The long and winding road...

Writers, at least when you are serious about being a writer, are busy people. Independent writers can also feel lonely and overcome by the challenges being an Indie present. I don’t mean loneliness as in ‘no friends’, ‘hiding from the World’ etc., rather, feeling as though you are ‘outside’ the publishing/writing world; a strange creature alienated from mainstream writing society. Regarding the challenges, well if you have ever tried to self-publish for the first time, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Suddenly you have to be an expert in Website design, Marketing, SEO, Blogging, Tweeting and a stack of other words that still haven’t found a home in the official dictionaries.

Many try to reach out to fellow authors on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but these attempts seem to attract more people selling editing and publication services than other writers. So it was with a feeling of having discovered the Holy Grail when I stumbled across the new site writer Amy Joy, and her hubby C.N. James, had created. It’s a Social Network just for writers like you.

Now in my surfing of the web, I have encountered other sites which purport to be oriented to Indie writers; some of these are allied with major publishing firms, others are more oriented towards feedback. In a future blog, I’ll scribble a little more about the pros and cons of these. However, these sites are not offering what the Indie needs. What kept me on the webpage, and makes me participate as much as time allows, were four little words:

Meet. Share. Learn. Grow.

These figure as the subtitle to the Indie Writer’s Network, and they have been chosen with studious deliberation. In those eighteen letters is the answer to many an Indie’s greatest desire.

Meet – the site is limited to Indie writers. Not others offering services allied to the business of writing. Its pages are written by writers for writers. Advertising of your own books is allowed, within reason, but you won’t find ads for editing services, marketing gurus or publishers; just writers reaching out to other like-minded souls.

Share – some have taken more steps on this road than others. The experience they have and are willing to share is a fundamental element on the site. If you are one of these people, you will find a place here to share your experiences, in the various site-wide or themed blogs and forums.

Learn – equally the blogs and forums are the home of great tips and insights from people who may be a little further along than you. This is often practical stuff like software to use for making book trailers, or how to orient your on-line marketing, to cite just two examples. The site is what we, its members, will make of it.

Grow – this is what it’s all about. By joining (it’s free) and participating, we will all evolve and achieve the success we are seeking. I personally have a small rule that I try to live by: never go to bed without having learned something new that day. This site helps me do that.

Now if the aforementioned sounds a little too ‘promotional’ for you, I need to state that I am a normal member of the Network, do not receive any remuneration of any kind for my activities there, and am writing this because of the positive feeling I have about the site.

There’s something for everyone: whether you write Action & Adventure, Thrillers, Non-fiction, Middle-grade writing, short stories & anthologies, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Horror, YA, children’s, Romance, Historical, Erotica, Poetry, Paranormal, Women’s lit, Screenwriting, etc. There’s also info about writing conferences and competitions, audio books, marketing, and a plethora of other good things. The site is flexible and open to suggestions. When I joined, there wasn’t a group for Thriller writers, so I messaged Amy who lost no time in setting one up. We now have several members in the Thriller Writer Group and blog who are contributing on a daily basis.

So if you’re an Indie, and are looking for a place to help you grow into that bestselling author you know you are, look no further. Come and join in today. It’s fun!

Link for the Network: http://indiewritenet.com/

See you there.


Eric @ www.ericjgates.com