Louise Ross writes the bestselling DCI Ryan series, set in the North East. She turned down a traditional publishing deal to self-publish and has now sold more than 500,000 copies of her books over two years. Her debut novel Holy Island knocked The Girl on the Train off the top spot on Amazon. Here, she tells her own story.

WHENEVER people ask me about my profession, I generally describe myself as a writer. ‘Author’ always sounds so pretentious for a Northern girl like me, but I suppose that’s what I am. After penning five DCI Ryan mystery books, all of which have been top five bestsellers following my debut Holy Island hitting the number one spot on the UK Kindle Chart, I can probably get away with claiming that I am an author. But when I tell people I write stories for a living, their next question is invariably whether I have been published.

Yes, I say, I’m independently published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

I generally receive two distinct responses, depending upon the degree of enlightenment of my listener. The first is a fabulous smile, followed by warm congratulations, which are always gratefully received. The second response is a confused, slightly condescending smile and a query about whether that is because I couldn’t find a ‘traditional’ publisher. Here is my response to all those myths.

Guess what? I was offered a traditional deal, but I turned it down. Signing away years’ worth of rights without any promise of marketing or distribution wasn’t what I was looking for, so I decided to try my hand at independent publishing instead – and it was the best thing I ever did.

Like many ‘traditionally’ published authors, I have an agent at one of the oldest and best regarded literary agencies in the world. My first book has been translated into German along ‘traditional’ lines, and I have signed a ‘traditional’ deal for my audiobooks too. As for everything else, I am my own boss and I rely upon the readers to act as the gatekeepers of what constitutes ‘good fiction’ because in my opinion they are the best judge.

That isn’t to denigrate great works of literary fiction, many of which I have enjoyed over the years, because it isn’t all about sales – it’s a question of personal taste. But it must be true to say that if nearly three quarters of a million people buy and enjoy your books, and continue to buy and enjoy your books, you are probably on to a winner.

Another common mistake I often hear is the idea of independent publishing being the same as ‘vanity’ publishing. To this, I respond with an emphatic no! Vanity publishers ask for a contribution (in whole or in part) towards the costs of publication from a writer who simply wants to pay to have their book published. There is often no obligation on vanity publishers to market or distribute and no incentive for the book to succeed.

By contrast, independent or self-publishing is where a writer chooses to use one of the available publishing platforms, such as Amazon KDP or CreateSpace, to publish their work at no cost to themselves. (It would be advisable to invest in professional editing and proof reading as well as cover design, but that is up to you.)

Choosing to publish along these lines allows you to retain maximum control over your intellectual property without relinquishing any of your rights or creative input, as well as allowing you to benefit from royalty rates that are hugely favourable to authors (up to 70 per cent). Managing the look, content and visibility of your book requires a proactive, business-like approach, but the same could be said of any industry nowadays and applies to authors who are ‘traditionally’ published too.

In an increasingly digital world, we all interact on social media and by e-mail, we all try to market our books and would like them to be read and enjoyed by as many people as possible. Any serious author approaches their work with professionalism as well as creativity and passion. We work hard to hone our skills and improve with each new story we write. Although the marketplace is large, filled with literature of all genres, this need not be seen as anything other than positive. Readers have never before enjoyed so much choice and that does not mean that quality has to be sacrificed either. Market forces apply and if a book fails to meet the required standard of quality, people simply won’t buy it!

There are a lot of misconceptions around the world of independent publishing but, for me, it has been an exclusively positive experience – it has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to read the stories I originally wrote because I loved my home county and wanted to share it through the medium of an old-fashioned, Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. It has also enabled many other fantastic writers to find an audience and bring hours of pleasure to readers around the world, so I don’t think it should matter whether their stories were traditionally or independently published. The real point is that writers have found their voice and readers have found fresh new talent to enjoy.

n The fifth book by LJ Ross, High Force, is due out at the end of this month and is based in the Durham Dales.