The Sound of The Underground

 

Last month I was delighted to have made it to the shortlist of The Page Turners Awards, and although I eventually did not win, I reached the last 13 (worldwide) so I have a little endorsement sticker on my book and a certificate to come. On balance, I did really well statistically, because I didn’t pay for any categories except the one entry and I did find that as is the way of some awards and competitions, it would have been costly to enter a lot of categories. Some people obviously did, as they won more than one. This was a legit competition – they look like they did read the books and that was great, especially as mine is a very British, sweary punk novel, and it’s indie press as well. I’ll be entering more soon, and I would recommend entering your books but not paying out a lot of money and just see where it gets you. I think an admin fee is fair – what do you think? I’d love to know. Either way – I am proud I struck a blow for Indie publishing.

 

I am doubly glad that my book was a (brilliantly produced) Indie Press book up against some traditionally published ones. I don’t know what you feel, but I get incredibly frustrated when self-published or small press published books are denigrated or dismissed by others. My books are published by independent presses – lately Urban Pigs Press, where I am also now happy to be on board as an editor. I chose a discerning Indie publisher because the press has good quality control and the editors are professional and meticulous. Far more meticulous than a vanity press, and the time spent on an edit can be up to 9 hours per time until the job is done. The books are selected for their quality and the press only takes on around 6 books a year so that a good job, focus and as much promotion as possible can be done for the authors, as well as doing the job well. They stand up to ANY traditionally published book and I’d go so far as to say with confidence that they are much better than some of the rubbish that may or may not sell commercially. In fact, one of UPP’s authors has also been traditionally published. 

 

Another gripe I have is criticism for Amazon KDP printing. No, it is not ideal to support those billionaires rinsing us all for profit and market monopoly. Yes, self-pubs can be ‘any old thing.’ But many are excellent. Think about some self-publishing services (which do the same job), or paying for a print run. Does it mean your book is better if you paid someone up to or more than £4000 for printing it? We certainly want to investigate another method of printing, but at the moment we do not charge our authors and we do not have the budget. We are discerning: we reject submissions and accept good fits; we edit professionally and invest a lot of time in it. We have a professional cover designer on board, and we also have connections to reviewers, marketing and promotion. But I repeat – we don’t bleed the writers dry. That’s our model: supporting indie authors and making it accessible for people without spare cash to bring their talent to the world. And here I’d like to thank the shops, especially Dial Lane Books of Ipswich, who support us. Bloody good on you, Andrew Marsh!

 

So, yeah, I was really proud to have raised the profile of the underground voices. Remember when the Indie Pop scene exploded? I like to think of Indie Authors as an anarchic movement in our own ‘write’ too. Look out, we’re coming for you!