Behind the Scenes: Voices From Indie Authors - Part 3

Continuing our exploration of the indie author journey, Part 3 highlights insights from J.E. Perry and Lee West. From creative freedom to navigating AI, algorithms, and criticism, these authors share their real experiences in self-publishing.

John E. Perry

Mr. Perry is the author of the incredibly exciting novel A New Life: The Adventures of Talia, and his short story collection titled The Darkness, which explores time travel, alternate dimensions, and other cool Sci-Fi subjects! After our interview, here's what he had to say about life as an Indie Author.

Publishing Route

“For me self publishing gives me the freedom to write what I want, without having deadlines or other limitations placed on me. I’ve never used a hybrid publisher.”

Freedom. That one word defines it all, I think. It’s the primary reason most indie authors chose to self-publish. We get full creative control. We can work at our own pace. Work around full time jobs even. The only limit placed on us is ourselves. How far can we take it? How well can we fine tune our craft? How well can we market our work? And sometimes, it's just about the joy that comes from getting our words on the page in the first place.

Writing Processes

“Making it for me is not monetary. I write stories that I hope people will read and enjoy. I would consider reaching my goal by selling just 1 book and having someone enjoy it; anything else would be icing on the cake. I have not really got into the marketing side of things yet. As writing is more of a hobby than work for me I will wait until I have completed the first trilogy that I have planned and then concentrate more on the marketing side of things. I do everything myself. Not to save money but because I enjoy the whole process.”

Enjoying your journey as an author, now that’s something to chew on for a while. John does a fantastic job expressing his true goals in this statement. For him, writing is all about the journey, and I think this is something most authors can relate to. When you do something you love, you’ll never truly have to work at it. It becomes something far greater than work. It’s like you enter a different space, or as I’m sure John would put it, a different dimension or reality itself. It’s just you, and the keyboard, and the characters. Letters forming sentences, forming actions and directions, and so much of it is just as new to you as it is to the characters on the page.

AI: Usage and The Future

“I have used no AI at all in the writing or editing. I have used AI to some extent in cover design but use it in conjunction with my own work. I guess AI is the biggest change (in the self publishing world). This does not affect me directly as I read books from known authors or authors that I know do not use AI.”

There’s something admirable about a self-published, independent author like J.E. Perry who goes at it on his own, and doesn’t want to relinquish his control of creative talents to the likes of a machine. Instead, using AI as a tool like it was designed to be. All human written, all human edited, all human formatted. This doesn’t mean its perfect, f lawless writing, or style, or even formatting. But it does mean that it's authentic, and genuinely creative, and rich with human emotions, experiences, and so on.

Advice to Other Indie Authors

“Step back, relax, do other things for a couple of weeks and then re-read it. You will spot more mistakes in the manuscript including typos, grammar and other mistakes. If possible, get someone else to read the raw manuscript to check it.”

Lee West

Lee West is the author of the memoir “Finding Him, Finding Me”, a true story based on his personal experiences growing up in the 90s in London. Here’s what he has to say.

Publishing Route

“I self-published because honestly, I didn’t want to hang around waiting for some gatekeeper to decide if my life was “marketable enough.” This book’s personal, London, 1992, Soho mayhem, grief, weird humor, HIV stigma, and a 22-year-old version of me who definitely overshared. I didn’t want anyone telling me to water it down or try to make it “relatable.” Would I do it the same way again? Absolutely. Even the stressful parts, those were my own choices, not anyone else’s.”

Lee takes loss of creative control to an entirely different level, because for him, this is based on real events! It’s a true story, and who wants to alter real events to make it more “marketable” when the story is true, relatable, and important? But in the world of traditional publishing, things like this do happen. It’s one of the cons that you must face when making the decision between self publishing and the traditional route.

Writing Process

“Here’s what a normal week looks like: I write, I edit, I fix random formatting disasters, I reply to messages, I post stuff online, and I do what I can to keep the book from vanishing. If I bothered to add up the hours, I’d say it’s 20–30 hours most weeks. Sometimes more, sometimes less. What I didn’t expect? The book basically only exists if I keep showing up for it. There’s no autopilot. If I vanish for a month, the algorithm pretty much acts like I never wrote a thing. I take care of writing, editing, social media, and most of the admin side on my own. I pay for proofreading, tricky formatting, and final cover tweaks, those are the spots where mistakes really stand out. I’ll spend where looking unprofessional could hurt me. Everything else, I just wrestle through myself.”

The ever changing, ever advancing algorithm strikes again. And this is such a huge point to make for other authors considering this route. Writing takes a lot of time, but so does the rest of the job. Marketing your book, keeping your book afloat in a sea of competition, it's tough. I don’t think most people see this until they actually arrive at publication. Having a plan in place is a good way to counteract the ever growing needs of f ighting the algorithm and helping your book stand out.

AI Usage and the Future

“I use AI to help with research, and check timelines. It's honestly fantastic for checking things like brands and dates. But is it good at being a 22-year-old gay guy in 1992? Not a chance. The feelings, the jokes, the weird social stuff, that’s all me. AI can help with certain things, but it can’t be the writing. Originally, I did use AI to create the cover, mainly as a starting point. But there was quite a bit of negativity around AI-generated covers, and it made me rethink things. In the end, I decided to design the cover myself so it felt more personal and more in line with the story. Biggest changes lately? AI, ever-changing algorithms, readers wanting things faster, and a way more crowded market. My way of handling it: stay genuine, use AI as a helper not a ghostwriter, and write stuff that’s real instead of chasing whatever’s trending. Viral isn’t really my style, steady and real feels more like me.”

Lee mentions something profound here: we live in a “fast food” culture. Readers want things faster, sometimes faster than authors can go, especially indie authors who have to make a living working in other fields while they write. But just because we have day jobs doesn’t mean the demand for new titles goes away. Even though the self-publish market is flooded, that doesn’t mean readers' desire for the next novel has slowed down. If anything, it’s increased.

Handling Criticism

“The harshest feedback I ever got was someone saying, “The book never really went anywhere.” That stung. Then I reminded myself it’s a memoir, not Mission: Impossible. I let myself be annoyed for a minute, then realised not everyone wants someone’s real life laid out honestly. And that’s fine. I don’t have to write for everyone.”

Receiving criticism is something a lot of new authors aren’t prepared for. Because no matter what kind of book you’re writing, someone out there will not like it. And that’s okay! It’s important to take criticism well. Listen, reflect, discard what’s not useful and absorb what makes sense, then implement it into your creative process moving forward. This is how we grow as authors, or in any craft, for that matter.

Advice to Other Indie Authors

“If I could go back and talk to myself on launch day, I’d just say, “Stop hitting refresh on your sales page, go take a walk.” Advice for anyone about to self-publish: don’t rush it. One more month editing won’t hurt, but a book you rushed out will follow you forever.”

📌 Stay tuned for Part 4: Joseph’s insights, reflections, and final takeaways ... coming soon!

Joseph Cruey, also known as Ink Fist Joe, is an author of dark, morally driven fiction and a freelance writing coach dedicated to helping aspiring authors bring their stories to life. Through his work on fiverr, he provides blog writing, editing, formatting, and one-on-one guidance to writers navigating the path to publication. His debut novel, "The Wraith of Magdalena" is available on Amazon. You can also catch some of his blogs on Cottagestead.