Hey, indie authors.
It’s Claire Cronshaw from Cherry Edits.
I’m here at the 20 Books Madrid conference.
A great opportunity to sell my proofreading and copyediting services to authors, right?
Well, no, that’s not what I’ve come for.
I’m just taking it all in.
I’m listening.
I want to hear what concerns you indie folk and I know budget is a big part of your concerns.
I know editing and proofreading are just two things in a long list of services that you wish, you hope, you could afford.
I know you’d love to pay for an amazing cover.
I know you’d like to be able to afford advertising.
I know that editing – and the different rounds of it – is definitely something that you wish you could build into your process.
But you’re the one who’s got to evaluate where you’re going to place your investment.
That’s a really key takeaway for me from this conference.
You indies are in control.
And you indies could do all sorts.
But you can’t do everything.
Now, it’s probably counterproductive for my business to say this, but, seriously, save for your cover first.
A good cover will sell your first book.
But, if you can also afford editing, save for that too.
With good editing, you’ll get the read-through and then you’ll sell your second book.
But I haven’t really mentioned that to authors today.
I’ve been talking to authors about genres and about what’s going on in their current manuscripts.
I’ve not been making a point of saying: Hey, I’m Claire and I’m an editor.
I am not one for the hard sell.
I know that what I do is peripheral to what you do.
You’re the one who writes these amazing stories.
So, yes, there’s a big, long list of author services and of people trying to sell you things.
And you – here’s that key word again – evaluate: you’ve got to to evaluate where you want to place your investment.
So, I’m going to go into my next session at this conference.
I’m going to keep learning and keep listening.
I’m Claire Cronshaw of cherryedits.com and I’m here at 20 Books Madrid to listen to indie authors.
CherryEdits 