Why Indie Authors are not Vanilla

Do you like vanilla? I don’t mind it as a flavour, but I know very few people who would choose it as their favourite, myself included. I like mint choc chip as a generic shop-bought ice-cream. However, when I go to independent outlets that stock unusual flavours, I am hard-pressed to pick just one.

There is an ice-cream shop in Lincolnshire called Appleby’s. It was a short drive from where my Dad used to live and every time we went up to visit, Appleby’s was always on the list of places to go. They always had a huge range to choose from. Liquorice, honeycomb, Christmas pudding, (a seasonal offering) pistachio, tutti fruiti, bubblegum – how can you pick just one? Well, you didn’t have to. They offered double scoops, so you could have two flavours at once. Problem solved.

I walk down the High Street, passing Boots, Poundland, Bonmarche, Primark, WH Smith – but where am I? It could be any High Street in any town or city in England. But if I wander down the Lanes, I know I am in Brighton. If I walk through the Shambles, I am in York. They are unique, they have atmosphere, and they are definitely not vanilla.

I am starting to believe that publishing traditionally is no different.

I have several friends who are going through the headache of finding an agent willing to take on their book, or sending out to editors to have it refined. What I am hearing worries me a little.

Why is the length of a book capped at a maximum of 120,000 words for a submission? It’s not because readers don’t like long books (George RR Martin’s A Dance with Dragons comes in at just under a whopping 415,000 words). Apparently, it is because publishers like to send out hardback books to reviewers, and it becomes too expensive if they are any longer. George can get away with it, because he brings in lots of money as he is so successful.

You may have a great story, rich in worldbuilding and interesting characters, hitting all the right beats – but it’s too long and you have to cut it. How much of that sumptuous tale do you have to delete before it also loses its flavour and becomes vanilla?

Perhaps you are waiting for an editor’s feedback. When it comes, you are told in order to make it worthy of publication, your story needs a face-lift. They smooth out the wrinkles, remove the blemishes, take away the unwanted fat from this part, but insist on bulking out another. When they are finished, you look at the manuscript in the mirror. It is no longer yours. It has been fed through the grinder of what other people deem acceptable and praise worthy. It has become plastic for mass consumption.

All this happens way before the publisher gets hold of it and passes it to their own editors who demand even more changes. Trad publishers remind me of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, churning out the same words in a different order.

I feel I should break off at this point with a caveat. I am not against editors. If you are fortunate enough find a good one, they can help you enhance your story, tighten it up and boost your manuscript to another level. If you find one like that, hold on to them! The trick is finding the right one, who will understand your vision and work with you to make your book even better.

Unfortunately, some don’t get it and try to push their own thoughts and ideas, changing the book into their concept of how the tale should be told. My advice is to make sure you do your research before you send off your precious manuscript to be dissected.

In the past, authors had to fork out a lot of money to have their books published themselves, and often ended up with 450 copies stored in an attic. Today, however, we have an alternative path that authors can consider. Self-publishing has become so much easier, and can cost next to nothing if you have a bit of help with things like cover design. There are no limits on word count, and no-one to tell you that your story would read better if you removed half your characters and dumbed down the uncomfortable parts.

Anyone can publish a book. But therein lies the biggest problem with being an indie author. There may not be much vanilla, but some of the flavours more often resemble the worst selections in Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I have read books with terrible typos, bad or no research, awful plots, 2D characters, and glaring grammar and spelling issues, so much so, that I want to shout at the author, “Did you even read this before publishing it?”

I know I’ve said this before, and will likely say it again many times. This is where reviews are a lifeline, and why we indie authors crave them so much. They help a browsing reader to make the decision to buy your book. They push the book up the algorithms until it sits above the bad and the ugly, making it easier to find. They reassure any potential purchaser that their money is worth parting with.

Not everyone will like your liquorice flavoured book, but some people will absolutely love it. You deserve to see your vision in print, and readers deserve to have a place where they can buy whatever flavour they want. Even vanilla.