A few years back. I got to thinking that I had enjoyed writing when I was a tacker, through school and in university, and really had no good reason not to continue. I had toyed with the idea of knocking out a book on a few occasions but did not know where to start. Then, one day, I read a particularly brutal book. Not brutal in that it was confronting. Brutal in that it made me annoyed just to read it. It was an arduous task to turn to the next page. I won't mention the title, but let's just say that I thought it did not deserve its acclaim. "Really?" I yelled at the pages, "Really? Come on! That's a terrible story!" A little voice said, "OK, fine. So you write something, then!" So I did.

What motivated you to become an indie author?

Frustration, I guess. Once I neared the end of my first serious bit of writing I sought to have it published. That's when the headaches began. The traditional print industry, it seems, is a different world to anything I could imagine. The are authors, of course, and agents and editors and proof readers and various publishing houses, vanity publishers and distributors and retailers! It drive me bonkers!

I could not get published without an editor. I could not get an editor without an agent. I could not get an agent without having already been published. I just wanted to write a book!

Then I stumbled across Calibre e-book generator and I gave that a crack, which got me a little excited. Seeing my own book (Shockingly unedited and formatted) on an e-reader drove home just how real it could be. Then I scoured the net and came across Smashwords. I was skeptical, at first, but, once I read through the literature and style guide and concept behind it, I embraced it.

Go Smashwords!