Indy Authors at Kootenay Author Fair!

So this past weekend I had the pleasure of participating in the first Kootenay book and author fair in Cranbrook BC (the Kootenays are the region of BC I live in). There were ten or more authors in attendance - I didn't count - set up at tables around the room at the library with displays of their books. In the center of the room were chairs and a podium. Every half hour one of the authors gave a presentation, read from their work and answered questions.

There was a wonderful mix. There were two authors that had been traditionally published - and I was excited to hear about their background. But as this is an Indy book blog I'll focus on the Indy authors who were in the majority. Unfortunately I don't have any links to point you too, so I'll just have to give my own general impressions of the experience.

I was struck by 2 things about all these Indy authors. The first was the diversity, the second was the quality.

Diversity: Among the Indy authors were several who wrote locally flavoured fiction, one who writes beautiful hiking guides, several children's authors with very different books ranging from local legends, to women's history, to Happy Hippos. The authors ranged from high school students up to retirees. It was fascinating talking to them all. What also interested me very much was their modes of publishing. My illustrator and I use Lulu, as did one other children's author/illustrator team. Another had used a service called Author house which she found to be very expensive. The rest had all done something I had never even considered - they had simply paid a printer for large runs. Some were on their first book, others were veterans with several titles in print.

Quality: I've said it before and I'll say it again: Self-published does NOT mean not good enough to be published! I am continually impressed by the work of Indy authors, and this group was no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed the readings from all the authors. I was also very happy to note that among those buying the books, no-one cared if a book was self-published or traditionally published. If they did ask about it, it was always out of curiosity and interest. Not one had a negative opinion of self-publishing.

One other thing that struck me was the how long it took for the traditional publishing route. One author had a completed copy of her book in her hands, but noted that the publisher wouldn't be releasing it until over a year from now. In stark contrast, our latest children's book Mommy is Too Tired to Play was exactly one week from the time I put pencil crayon to paper for first draft to the time we released it on Lulu. Granted, you can't do that with a novel - but you can do it on a kid's book if you've got an illustrator who's hopped up on too much coffee. Once finished, uploading it to Lulu is simple process.
Sure, our books aren't currently appearing on retail shelves across the continent - just locally (and available worldwide on-line) - but we do have an outlet for our creativity and are doing quite well in the market where we've been promoting the books.

This author fair was an excellent opportunity to network, to learn about other ways of doing things, to get some exposure and to sell a few books. If you're an Indy author - get out there and find a book fair near you to participate in. If you're a book fan, get out there and find a fair to see what kind of talent is your area.