonely road of self-publishing has both advantages and disadvantages…For instance, you get to choose the cover page, decide if you agree with an edit, you get to name your book, pick your release date and whether there’ll be a second, third, or 11th book in your series. These can seem like daunting choices, but in fact they’re part and parcel of the road, and if you can embrace them, the control they offer bolsters up the whole of your self-publishing venture. You learn with each mistake you make, and self-publishing affords you the opportunity to correct those mistakes and apply them to future projects. Not knowing everything is a good thing.”

Write for Yourself

“Despite what anyone else thinks, you need to be satisfied with the book you’re releasing…I think it’s easy to get caught up in the sales/promo aspect of self-publishing, but it’s the work you have to offer that matters…If you’re pleased with your work, you’ll find that is what truly matters. So write for yourself, first and foremost.”

Reviews Aren’t Everything

“Don’t get hung up on getting reviews…As much as I love receiving an honest review, I realize it shouldn’t define me as a writer. If you can stomach the process of soliciting honest and free reviews, do it. If you can’t, don’t. Your goal as a storyteller is to find readers, and though reviews are a part of that, they aren’t equatable. For every review you receive, good or bad, there may be 10 other readers who haven’t written a review but have enjoyed your work nonetheless. I believe readers matter, not reviews.”