Do Indie Authors have Deadlines?

By Thio Isobel Moss

I freely admit to being the kind of person who needs a fire under her butt to get things done. As a kid, I needed a parent to count to three, forcing me to take cough syrup or face “the consequences.” As an adult, some things only get done when company is coming over, I’m going out of town, or there’s some other demand on my time and attention.

When I decided to take the indie path rather than search for an agent or query publishers, one of the perks was choosing my own schedule. I choose my work hours, my release dates, and most of the deadlines involved in my writing career.

There were, however, two things that I did not foresee.

The first was that, even when I choose a deadline, it is still a deadline. I had envisioned something a little more flexible. There is some flexibility there, but not as much as I originally thought. A lot of work goes into choosing a release date: purchasing trends, budgeting time for edits and ARCs, marketing plans, copyrights and Library of Congress control numbers, family commitments, and more. Deadlines are not arbitrary choices, even if I’m the one making them.

The second thing I didn’t anticipate was that, when I became my own boss, I also became a workaholic.

I actually delight in the fact that, when I’m sick, I can often still work. I still struggle to force myself to take weekends off, and I’m trying to maintain regular work hours. It’s not going especially well. I enjoy nearly every aspect of this experiment, and some parts of it are genuinely addictive. Creating good habits and cultivating discipline are important.

Currently, I am working on Objects in the Mirror, and I have a schedule outlining what needs to be done and when to keep me on track for my chosen release date. I am ahead of schedule, but I already know how quickly that can change. I like building in a cushion for exactly that reason.

Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that this is all still very new to me. Everything is new and exciting. Watching numbers rise on different reports and graphs is dopamine candy. During these first few months, I started neglecting myself. My diet, exercise routine, and housekeeping all suffered, though there are signs that I’m starting to adjust.

Recently, I’ve enjoyed getting up at four, watching the news, cooking breakfast and meal prepping, then going for a walk. Two months ago, I woke up and went straight to work, sometimes forgetting meals entirely. Obviously, that isn’t healthy or sustainable.

So, yes, self-discipline and deadlines are important for indie authors. It will look different for everyone, and, for me at least, things continue to evolve over time. Completion of projects is essential in any industry, and part of being an “indie” anything is being self-driven.

There is greater flexibility as an indie author, but every step forward still requires work. Since you are the one doing that work, you take those deadlines very seriously and work hard to meet them. They simplify an intricate process; that simplicity is a beautiful thing!