What is indie publishing? Why to choose indie publishers and how to get started [2026]
New authors may find untangling the term “indie publishing” rather tricky, and rightly so. Independent publishing used to refer primarily to usually small independent publishers operating outside the scope of usually large traditional publishing houses—think Simon Schuster, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and the rest of the “Big Five.” More recently, the term has expanded to mean more than just small shop publishers.
When you ask “What is indie publishing?” today, an equally valid answer is that it’s the process of independently publishing your own book, essentially self publishing. There are many wonderful self published books in the world, and WTD Press even offers consulting and editing services for folks who want to go this route outside of our vetted catalog of works we publish through our press. But for the purposes of this article, we want to explore the first definition—what is independent publishing in terms of working with an independent publisher rather than going it alone?
Here we’ll go over the steps authors work through in the independent publishing process. We’ll cover the benefits of working with a publishing team vs. working to publish your book solo. We’ll also take a look at some of the details like cost, timeline, and tasks so you can prepare to begin your indie publishing journey on the right foot.
Key insights
Indie publishing can mean self publishing or working with an independent publisher, depending on who you’re reading, but in this article, we define it as working with an external independent publisher.
Indie publishing offers more creative, timeline and content control than traditional publishing.
Indie publishing provides an external stamp of approval on a book along with a variety of support tools and a network for the author.
Crafting a great query letter and carefully researching the indie publisher who offers you a contract are critical to publishing success.
So what is indie publishing?
Indie publishing (for this article) is the process of working with a publishing team who has accepted, reviewed, and supported your book through the publishing process. A quality indie press should be discerning in the books they choose to be a part of their curated collection of works and partner with their authors to ensure quality and a respectable amount of reach when the book comes to market. Here’s a breakdown of the distinctions between indie publishing and other kinds of publishing.
Indie vs. traditional publishing vs. self publishing
With traditional publishing, authors may receive an upfront payout in exchange for less creative freedom, more access to distribution networks, and the same amount of marketing work they would do working on their own or with a smaller press.
Here’s a quick list of the key elements to note for traditional publishing:
Less control over content once a contract is signed
Can take 2-3 years to come to market OR authors may experience a high degree of pressure to produce quickly
Authors may or may not receive an advance and royalties as little as 5%, paid out once the advance has been made back
Publisher carries the bulk of the financial risk and therefore the bulk of the financial return after the advance
Large orgs have access to more resources, but authors have less control over what of those they can access
Authors work in tandem with the publishing house to do marketing—large houses have access to more marketing options in bigger bookstores, but even with large houses, authors must do a lot of legwork and budgets can be very small
Distribution networks are large, at least national if not global
Working with an indie press typically offers greater creative freedom, more timeline flexibility, and a small-shop feel—you’re working with a small group of people you know and you get the benefit of the human element, rather than feeling like you’re stuck in the authorial equivalent of fast-fashion.
Here’s a quick list of the key elements to note for indie publishing:
High degree of control over content with advice and support from publishing professionals
Time to market can be as fast or slow as agreed on by the author and the publishing team
Royalty split much higher, usually 50%+ for hybrid presses and more or less for other models
Typically requires some degree of financial investment by the author, $3,000 to $15,000+
Small teams mean more one-on-one support and a more family-like atmosphere
Author works in tandem with the publishing house to do marketing—some houses offer more or less support in marketing plan development and marketing through the publisher
Distribution networks may be smaller but still larger than self-publishing
There are a lot of benefits to self publishing in terms of retaining full creative control and getting every single penny of profit on the other side of your book development. It can feel great to work through the steps you need to take to get your book out there, and many self-published authors meet with solid success.
Here’s a quick list of the key elements to note for self publishing:
Full control over content, with editing help only if you choose to engage it
Time to market is fully determined by the author
You receive all financial return on your investment
You pay the full amount of all publishing, development, marketing, and distribution costs
You identify your own project map and keep yourself accountable to the publication process
You do the research to identify your own team of professionals or you rely on yourself to complete all the necessary steps solo
You do all the work of marketing yourself solo or hire a marketing team to help
You identify your own distribution networks, some of which may not be available to you without the backing of a publisher
For those who don’t naturally gravitate to project management or who find it difficult to hold themselves accountable, self publishing is likely not going to be a successful or fun venture. An indie press can support you through the publication process so you don’t have to go it alone. They can provide the vetting of an industry professional who believes in your book and help you identify the right steps to take and people to engage along the way.
How to use indie publishing for your book: A step-by-step guide
The key to engaging an indie press is first and foremost getting them to agree to work with you. This can be a bit of an opaque process and can feel rather intimidating, especially to new authors. Here’s a step-by-step guide to working through the details of getting to publication day.
1. Write the book!
So you have an idea, and you think it’s really great. Fantastic! That’s step one. Now, get it down on paper.
Whether you use digital paper or real paper, getting to the end of your first draft is paramount. Publishers want to know that you can follow through on your promise, and though many of them only ask to read the first few pages or chapters, having a finished draft in hand is a much better place to begin querying than a half-complete book.
If you don’t have a completed draft yet, don’t fret. Just grab a cup of coffee, roll up your sleeves, and get writing. And if reading that sentence has called up your muse, then by all means, bookmark this article and come back to finish it later!
2. Edit, edit, and edit again
Ok, yes, two paragraphs ago, the first draft was everything, and it still is now. But the other thing, the other VERY important thing, is you edit your first draft. In fact, we suggest you take your book through multiple rounds of editing before you ever query with it. Edit it yourself, and if you’re not a good editor, read some books about it while you send it off to your friend who offered to edit for you last year when you first confessed your novel idea to them. Then edit it yourself after doing your editing research. AI is not your friend here-–find a human critique partner to work on this with!
This is also a great time to engage alpha and beta readers. Your alpha reader is the first person you ever show your draft to, and they hold the sacred responsibility of providing your first bit of feedback without popping your writerly bubble and making you lose steam. Beta readers are a group of people who can provide specific and limited feedback to help take your draft from an idea you thought was great to an idea many people will think is great.
Now that you’ve edited, edited, and then edited once again, you can move on to the next step.
3. Figure out your process and end goals
What do you want to do with this sharpened draft? Are you interested in a huge advance and selling film rights? Do you want to retain full creative control and all of the income from your book? Or are you interested in support through the process but not giving up IP rights or creative control?
Your answer to each of these questions will help you determine whether you would prefer to try to get into a traditional publishing house, self publish, or work with an independent publisher. Once you’ve identified a trajectory, it’s time to take the next step. If you want to engage a publisher, that will mean developing a query letter template and identifying a list of publishers.
4. Research publishing houses
If you’d like to work with a publisher, the good news is there are more publishing houses out there than ever before. The other good news for human creativity is that the market is flooded with authors, though of course, that means you’re competing with more folks than ever before.
It’s important to choose up front not to get discouraged by the process of querying. We suggest making a game of counting how many rejection letters you receive and saving them all for a rejection letter party once you finally find success with your project. Remember, if you believe in the project enough, you can always self publish—of course, only after you’ve tried 100, 200, or maybe 500 times to engage a publisher.
Compile a list of publishing houses and agents that make sense for your project and work your way through the list carefully. Consider things like genre, length, format, and your network as you make this list, and don’t forget to engage with folks on social media. You never know who you’ll meet when you’re being friendly in the comment section or posting a reel about your writing thoughts.
5. Craft your query letter(s)
Draft a letter introducing yourself and your work. Take a look at templates available online and tailor yours to work for you. Even if we didn’t take a no-AI-in-the-creative-space-thanks stance here at WTD Press, we would still say that this letter is not the time to use AI. No one knows your work better than you, and frankly, if you’re asking people to take the time to review your work, the least you can do is provide them a human introduction to it. The more AI gets used in emails, the more we all grow weary of it, and the easier it is to spot. Draft a query letter from your own brain every time, and you and the world will be better for it.
The next step is to send queries to publishing houses and/or agents 1) who seem to be a really good fit for your work and 2) who have labeled themselves as open to submissions. Don’t waste your time sending blanket templates to anyone with an email address at every publishing house—the best you can hope for there is not to get blocked by a spam filter, and at worst you’ll find yourself blacklisted from working with that publisher in the future.
Each publishing house on your list will have a different method of receiving queries and instructions for how to submit your manuscript. Pay attention to these instructions. Due to the volume of submissions, many publishers and agents will simply autoreject any submission that doesn’t conform exactly to the requirements. This can be a stressful process to work through, but it’s the best way to put your foot forward.
6. Identify your publishing needs
And now, here we are at step 6: You have a publishing contract in hand! Or better yet, you have a bidding war going on! Congrats to you! Before you sign anything, it’s important to consider the document carefully and talk with your potential publisher about your hopes for your book and how they can work with you on your dream.
Now is the time to consider what format your book will take. Are you interested in digital only? Do you have a strong background in Adobe InDesign and feel totally comfortable doing layout but are so camera shy you can’t imagine ever making an Instagram reel? Do you know your book is destined for audio, but you can’t quite envision how to get there? These are the things to bring up with your publisher early so you can build things into the contract or find out what you will have to outsource.
Independent publishers typically have networks of in-house or freelance talent they can rely on to do many tasks along the publishing road, but some simply may not be equipped for certain things, like broad marketing support or audio production, etc. Get these details early so there are no surprises later.
7. Choose your team
Many independent and hybrid publishers will be happy to negotiate the terms of your contract, particularly when it comes down to cost-savings, choosing the members of your publishing team, or reducing the workload on either side. In fact, make a negotiable contract a key point in choosing a publishing house—it’s one of IBPA’s core requirements for a quality hybrid press.
At WTD Press, we follow a three-step editing process and insist on a final check, but we don’t necessarily require you to use our in-house editors to work through the editing stages. If you have a great editor in your network who is willing to offer you a pro bono read, who are we to say no? While we reserve the right to check your editing friend’s work and will let you know if it’s not up to snuff, this is one example of a place we are willing to negotiate in our contract. There may be many such places in the contract you’re working with, and you should make sure you understand the details.
Consider your network and where you can outsource or DIY stages of the publishing process more cheaply, or even by way of a professional trade, without sacrificing quality. And as with any legal document, consider having a lawyer review your contract before signing anything.
8. Build your marketing strategy
Whether you’re working with a traditional press, an independent press, or entirely on your own at this stage, all will require you, the author, to do some marketing work. So if you’re the one who thinks you could never face a camera and talk about your work, it’s time to take a deep breath and try it out anyway. Go to social media, put a sell sheet and press release on your marketing plan, and get going on that Kickstarter page.
The fact is that in 2026, people want to support other people most of all. That makes you, the author, the best salesperson for your work because people will want to buy your book from you. Having a publishing house behind you can lend credibility to your work and give you access to a broader network, but still, you should be the face of it.
A publishing house of any kind will likely have a marketing template to work from or at the very least some ideas and elements they can offer. WTD Press authors have noted that part of the value of having an indie press behind them is that they don’t have to go this alone. Build a template that makes sense for you and the house you’re working with, and then stick to it. The encouragement of a team behind you can make all the difference.
What Redditors are saying about traditional, indie, and self publishing
Redditors note the difficulty of self-promotion working as a self published author. It can be very difficult to go it alone without a team, and reports say that even at traditional houses, new authors receive only a tiny amount of funding for marketing. People note that there is little incentive to give up creative freedom to a traditional publisher, saying that many readers enjoy the more real and less sanitized experience they get with indie presses and self published authors.
Redditors praise the creativity they find in indie books that aren’t necessarily bound to the stricter rules of the traditional publishing industry, even though some books in the indie realm aren’t necessarily as polished. People note that those in the indie industry seem to do it for the love of the work, even if the financial returns aren’t high, as is the case throughout the struggling publishing industry.
The real benefits of independent publishing and who it works for
Independent publishing works really well for authors looking for the backing of a team of professionals who care about their book and are willing to lend their name to it. It’s also great for authors who are overwhelmed by the thought of self publishing and don’t know where to start. But it’s not as simple as choosing an indie press and saying “you’re hired”—in fact, that’s something different, sometimes called a vanity press, and it’s totally an option for you if you want to go that route.
Working with an independent press begins with writing a great book. From there, do the work to pitch it to independent presses you believe will find it interesting. Take your time and create an attention grabbing query letter, and don’t get discouraged by rejection. Independent publishing houses frequently have higher acceptance rates than traditional houses, but still, they reject many more manuscripts than they accept. The payoff for running the query gauntlet is finding the right team who can support your book and love it as much as you do—ok, maybe just almost as much!
Find the right indie publisher for your novel
The best advice we can give you at WTD Press is to keep trying until you find a great publishing home for both you and your book. Here, we look for highly creative fantasy that captures its readers through a combination of engaging worlds, unique magic systems, and characters who jump off the page. We love our authors and do our best to create an author family where each one feels supported by the others.
We open for queries periodically and invite you to check back on our contact and submission pages for updates. When open, we do accept unagented submissions, but we encourage you to follow the tips in this guide and the instructions on the submission page to ensure we review the best version of your work. For authors working outside the fantasy genre, we are open on a limited basis for consultations and editing services—and we wish you the best of luck finding the right publishing home with another press!
Find out whether we’re open for submissions or contact us for a consultation here.
What is indie publishing FAQs
How much does indie publishing cost?
Some indie publishers pay the full amount of production costs, not unlike traditional publishing houses. Many operate on a hybrid model in which the author pays for the bulk of the production costs, typically around $3,000-$15,000+. The right indie publisher will be willing to negotiate your contract to identify the financial arrangement that works for both of you.
Are indie publishers worth it?
Indie publishers are worth it for those who do not want to carry the full responsibility of self publishing and handling all elements of book development alone. Indie publishing also works well for authors who want to retain more creative freedom than traditional publishers allow or work on a faster (or possibly slower) timeline than is set in stone by large houses.
The truth is, if you’re asking this question wondering if you will make back your investment in your book or make a high-dollar living as an author, the answer is very likely no, no matter how you slice it. Very few authors make bank, and those who do may do so starting from all forms of publishing. Authors today need to love their craft more than anything
What’s the difference between indie publishing and self-publishing?
As defined in this article, indie publishing is working with a publishing house under contract to publish your book, typically a smaller house that is independent of the “Big Five” large, traditional publishing houses. Indie presses typically have a specific purpose and curate a collection of specific kinds of works. Indie publishing may operate under a more traditional or more hybrid financial model depending on the house.
Self publishing is when the author carries the full responsibility for the writing, development, investment, project management, marketing, and distribution of their book. They may hire professionals to help them through the process, and they may be very successful (think Andy Weir’s The Martian) or less successful depending on a variety of factors both within and outside their control.