WE’RE GOIN’ INDIE!

This blog has felt like a long time coming, and I can't lie, I'm so, so excited that it's finally here.

WE'RE GOIN' INDIE!

What does that mean? I'm glad you asked.

After years of attempting to be published traditionally, I've decided to stop ignoring the Lord's promptings and take things into my own hands. Rather than wait for someone to come along and say my work is worthy of being out in the world, I will happily bank on myself and publish it independently.

The Lord has been prompting you to become an indie author?

Yes, yes He has.

For how long?

Again, I'm so glad you asked 😂

Years. He has been prompting me for years.

After my first novel was rejected by a couple of publishers, one of my good friends (shoutout to Nancy) connected me with someone she knew who was involved in the world of indie publishing. I had a wonderful conversation introducing me to this new option, but....I was stubborn. I wanted to be traditionally published. I wanted to earn it. I wanted to have the validation of having someone choose my book.

So, I kept my first book in my heart, created solely for me, and moved on to the next one. Not soon after the decision to continue pursuing the road always traveled, I finished my second novel and sent it out to publishers. And, we all know how that went.

Luckily, the Lord knows me well. By the time I received the rejections for my second novel, I was well into drafts on my third, so I couldn't give up. I had to finish the story. And that story became my new beacon of hope.

Humbled, I no longer bore the snooty attitude of traditional being the only way. However, I wasn't positive that I wanted to completely give up on the traditional route. Perhaps I should try one more time, and if it was again a, “no”, I would try indie. So, I decided pray, and see what the Lord had to say.

And that is when things got really, really hard. I've walked through the most difficult trials in my mid to late twenties, and though I haven't at all enjoyed them, they have taught me an incredible lesson: I can do hard things.

I can do hard things. Including independent publishing. Because, along with being a big 'ol snob, I was also terrified of self-publishing, fearful of what that would entail.

But on a drive home from Utah, the first time I had ever driven there and back by myself, I made the decision. I was goin' indie.

The minute I made the choice, I was instantly filled with...I don't know? Exhilaration. Joy. Fulfillment. Soul alignment. Though I knew it was going to be quite the road, it felt so, so right. This was the path the Lord wanted for me.

My books were going to be out in the world! How exciting! How terrifying! How life-changing! How perfectly planned by my loving Father in Heaven.

I couldn't have organized things better if I tried. This is the time. This is the place. This is the way. I am so grateful to a Lord who gives us what we need, and not what we want. First and for most, I must testify of this.

Secondly, I'll answer your last and final question: What does going indie mean?

So. Many. Things.

One, I am publishing the book. Well, through Amazon, I am publishing the book 😂 That fact alone carries some pretty awesome weight.

I publish on my own schedule. I'm not held to any contract that sets me to a certain timeline. As life changes and flows, so can my publishing deadlines. Deadlines I set for myself.

The book is mine, meaning no one else can touch it. Others' opinions of what is best have no effect. My characters are mine to portray, and I can do such as I see fit. They are who they are, and I don't have to alter them or their stories.

I get to work with a super awesome artist to create my covers. She is great you guys, and you are going to love her work. She knows my characters, and I trust her whole-heartedly with my babies.

I can market my book in my own way. Through whatever means feel best, on a consistent or less consistent basis, by putting myself out there or sometimes letting the work speak for itself, it's all on me. That's pressure-filled, but also freeing.

I'm entering an incredible space of indie authors, indie book reviewers, and just lovers of books. It is a place I feel honored to be a part of, and one where I truly feel like I belong. Not because of my merits, but because of how welcoming this home is. It truly feels like home. There is not another spot I would want my books to be.

I can measure success through my own set of lenses. I've come a long way from that girl who thought it was traditional or nothing. Now I know that creating the book, letting the story inside of me breathe, bringing these characters to life and finishing their journeys with them, those are the hallmarks of success. I no longer care how many copies my book sells, I am just thrilled that it is out there. I have accomplished something, and no one came take that from me.

Two, I'll need a lot of help 😂

It feels greedy to ask for more support and love than I have already so freely been given, but I cannot do it on my own. Though I know my mom is going to purchase far more copies that she should, I'd rather not see her go bankrupt.

But buying the books on Amazon is not the only way my incredible people can help me. Reviewing the book, sharing the book, talking about the book, enduring and sharing my posts about the book. All of it will be of more worth to me than you could ever know.

And finally, I can proudly say that I am an author. Not because of what a publishing house has declared, or because I have a book out, but because I have decided. I have decided I am an author.

What a ride the last four years have been. I am so excited you guys! I am beyond grateful, for the support of my incredible family and friends, for the Lord that allowed me to walk through the hard to get to the good, and finally, for this moment. For this moment right here. All of it was worth it.

Not because my debut novel with finally be out for all to see, but because I know that things are exactly how they are supposed to be, despite the unknown outcome of the next few months. I am doing something the Lord has called me to do, helps me to do, allows me to do, and that feels incredible.

So, get excited you guys! And be looking out for an announcement in the next few months. Soon, you will have a book with the name, Ellie Ash, written on the spine.