I consider myself to be an independent author, which means not only am I responsible for writing the books, I also need to ensure their quality in terms of editing, cover design and layout, as well as marketing them to the right readers who would enjoy my stories. In other words, pretty much everything that a traditional publisher would have done for me (and then some) had I decided to try that route.
Therefor, it’s only fair that I make all my hard work official and set myself up as a publishing imprint.
So, with lots of fanfare, drum rolls and flag waving, I’d like to officially announce the name of my publishing imprint: Strawberry Moon Press.
Those of you who read last week’s post about full moon names will know where the inspiration for this name came from. The logo design was done by the incredibly talented Tallulah from Covers by Tallulah, and I just love it. I’m still deciding whether or not I want to create a web presence for the imprint – I might get round to a Facebook page at some point, but it’s not high on my list of priorities right now (finishing the book is!).
What does that mean for you as the reader? Just that you’ll see all my stories published from now on under one publisher’s name, rather than whichever distributor I’m using to push them to all the online e-book stores. Does it affect you? Nope! But I hope it will contribute to the professional image I’m trying to convey and stress how important I take the quality of my work.
Do you agree that a publishing imprint looks more professional for independently published books? Do you take notice of indie book publishers? What do you think of my chosen name and the logo?
Congratulations, Sunee! 🙂
Now, to answer your questions…
> Do you agree that a publishing imprint looks more professional for independently published books?
Personally, no. But I don’t think your publisher name or imprint should be the name of the distributor either. I think it should always be your author name.
That’s because I’m all about educating readers about self-published books and encouraging them to actively seek those books out. And it’s sometimes difficult to tell whether a book’s self-published or not if it has an imprint/publisher name different from the author’s… which I understand is one of the main reasons some authors want their own publisher in the first place; I just don’t agree that it should be so, is all.
Also, as an author myself, I didn’t choose to self-publish because I couldn’t get a trad deal. I never even tried for a trad deal, because my decision to self-publish was a deliberate, conscious, and carefully considered one. That makes me proud to be a self-published author, and I don’t want to hide that fact.
> Do you take notice of indie book publishers?
I do, because I sometimes want to specifically showcase self-published books (I run a Facebook group specifically for that purpose). But as I said above, I sometimes have to do a little extra work to confirm that a book’s self-published, if it has a publisher/imprint name other than the author’s. It’s not TOO difficult to figure out, of course: typically the only books published through that name are the author’s themselves. 🙂
> What do you think of my chosen name and the logo?
I love it! Since you’re going that route, I think the name is really mysterious, and fits with your genre, while still being generic enough to cover other genres as well.
And the logo’s beautiful. But then, it was designed by Tallulah, so I’d expect nothing less! 😀
That’s a fair point, and I agree that indie authors should be proud to have their books under their own names. I also chose not to even submit to trad publishers, because I love everything about the indie publishing process, but I do like the idea of a formal imprint. I just think it looks a little more professional – but, of course, that’s just my opinion 🙂
I’m glad you like the imprint name, and yes – Tallulah is amazing!
Indeed. I wish you all the luck in the world with it! 🙂
Thank you!