I’ve been reading a lot on the above topics for some time, studying artists who are successfully doing it. By success, I mean they’re finding an audience, doing good and fulfilling work, and making enough money to be worthwhile.

The main conclusion I’ve drawn from all this thinking and research is that change is happening regardless of what anybody thinks of that, and that those sweeping changes present creative people with opportunity. Just not the opportunity you might have been led to expect.

Internet distribution is not the same as traditional Hollywood distribution for a movie, or mainstream TV distribution for a web series, there aren’t traditional record or bookstores involved or publisher or label backing for musicians and writers. Which means the creative person has to be dedicated to and involved in the process of finding and building an audience. Without, as the motto of one of the first internet authors to go the indie route says, being a dick.

So who are some of the role models for independent artists on the internet? Wil Wheaton, blogger, author and actor. Amanda Palmer, musician and artist. Felicia Day, writer, actress and creator of the hit web series
The Guild. Group project Shadow Unit, written by award-winning SF/F authors. For visual art, you can find mind-blowing images on
Deviant Art, and Etsy features handmade items by artists in every medium imaginable.

No matter what your creative outlet is, there’s an outlet for it on the internet. But just putting it on the web doesn’t equate sales, audience, or any measure of success. You also need to go in knowing what your definition of success is. The common thread seems to be a drive for creative control, the opportunity to realize a creative vision that might not find a mainstream outlet but that has an audience, vast amounts of talent and dedication, and a willingness to step outside of the box without trying to turn the internet into the same old box by carrying along the wrong set of expectations.

The examples I listed have all gone the traditional route and all of them do traditional projects alongside their indie projects. I think it’s important to note that choosing to do an indie project doesn’t mean you despise all traditional routes or won’t take them when they serve best. It means choosing the indie route when it makes sense. I mention this because JA Konrath’s self-publishing venture on Kindle has led to this sort of polarized thinking among writers, that you are part of some brave new artistic order that spits on tradition or a hackish sellout to The Man.

I can think of many good reasons to go the indie route, but I won’t do it with unrealistic expectations. For instance, nobody’s going to give me an advance guaranteeing a certain level of earnings for the work I do. Putting a book out on the web doesn’t mean readers around the world will all stand and cheer, or even that my current readers will all be interested enough to buy. It means that editing, proofing, formatting, cover art, distribution and countless business details will be up to me. So it has to be a project I strongly believe in and am committed to, one I believe has an audience. 

I think that those who are willing to work in both traditional and indie internet models have the most opportunity to fulfill creative vision and achieve success, and I think it’s exciting to see what creative people do when they have autonomy. It buys artists something very important; the ability to choose projects very selectively and to say no when they should, because their indie projects mean they can afford to.