The Fruits of My Indie Labors

I spent this Labor Day weekend the way I spend most long weekends – pursuing my writing career in my own indie way, tirelessly spreading the word about Sometimes That Happens With Chicken. And working weekends is definitely part of the indie lifestyle. This being a milestone holiday weekend of the American cultural year, I found myself reflecting on the progress of my labors.

Seven months ago yesterday, I launched One Girl One Novel and brought Sometimes That Happens With Chicken directly to readers. Many months of preparation went into that launch and the release of my first novel and by anyone’s standards, I was taking a bit of a leap.

Deep down, I believe indie literature has the same mainstream market success potential as indie music and indie film already have. But unlike them, I don’t have an indie literature sensation before me against which I can measure my progress and success. I had made my decision to cut out all the publishing middlemen but on February 6^th I couldn’t really tell you what life would look like at the end of the summer of 2010. Would anyone go to my site? Would I actually sell books? Would people care about indie literature? Would readers love Sometimes That Happens With Chicken? According to my plan, yes, but there was a certain amount of faith involved.

Seven months later, my faith has been solidified by progress.

Since February, onegirlonenovel.com has had almost 2000 unique visitors and people are calling me a one-woman Random House. I’ve had four events in three cities and I’ve had people look at me and say, “Right, why don’t we have indie literature…?” I have 850 followers on twitter and Chicken has its own fan created facebook group. People are passionate about indie literature, even though many of them have never heard those two words used together, and my grassroots publicity campaign has gotten great traction.

I’ve had two newspaper articles written about me and one very insightful newspaper review of Chicken. I’ve been interviewed on lots of blogs, had two online articles published about my startup experiences, and I’ve gotten numerous mentions in blog posts and event calendars. I even had a live interview on an award winning radio show. But none of the publicity listed in my newsroom compares to the feedback I’ve received from readers.

Remember, my plan for selling Chicken without a publisher was all about readers, like you, and all your friends.

Chicken has seven five-star reviews on Amazon and on my site there are twenty-three reviews left by readers, twenty-two of which are positive. One reader said, “Sometimes That Happens With Chicken…blazes beyond what we have come to expect from modern fiction,” and at one of my events this summer a fan told me Chicken has cult-classic potential. Since February I have been compared to Hemingway, Salinger, Burroughs, Hitchcock, Calvino, and Marquez (which is a bit surreal) but, it’s this kind of feedback from readers that now bolsters my faith and keeps me tirelessly walking down the indie literature path.

And I don’t just have readers. I actually have fans. Talk about surreal!

The last seven months have been quite an adventure. I’ve come a long way since I launched One Girl One Novel with nothing but a free download of Sometimes That Happens With Chicken. My novel is now available in paperback and on Kindle and it’s coming soon to an iPad near you. I’ve made amazing connections with countless readers (and writers) this year and I no longer wonder if my plan will work.

Now the only question that remains in my mind is how long will it take? But I’m patient and I’m stubborn and I really do have the kind of work ethic that died with the 50s. I’m running a post-industrial startup, but I work like a 19^th century entrepreneur and I’ll work two full time jobs for as long as it takes if it means I can write more novels.  

I don’t usually take time like this to reflect, but I’m glad this milestone weekend provided this opportunity. I spend most of my time looking forward and these days I have a lot to look forward to. Last week I was invited to a book fair in the Adirondacks, which I’m seriously considering, and a fan on twitter has invited me to Exeter, New Hampshire. She’s reaching out to an independent book store there and she’s determined to get me to her neck of the woods for an event. And I’m looking for a venue for an event here in LA. I’m pretty sure a friend of mine found the perfect place but I have to go see it in person this week.

Many thanks to all the people who continue to support Sometimes That Happens With Chicken and indie literature. You guys keep reading and you guys keep talking and I’ll keep working as hard as I can.

 Thanks again and ttyl

Wanda