What does Indie Press mean?

It is a great time to be an author that has written a book and is ready to share it to the world.  Now that your book is written how are you going to get your book published?  You may be considering an Indie Press.

Publishing services are everywhere and can often create confusion for an author that is seeking to be published.  There are many terms that are used to describe the various publishing methods that exist.  The confusion begins when people talk about the publishing that occurs outside the traditional publishing method with the large publishing houses.

What do the terms “small press,” “indie press,” “independent press” and “indie publisher,” “independent publisher,” “vanity press,” “print-on-demand,” or “subsidy press” mean.  Frequently these terms are used interchangeably and that is the reason for much of the confusion.

Companies that market themselves using any of the above terms apply different meanings to each of those terms and that causes confusion.

The terms “small press”, “indie press” and “independent press” generally refer to publishers that publish around 10 titles a year, generate less than $50 million in annual  revenue and are not affiliated with the large publishing conglomerates.  These publishers comprise about half of the market share of the book publishing industry.  For yet to be published authors, these small independent publishers are probably the best opportunity to sign a traditional publishing contract.

These Indie Publishing companies take all the financial risk.  They will pay for all the production costs of your book.  You may even get a small advance, around $1000-$2500, and you’ll get a royalty of about 8%.  This royalty will be paid after the advance is repaid and all of the production costs are recouped.  You will most likely sign away the copyright, publishing and distribution rights as well as the film and merchandising rights.

The terms “indie publisher” and “independent publisher” definitely will cause confusion amongst some authors.  These terms can be used the same way as the previously described terms or they can be used in a way to describe a relationship between author and publisher where the author is taking the financial risk but is partnering with a publisher that has expertise in the book production process.  In this scenario the author retains all or almost all of his/her rights.

The second definition of “indie publisher” or “independent publisher” is sometimes mistaken for “self-publish”, “subsidy publishing” or “vanity press.”  All of these will be discussed in another post.

If you choose to use an Indie Press, make sure you have an attorney read through the contract to help you understand what rights you are giving up and what you are receiving in exchange for giving up those rights.

You have written a great book.  It is time to publish it and make it available to fans all over the world.  If you have questions about publishing or book production email me and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.