Hello folks! I am new to Author's Info, and excited to get to know people! I figured I'd take a moment to introduce myself in my first blog post. I am Heidi Angell and I am an author. Author. That is such a funny word. The Merriam Webster online dictionary define an author as- a : one that originates or creates : source b the writer of a literary work (as a book) So, yes, I am an author. I have written several books. I am also a PUBLISHED author, as I currently have two books for sale on Amazon and Nook. ( Royal prince Vince is a charming children's book and Creative Exercises to Inspire is a great way to get your creative juices flowing!) Yet, because I self-published, I am classified as a "Self-published author" which, is somehow considered less than a "real author". Here is where we escape the niceties of Miriam Webster and enter into definitions which are subjective. It really is quite messy. Many self-published authors are so frightened by the stigma of "self-published" that we would rather ride on the coat tails of "indie author" (which, until a few years ago, was as dirty a word as Self-published, but I shall not digress!) We form our own publishing companies, to make ourselves more presentable. But if a publishing company only publishes work by one author, and is owned and operated by the author, is it really an indie publishing house? Hmm.... Yet, I have one. Angell Enterprises, where on my site, I offer services to help other authors publish as well. (Everything I have done so far has been for free, even. Go figure!) I have not published anyone else's work, but I have given advice on manuscripts, helped edit, and am even helping other authors to market their own work... which they have decided to publish under their own indie companies. Part of me thinks that if a handful of us got together and agreed to operate under one publishing house, and to pool our efforts with one another, then we could compete with the bigger houses better. But how does one go about this? Especially when it comes time to split the checks? Who gets to be the CEO, the CFO, etc. Hmm... it gets messier. So currently I am my own CEO, CFO, Editor, marketer, social media expert, etc. I work in collaboration with other authors and their publishing houses (Such as Dawn Tevy of Soul Star Multimedia, LLC. and Lee Newman of Fisticuffs Publications), Depending on the services, I get a mention in the book, maybe a percentage of sales during a marketing campaign, or just a great big smiley face on Facebook ;). Around all of that, I am also working on my next release, The Hunters, and waiting for my agent contract to expire on a psychic thriller series, so I can publish those next! And you thought I was just an author!