There's a difference between covering expenses, e.g. of giving advice and organising conferences, and making a profit. I welcome this alliance, which comes none too soon, and wish it well.

Orna Ross would do well to reflect on what publishers do, rather than treat them as robber barons. If she doesn't do that, she is in danger of understating the scale of the task for self-publishers.

Publishers finance and filter. Although the printing costs have theoretically dropped out of the "finance" part, there's still the matter of marketing finance, editing etc. It's non-trivial.

The filter part of the publishers job has not disappeared. While some corners of publishing are highly cynical, it's still true that most of what is published, both fiction and non-fiction, is of high quality and written (in non-fiction) by experts in the field.

It's a myth that there's loads of high quality material that goes unpublished. Most of it is rubbish and even the promising stuff has flaws which a publisher would have to put a lot of effort into sorting out.

I say all this as an unpublished writer myself. I am not a publisher and have no axe to grind.

The fees presumably cover the outgoings - therefore no profit is generated.

As a publisher at an indie press whose company began life as a cooperative of writers, I know the hurdles she's facing. We employ five to six editors, two in house, the rest freelance, as part of our operation. We also have three to four layout and design people to get the books ready for press. Our printer is Lightning Source and our books are print on demand. Expenses will eat you alive. Fees for all these services are not going to be able to be covered just from membership fees, unless the authors are covering everything themselves. And that's just to get a book into production. Afterwards you have advertising, copies for critics, and a ton of self promotion and legwork.

One point mentioned above is editing. This is the number one point to remember. Have an editor. They will save you grief. With as many freelance editors that are out there now, you can shop around. Yes, it's expensive, but if you want to be considered a professional writer, your work has to look like you are.

Then stay away from POD companies that lock you into long term contracts for five to seven years. You might as well sell your soul at that point, as there is a lot you can do with indie presses in that time.

And once you find a printer, it's not going to be cheap either, but find a good quality press for a reasonable price, and work with them.

Good luck.

I'm not sure after reading this article what, if anything, the indie author will gain by paying to join this organization.

Orna Ross says: "We will be speaking up on behalf of independent authors, and making links with booksellers, wholesalers, agents and legacy publishers, so people have an idea of what our creative needs are." Booksellers, wholesalers, agents and legacy publishers don't give a damn about the creative needs of the self-published. Why should they?

"Indie authorship is about meeting the publisher as a partner" - what? Isn't it about not meeting the publisher at all, because you are going it alone?

Self published.... Do not do it, they do not sell, but cost you money and take us space in your garage.

Helen, you stated it perfectly. I believe there is a place for traditional publishing and for independent publishing in the world. Right now the battle is on because it entails change; so many are resistant to change. But change is good. The traditional publishers have allowed their contribution to fall off by allowing sloppy editorial work (at times), and backing off on the marketing they used to do. Independently published authors are looking for more of the share in royalties if they have to do more of the work. All fair points.

As an author, and a voracious reader, I expect books to be well formatted, properly edited, and reasonably priced. I expect the author to be recompensed fairly for the effort put forth.

Personally, I believe that, in time, the standard for independently published books will rise to meet the demand of the readership. Once again, it is the responsibility of all parties to produce, and purchase, products that meet high standards otherwise we sell ourselves short as both authors and readers. If we don't stand up and demand high standards of editing and formatting then we will receive inferior products. This should not end up being an either/or, traditional vs. independent scenario. Both strategies should become an integral part of the book writing, publishing, and buying experience.

I anticipate great change as we merge the expertise from all parties involved into a cooperative and workable solution.

Even experienced authors need a good edit from an experienced editor. Apart from the way this helps the final draft become a professional book, it's amazing how authors don't realise the legal problems they are creating for themselves. There are so many common errors, like the real names of individuals and businesses they slip into the text on purpose or accidentally, not realising they could be sued. Most authors don't realise they shouldn't quote any song lyrics at all - they can be sued by music companies even if they just use a few words and must get permission and pay per number of books they estimate they will print or sell. It may seem as if it's an easier life self-publishing, but it could be expensive paying for editing and legal checks without a publisher to do it for you. Incidentally, I think the term indie author is confusing. I'm not sure if it has come from the US, but in the UK it gets muddled up with Independent Publishers and authors with Independent Publishers. So it might not be the best description for self-publishing authors.

I would add that it's incredibly difficult finding novels written to a publishable standard. I used to think there must be many novels out there that deserved to be published, but in fact publishers and literary agents search hard for them.

It's not always a case of, "Oh, I can't get a traditional publisher to accept my book, so I'll just publish it myself." Prior to e-books and the widespread application of POD technology, that was largely the case. And yes, it still is the case for many indie authors ("indie authors" - that's what self-published authors call themselves these days, probably to try to shake off the stigma of the "self-published" tag).
But now, a lot of authors who have been traditionally published are turning to self-publishing as a way to maintain more creative control over their work and to maximize their share of the profits. Along with all the horror stories about shoddy self-published books, there are plenty of tales from the trenches about traditional publishers marketing books in ways that do not sit well with the vision or intent of the author, creating inappropriate or misleading covers, not paying royalties, contracts signed and then imprints go under or change hands and books get lost in the shuffle...
Perhaps a strong, well-run and well-supported independent authors association is just what the industry needs. Bring in some standards and make adhering to those standards part of the conditions of membership. Perhaps the badge "member of the AIA" will be one way that readers can assure themselves that the self-pubbed book they are about to purchase is of sufficient quality (well, that and the "Look Inside" facility). It might be too much to ask of a voluntary organization...
Or it might not.