Why IndiePaper?

IndiePaper enables self-published authors like you to write, edit, format, typeset, pubilsh and sell your books all on a single integrated platform. This post outlines What IndiePaper is and why it was born.

This blog post was adapted from IndiePaper, Building the Future of Publishing, the book about IndiePaper written on IndiePaper. If you want to see an example book, check it out.

Every solution begins with a problem, and every great solution always requires an equally hard problem to solve.

Humans have been publishing stuff since we found out we can write on clay tablets, and that was a long time ago. What can a platform merely months in existence can do differently that the entire publishing industry couldn't do in centuries? Better yet, why the hell does IndiePaper exist?

IndiePaper exists because the current state publishing industry is broken, and we believe we can build a far superior solution that is beneficial to all parties involved. IndiePaper exists because we believe that traditional publishing and self-publishing sucks for every party involved.

Why Traditional Publishing Sucks?

Traditional publishing has been around for while to call itself traditional. Authors pitch to big-name publishing houses with a book idea, they give an advance if they like it. The author writes the book and the publisher works closely with them to edit, typeset, publish, and print a limited number of copies and get it to book stores and into the hands of the readers. Although this model creates really gorgeous books that earn you a name as an author, this sucks.

You don't make enough money from your books - For each book you sell your royalties range from 8% to 13% for each copy sold. That doesn't amount to much, especially a livable income.
They might not publish your book - Publishing a book is a big investment for a publisher, so unless you're a big name author the chances of them accepting your book is minuscule. Even if they agree, you might need to modify it to what they think might sell really well. Remember J.K Rowling was turned down twelve times with Harry Potter.
No relationship with your readers - There's no way to find out who read and bought and loved your book. Think for a second how awesome it would be to send an update to all your readers announcing the second part of your book. How nice it would be to interact with them directly. With traditional publishing, distribution is out of your control.

Even though Traditional Publishing has the ability to transform your books into the beautiful work of words they deserve to be, it comes at considerable expense to you, the Author.

Why does Self-Publishing suck even more?

Well if Traditional publishing sucks, then self-publishing should be the answer. Well not exactly. Even though the Self-Publishing revolution has helped a small subsection of authors to earn a decent income from their books, it's still not enough and has some long-standing issues.

Making a great finished book is hard - There is a reason why Publishers take such a hefty cut from each book sale. Taking a draft into a finished book worth of your reader's time is a humungous effort. It involves a multitude of craftsmen and effort. Trying to do that all as a self-publishing author alone is something most fail at.

Selling is even harder - Granted, it is easier to sell your book now than a decade ago, but still, the distribution side is rigged against you. You are forced to sell the book to the terms of the platform at a rate which they deem right or partake with a large part of your royalties. Setting everything up is also hard, you just can't do a single click setup of your book yet.

Connecting with Readers is doable, but hard -When you self-publish you can connect with your readers, but not optimally.

Self-publishing is hard. Even though the reward of a successful book is high, the effort to make one is even higher. The platforms that exist now for books are lackluster and that's why we're building IndiePaper, an integrated platform for making books that don't suck for anybody.

Why IndiePaper sucks less?

Because we made it so 😉. Actually, because we were tired of the current state of books and the publishing industry. Almost all industries have been impacted positively by the internet revolution, which opened near free and unlimited ways to distribute your books. Even though the internet was created for the dissipation of knowledge, books have so far taken a back seat. We're building IndiePaper to bring the revolution that authors, readers, books and the broader publishing industry deserves.

IndiePaper is end-to-end - To build anything that challenges the status quo of an industry that shaped much of human history is no easy task, and that deserves a trip back to the drawing board. We designed IndiePaper to be completely end-to-end, to be at the side of authors from the time they put in the first letter to the finished book in the hands of the readers. Being end-to-end is the only way we can make a dent in the current state of things. It also opens up a slew of innovations that only we can capitalize on and improve upon. We can create beautiful typeset books because we have access to the original source, we can sell it to readers at the price set by authors because we control distribution, and since all readers go through our storefronts we can facilitate a direct connection between authors and readers.
IndiePaper is made for Books - Having a platform that is built from the ground up for books and publishing brings to the table features that generic cookie-cutter platforms cannot. We are made for making and selling more beautiful books.
IndiePaper is made for Authors - We know hard writing a book can be, that's we designed IndiePaper to be super easy to use. Publishing a book is as easy as publishing (not writing) a blog post. You write your draft in our integrated editor, and when you are finished hit publish. We take the draft, typeset it to different formats, make it print-ready, set up a sharable storefront for you so you readers can buy your book. We even handle returns and refunds and deposit your profits every Friday in your connected bank account. Publishing does not get easier than this.
IndiePaper is made for Readers - As a reader, it's really frustrating to buy a book and see it's poorly formatted, or that it doesn't come in your preferred reading format. We know how frustrating it is to go digging around in emails to find the book you purchased last summer. IndiePaper optimizes the hell out of your reading experience. Your purchased books show up in your personal library. You can read the books in our dedicated reader on all devices, or download the book in your preferred format.

We love Books - Even though it is me right now, we as a company loves and always will love books. That is in our name and our DNA. We are an Author first, book-loving company.

The current publishing industry sucks, and we believe we can do a better job with a platform custom-made for books, authors, and readers. That is why we're going through all this effort to make something this awesome for the publishing industry. The written word is one of the best inventions of mankind and we're just bringing it to the 21st century.

You can Sign up to IndiePaper and start writing books like this right now, at https://indiepaper.me/secure/sign-up