For those of us who decide to go it alone in the indie-publishing world, life can be lonely and challenging. From the writing, and all that comes with it – between editing, proofing, and formatting – to the myriad of technical elements involved in preparing the file before uploading your book onto a specific platform, then the battlefield of marketing that puts it out there for the notice of prospective readers, many indie authors experience a sharp learning curve that has the potential to turn the less hardy from repeating the process with a second book. It’s not easy, but it’s not all negative. Far from it. Compared to a decade ago, the industry has grown substantially, particularly online, and now, indie authors embarking on their publishing journey have grown to value the benefits of belonging to a niche community.
Indie Authors Ireland
One of these communities is Indie Authors Ireland, which was founded by myself, Claire O’Connor, as a Facebook group in August 2023, and now forms a collective of over two hundred writers, combining creatives doing it all themselves, working with a small press, through a hybrid, or just learning about self-publishing in general.
Our group has gone from strength to strength and is a haven for independent authors or aspirants to chat, gain knowledge, and share their experience on a regular basis. It’s a no-promo community, strongly moderated, with strict guidelines for entry. Since its inception, the group has held social meet ups around the country and is currently planning its second annual event in September, in Ballinasloe, Galway. Last year’s day-long conference was a huge success, with a real sense of comradery coming from it after a series of workshops, a successful and fun raffle with prizes comprising members’ books, and a super-chatty lunch reminiscent of something you’d see at a popular boarding school.
As an online group, with pages across the social media spectrum, we endeavour to promote our members at every opportunity, because who better to support our own than our own? One of our most-liked ventures is a bi-monthly questionnaire, where a specific member answers 32 questions about their personal and writing life. It has been well received to date, and there is a long list of keen writers ready for their turn.
Rewind – A Collection
Several of the group’s members recently met up to sell their own work in a quaint marquee outside Cork City Library as part of the Cork World Book Fest book sale. It was the first time we operated a stall under our new banner, and the group was met with a lot of encouragement from readers, aspiring writers, and fellow indie-authors alike. With such eagerness for community development, it was no wonder an anthology was on the cards!
We put the word out, and they came in droves with serious interest in being part of the project. So, it was just a matter of coming up with a theme. A committee was formed, as you do, and we decided on ‘Memories’, and after a bit of constructive discussion among our members, everyone got down to the writing. Members Eamon Ó Cléirigh (editor) and Amanda Horan (Book cover designer), and Emma Davis (Poet and Children’s author) volunteered their time to edit the collection and design the amazing book cover, while others proofread, formatted, and generally made themselves available to progress the project’s development. All in all, it has been a very special coming together for the group, with a great sense of community permeating the boards.
The kindle version of Rewind – A Collection was published a week before the paperback, which went live on Saturday June 7th. With almost fifty contributors of poetry, prose, short fiction, and essays, it has hit no.1 on the amazon.ie bestsellers’ list for poetry anthologies and short story collections, as well as a fantastic overall ranking of 31 in new releases.
As I Am
100% of the proceeds go to www.asiam.ie, Ireland’s Autism Charity, a cause that is close to us as a collective. This eclectic anthology boasts a broad range of genres and styles, and includes a poignant foreword from Adam Harris, founder and CEO of As I Am. The collection also has a preface from Roisin Coyne, a valued member of Indie Authors Ireland. Roisin is autistic and epileptic, neither of which has held her back, with this determined young woman publishing the first of her two available novels at just nineteen years of age.
Our contributors hail from all over Ireland and further afield, from Antrim to Kerry and all the counties between, with the majority from Cork and Dublin. We have expat members living in Vietnam, Portugal, and Britain, with several planning to join us at our Ballinasloe meet up in September. Our members are busy putting the feelers out as part of our initial marketing push, and local library networks are showing interest, with quite a few having already acquired the anthology for their readers. Local newspapers and radio stations are also responding well, and we are looking forward to spreading the word about Rewind over the coming weeks.
The figures are looking good, but Indie Authors Ireland are an ambitious bunch, and the more success the book has for such a wonderful cause as As I Am, the more we want! It will come as no surprise that there are already whispers about a second anthology, and I’m sure this time there will be more than fifty contributors. If you are an indie author or interested in becoming one, are based in Ireland or of Irish descent, and want to join a group of like-minded creatives, you’ll find us on Facebook. We are always open to new members.
(c) Claire O’Connor
About Rewind – a Collection from Indie Authors Ireland:
What are memories but reflections of time?
Whether they are meditations of loss and grief, or cherished moments, they are the only human way of processing the past. Not always happy and not always sad, remembering allows us to position our emotions in a time and place. This eclectic collection considers just that. The members of Indie Authors Ireland invite you to immerse yourself in stories, anecdotes, and poetry of mixed styles and genres, in a celebration of our brain’s ability to encode, store, and retrieve our memories when needed.
All proceeds of this collection will go to As I am, Ireland’s Autism Charity. Find out more at www.asiam.ie
Order your copy online here.
And read more Big Idea articles on Writing.ie here.
