Indie vs. Trad

Author Series #10

Readers of this Substack will know that I admire indie authors. Their tenacity, business knowledge, marketing prowess, and, more recently, ability to score huge trad publishing advances is impressive, to say the least. (Agent Carly Watters had a great take on this trend on Threads.)

Recently, I was listening to Episode 252 of Wish I’d Known Then for Writers podcast, and I heard a bit of advice from a full-time assistant Sara Shea (she works for her indie-author sister), and she recommended making a list of one’s writing assets, which basically lays out everything valuable that the author has at their disposal both for marketing and sales purposes.

I’d never done this before, but as soon as I followed her advice, I wondered why I hadn’t done it earlier. Here’s what mine looks like:

Rights Sold/Remaining:"

• THE NIGHT SHE WENT MISSING—Sold North America (NA) and UK

• I LOVE IT WHEN YOU LIE—Sold NA Rights

• WATCH IT BURN—Sold World English Rights

• DAKOTA GREEN SERIES (3 books)—Sold World English

Books to possibly revise or return to at some point:

• The Austen Affair (romance with modern/historical connection)

• Girls on the Ninth Floor (historical fiction about Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire)

Novellas in Progress for Indie Pub:

• Saint Echo the Younger (sci-fi)

• The Night Shop at the End of the World (novella, cozy fantasy)

For Trad/Indie:

• The Jekyll Island Hunting Club (mystery)

Miscellaneous:

• Substack articles

• Posts on Instagram

• Multi POV Workshop Slides

• Fiction 101 Workshop Slides

• Email list: Website, Substack, Writers Groups, Coaching Clients

• Mailing list: bookstores and libraries

As you can see, I started with written assets and ended with marketing assets. This practice led me to consider indie publishing my books (mostly in translation) in other markets. I’ve heard that Germany, France, and Spain are good possibilities. I also realized that I still have UK rights for ILIWYL, so I could publish that on Amazon relatively quickly and low cost.

I started looking at premade covers (because I can’t use the same cover as my trad publishers, who own that cover), and I came across the Book Cover Zone Website, which has a ton of variety and will require a lot of searching to find one that will work well both for my book’s vibe and the UK market (I searched the UK version of Amazon to get a feel for covers of their best selling books). Still, I think I’m going to try it out and even perhaps dabble in advertising, using Matthew J. Holmes as my guide. As ever, I’ll keep you apprised.

First though, I need to write about 15K more words for my third installment in the Dakota Green series by June 23. Wish me luck ;).

Today, I’m excited to feature a fellow Houston author Kevin Hwang. In our interview, he talks about his own indie experience, writing, editing, and publishing The Regression Strain, a novel filled with suspense and his own medical insights as a full-time doctor in Houston’s med center. I had the opportunity to do a bit of coaching with Kevin towards the end of his process and found him to be a passionate and thoughtful writer dedicated to his craft.

1. How did you come up with the idea for this novel? What inspired you?

First, I had to wrestle with the common wisdom of writing what you know. I finally accepted it as sound advice. Thank goodness! We’ve been on a few cruises and I’m a doctor. Although I’ve never worked as a doctor on a cruise, I figured I could fill in the gaps with research. A story centered on a single cruise itinerary seemed narrow enough in scope to attempt. I also wanted the protagonist to think about human nature because I think about it a lot.

2. How long did it take you to write your novel? How many drafts did you go through?

Sigh. Seven years!

That includes many periods of complete inactivity. I started it before the pandemic. I rewrote the whole thing twice. There was a half-draft somewhere in there as well. But I have so many files on my computer because I locked in every important milestone or revision with a new version.

3. What steps did you take to self-publishing? (Ex: working with a coach, hiring editors/book cover designers, etc...)

All of that. Lisa Poisso taught me about story structure, conflict, and character arc through coaching as well as developmental and line editing. I hired a copy editor and proofreader from Reedsy. The team at Damonza created my cover and formatted the interior. I’ve been in a few writing groups, some closed-ended and one ongoing. Like many other authors, self-publishing for me has involved much more than the self.

4. What was the hardest part of the writing and/or publishing process?

Confronting self-doubt and the sheer amount of work it required. Recognizing that an early draft was the worst of both worlds – not enough interiority for literary fiction and not enough meaningful conflict for a thriller. I worked hard at both aspects in later drafts.

5. What’s your day job? When do you find time to write?

I’m a Professor of Internal Medicine at UTHealth McGovern Medical School in Houston, where I see patients, teach residents, and work on research and administrative projects. I try to find pockets of time early in the mornings to write. Weekends too. When the creative juices are really flowing, I might write a bit in the late evenings. During times of consistent writing, when the story lingers in the background, a lot of ideas hit me when I’m driving or taking a walk.

6. When did you first decide to write a novel? What made you want to tackle a goal like this?

I’ve dreamt of writing a novel since I was a kid but made no real attempts until medical school. I got through a few chapters and quit. About ten years ago I started seeing instructional material online about story structure. I was aware of the Hero’s Journey framework but could not put it to work because I was looking for the ideal example. Articles and YouTube videos on structure gave me a roadmap. I needed to believe that if I followed a process, I might come out the other end with a readable novel.

7. Are you working on another project? Or, do you plan to start another project in the future?

I’m drafting another novel featuring the same protagonist, Dr. Peter Palma. It’s not a true sequel because he faces a new conflict. His transformation, for better and for worse, in The Regression Strain, serves nicely as backstory. I’m not sure if this second novel will kick off a series. It’s too early to tell.

8. As an indie author, what does success look like to you?

A steadily selling book that people enjoy reading. I want to be proud of the work that I put out there.

If you’d like to read The Regression Strain, you can find it in KU as well as purchase as an ebook or paperback.

Thanks to Kevin for sharing his insights, and I particularly love the answer to his final question: success is selling a book people enjoy reading. Well said!

As always, happy writing—or not!