Imagine my delight when Ann Patchett and Elizbeth Strout reached out to me! These two best-selling gifted writers, reaching out TO ME. Glowing remarks pepper their emails about my work and my future as a writer. They are both so delighted to get to know me and more about my journey as an author. Be still my beating heart!

To be clear, Ann Patchett nor Elizbeth Strout reached out to me.

I will say there was a momentary flutter of excitement, hardly a breath of time, when I thought just maybe these two amazing women even knew I existed, but of course, they don’t. These are phishing expeditions by unscrupulous book marketers using AI to summarize (inaccurately) my work and bio, whose only interest is selling promotional packages ‘guaranteed’ to get results. There are no guarantees when it comes to book sales. If the book is good and has the right exposure, and gains traction, and has appeal to a particular audience, then your book will sell… maybe, and that is if you have a traditional publisher aiding in the development, editing and marketing of your book.

As an indie author you either pay through the nose for those services as part of the publishing package or you muddle through as best you can, which for many of us is more of a muddle than marketing.

Indie publishers are in business, not to make money for you, but to make money for themselves, and that doesn’t come from book sales. I’m sure there are successful indie authors who have respectable success, and more power to them. I’ve even heard that known, successful writers have turned to indie publishing after having success through respectable traditional publishers, but I’m hard pressed to name who those authors are.

My latest publication, a second edition of Future Imperfect, a dystopian novel about a near future transformed by self-interest and suspicion, is an example.

I’ve had sales, but nowhere near what I would have hoped. See, the thing is, I’m good at writing stuff, not so good at convincing people to buy what I’ve written. I fall into that category of writer who has the satisfaction of knowing the work is in print and may be read by anyone who happens to stumble upon it.

You can stumble upon Future Imperfect at Barnes & Noble, or Amazon, and I hope you do. This is the extent of my marketing plan, although I hope to have a couple of book signing events in my hometown of Las Vegas, N.M., in the near future.

In conclusion, to serious writers who want to be published, pursue traditional publishing. There’s lots of help for how to do that at Writer’s Digest, among others. If you’re determined to go indie there’s help for that as well, at Writer’s Digest, among others. Yes, that is redundant, but we can never be reminded enough what might be good for us. Keep in mind that all this help comes at a cost based on a business model that benefits the provider of services. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the old saying ‘buyer beware’ is an old saying because it is cautionary advice gained from experience.

Will I continue to self-publish? Probably. At 81 (almost 82), I don’t see me developing a long-term relationship with a traditional publisher. If you are interested in purchasing any of my books, I believe Books of the Southwest at Rough Rider Antiques has some of them in stock, or you can contact me directly at fsvandermeer@gmail.com. Go to the Books link in the menu to find out more.

PHOTO CREDT: BOB HENSSLER