It’s July 4th in the United States and we’re celebrating the 236th anniversary of our founding, a time for midsummer barbeques, family gatherings, parades down main street and a day’s relief from daily work.
We call it Independence Day because that’s when we decided we didn’t need any adult supervision any longer and “threw off the yoke of tyranny,” as our teenagers say.
And it’s a good time to celebrate independence, the lure of which draws many of us through work that sometimes seems endless.
I suppose we who live here in the U.S. are independent in a lot of ways. We can move around, buy and sell cars, apply for the job of our dreams or write wacky letters to reality show stars. “Go for it!” is almost our national motto.
But then we also dream of a bigger independence, don’t we? When we can quit the day job and set sail under our own power, doing what we love and watching the money flow. Maybe that’s the new American dream.
And we know it’s possible, because Jeff and Brian and Brian and Pat and Frank and all the rest of them are constantly telling us how if they did it, we can do it too.
Even in self-publishing, this little corner of the universe, independence animates many of our actions, it keeps us up late, working two jobs—only one of which pays—doing stuff we might not otherwise bother with. Putting ourselves out there, taking a calculated risk.
Given the tools to achieve independence, we want to use them to get to that promised land. Book after book then will roll out of our word processors, straight to the top of the category lists—we’ll be truly independent.
But even more than that, the dream of independence for writers is coalescing into a reality that’s here-now and very real. Choosing the time and the way we’ll publish, who will help bring that book into the world, how it will be promoted, it’s all a sign of our new independence.
Writers now share tips on formatting and critique each other’s book covers. You can sit down at your keyboard today and publish what you’ve done tonight.
Independence indeed. Worth celebrating, from what I can see. It will raise the world even higher if left unchecked, and that’s exactly what we aim to do.
Have a great Fourth.
Photo by MrMagooICU
Independence as writers is such a beautiful thing.
“We have now happily concluded the great work of independence, but much remains to be done to reap the fruits of it.” ~ Alexander Hamilton
A perfect tie in to Independence Day! We indies are, after all, charting our own course in the unknown wilderness of future publishing. We really are pioneers in that respect. I wish you all a great day, and great success in your writing endeavors!
Great post, Joel! Independence, on so many levels, is something we take for granted perhaps more than anything.
Enjoy your day, sir, and thank you for choosing to exercise your independence by providing consistent, enjoyable content
-A.M.
http://amschultz.com
nicely accurately put i believe ;-)
“Independence indeed. Worth celebrating, from what I can see. It will raise the world even higher if left unchecked, and that’s exactly what we aim to do….”
happy fourth joel!
I just did a series of posts on indie publishing on my own site. The future is exciting for indie authors, and it’s much more feasible than it was just ten years ago. It’ll be on hell of a challenge, but for those with the work ethic, it has the possibility of being very rewarding as well.
Yes, it’s a lot of work sometimes, especially added onto everything else we’re doing. But the rewards have never been richer, either.