Are self-published authors really taking the easy way out...?

Because that's what one very well known, traditionally published author hinted at in a recent post on TikTok. And I'll admit, I didn't see the actual post because I don't do TikTok, I just saw all the subsequent posts on X talking about what had been said. But, from what I can gather, she was telling authors not to self-publish because traditional publishing rewards those who don't choose "the easy way out." 

OK. So, let's talk about this. And, firstly, can I just say that, as someone who started out self-publishing, then had a couple of years with a traditonal publisher, and am now back self-publishing, that trad publishing absolutely does not reward authors like me in any way. If anything, I found the pressure rose after I was signed. Pressure to market, pressure to garner reviews, pressure to organise my own interviews and blog tours because, believe me, unless you are a mega-selling author with that publishing house then you are still very much out on your own as far as marketing is concerned. The rewards were few and far between. It didn't catapult me into the realms of success, not even close, because you still have to put the work in. The same work I was doing as a self-published author, but with less control. There's even a part of me that regrets signing with a trad publisher, because I've lost control of books that I love. One in particular, a previously self-pubbed book, that I absolutely adore. They took it, changed the cover to something I grew to hate, and even changed the story, making certain parts of it something that actually became a problem for some readers, but I couldn't do anything about that. It was a book that was actually doing pretty well as a self-pubbed book but I had a dream about signing a contract with a traditional publisher and at the time I would've done anything to realise that dream. Would love to have that book back under my control, though. It really is a huge regret of mine.

Anyway, back to the question. Are self-published authors really taking the easy way out? Well, once I'd stopped laughing at the sheer absurdity of that statement, I got angry. No. Self-published authors are NOT taking the easy way out, far from it! Firstly, all I ever wanted was for my stories to be read, and I know that, for a lot of other authors, that's also the case. Waiting for a trad publisher to sit up and take notice of your work, well, that could take forever. It can also be soul destroying, knock your confidence, and make you want to give up, because your stories just aren't good enough. Right? Wrong! there are some incredible books out there by indie authors, people who are writing different, interesting stories that no agent or trad publisher would look twice at, because they aren't commercial enough. Aren't what they think readers want. 

Self-publishing is the hardest, bravest thing an author can do. Doing everything yourself, or finding someone out there to help you achieve your end game - getting your book out there - that takes a lot of guts, a lot of patience, a lot of money, time and effort. I'm lucky that my husband helps me with all the technical stuff, without him I don't think I could've done this. But if I didn't have him, I'd have to find someone who could do all that for me, and that isn't easy. Or cheap. 

Doing all your own marketing, again, especially if, like me, money is very much an issue, that's also exhausting. I've never been good at blowing my own trumpet, so to speak. I think I write damn good stories, but when it comes to telling the world that? I find it excrutiatingly difficult. Which is why self-publishing is brave. We're putting our work out there for people to read and judge and tell us what they think, without the backing of a publisher. We're already on the back foot, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

What this well known author should understand is, at her level, yes, she is being rewarded. But I don't think she fully understands the world: the mindset of the indie author. What we have to do in order for our work to be seen. And there were people who said she was mistaking vanity publishing for self-publishing when they are two completely different things, so maybe she needs to go back and think again about what she said. Self-publishing is not the easy way out. It's the opposite. And if anybody wishes to argue the toss with me on that, please feel free. But I've seen it from both sides, and I chose to stick with self-publishing. Chose to continue to take the hard route, because this is where I'm confortable. I don't want to be "rewarded", because it just doesn't happen for the majority of trad published authors. I want to write what I want, when I want, and create the stories I think people might just want to read, and yes, finding those readers is a hard, hard slog but in the end, when I look at all the books I've written; all the stories I've created, when I read back some of the reviews I've received over the years for the books I put out there myself, I'm proud to be an indie author. And every other indie author out there should be proud, too. Snobbery in publishing is something I detest, so let's just stamp it out. Write books because that's what we love to do. And don't believe that trad publishing is the bee all and end all, it's just as hard for the majority of authors, with very little reward. But, again, it's a personal choice. It wasn't for me because I couldn't be that author they needed: the one with a huge social media presence, an army of fans and friends and family to help spread the word, that just wasn't and never is going to be me. My books could be the best stories they'd ever read, but if I can't help that publisher sell them, I'm not really what they want. And I don't think it was personal, that's just the way it works. How it is. So be prepared, neither route is easy, not at my level. Just write because you love it, and the stories will come. Put your books out there because you want them to be read. And I hope that, for all my fellow indie authors, some lucky readers find their stories, because they all deserve to be read.

Have a great writing day!

Michelle x

I'm a multi-genre author - good idea, or big mistake...?

So, yeah, I'm a multi-genre author, and that isn't unusual, a lot of authors write in many different genres, but sometimes they use pen names. Pseudonyms. They separate their books, and those different genres out by writing under different names, and whilst I did do that, once, for my One More Chapter-published domestic thriller The Wife, all of my own self-published books are all written under the one name. Because, quite honestly, to separate them all out I would've needed about four different names and that, in my opinion, is even more confusing. 

So, what genres have I actually written, then? Well, my first two books were what I like to describe as Hollywood bonkbusters. And considering my absolutel idol is Jackie Collins, that was always where I was going to start, with a story that had lived in my head for decades before I finally found the confidence to write it, and then publish it. 

I've also written romcoms; rock star romances; erotica; dark, romantic suspense involving biker gangs and drug cartels; super-sexy romances and Christmas novellas. The only thing I haven't delved into, because I don't think I'd pull it off and the competition out there is ridiculous, is crime fiction/physchological thrillers, and historical romance because I don't think I've got the attention span necessary for the sheer amount of research that's needed. Oh, and horror. I just couldn't write horror, I wouldn't know where to start. I'm sticking to what I know, and all those genres I mentioned above, I love writing them all. But, is it confusing, to have them all written under the one name? Does it alienate readers? As an author, I can't put myself into any particular category, so, is that a bad thing? A mistake? It means readers can't rely on me to churn out the same kind of book time after time, because I just don't work like that. Now I'm back self-publishing I can write what I want, when I want, and that's kind of what I'm doing. The days of me trying to write what I think readers want, they're gone. So, yeah, I guess a lot of readers may avoid authors like me because they never know what they're going to get, and when it comes to marketing I don't really have a core audience to target, so, that makes that job a lot harder too. 

But, in reality, do readers really just stick with one genre? People have favourites, of course they do. I myself love reading horror, but I also love a good Jackie Collins/Jilly Cooper-esque dose of pure escapism. I read a lot of physchological thrillers, and I'm always up for a good old romcom, sometimes even a cosy romance every now and again. Just as I write to suit my mood, it's the same when it comes to the books I choose to read. Surely I'm not the only person who feels that way? Or the only writer who works that way?

So, is writing multi-genre books under the same name a big mistake? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I have readers out there, in fact I know I have readers out there who read all of my books, and have enjoyed them, and they are the very readers who keep me motivated to carry on doing what I do. So, what does it really matter? Every author is on their very own, very personal writing journey, and this is the way I've chosen to go with mine. I love the fact that, I can be listening to a song, or watching something on TV; I can overhear a conversation at the checkout in Aldi, that's all it takes, sometimes, to inspire me: kick-start a new story, and I love that. I can't work any other way, so, I guess I'm going to continue writing all those multi-genre books, and just hope that all those very different stories reach readers who'll enjoy them, and maybe even be compelled to pick up another, very different book of mine. 

Anyway, talking of writing, I have a brand new book almost ready for publication, and a brand new story I'm about to start writing, and yes, both of those books are very different genres, but that's just the way I roll... 😉

Michelle x

Is it really worth carrying on with my writing journey...?

That's a question that's been running around in my head for a little while now, but this morning in particular I woke up with it playing on my mind a lot more than usual, possibly due to the atrocious sales, or lack of, lately. The low amount of page reads, I don't know. All I do know is that the landscape for indie authors like me has changed over the past few years, and it's changed a lot. 

In reality, there are two types of indie authors anyway: ones like me, who plough on, day after day, chasing sales and page reads, feeling relieved at any scraps of recognition we can salvage from any wonderful reader who's willing to give us a chance. And then there are the indie authors who are hugely successful, sell thousands upon thousands of books and quite frequently appear at author workshops to give a talk on how other authors  - the ones like me - can become as successful as them by just sticking with it. Believe me, I've been to a couple of these workshops, listened to a few of these talks, and it doesn't actually work like that. It takes more than a bit of hard work and a perfectly structured story to become a bestseller. And I have no idea how these authors manage it - is it having enough money to throw at marketing? Having the clout of the Amazon algorithms behind them? I don't know. All I know is, being an indie author like me is fast becoming exhausting. 

Some of my self-published books, all free to read with Kindle Unlimited.

I've been around since the very early days of self-publishing, and back then, I sold quite a few books on a regular basis. Because the competition wasn't anywhere near as fierce as it now. I also put my books out there to publishers, because it had always been my dream to be a published author, and I was lucky enough to be signed by an imprint of one of the biggest publishers out there. Six books later, and I was back as an indie author, and it can be BRUTAL when you're dumped by your publisher. It's literally like being ghosted. That's it. No word, no contact, and I get that, I do. I wasn't making them money, therefore I was surplus to requirements. So, yeah, I completely understand why it happened to me. I also learnt that online presence is everything when you're an author, and especially if you want an agent or a publisher to take notice of you. I honestly believe that you can write the BEST book out there, an incredible story, but if you don't have that online presence, no one is going to be interested. And me, well, I just didn't have the online presence necessary to push my books forward, because don't think for one moment that having a publisher behind you means you don't have to worry about marketing anymore. Quite the opposite. I was asked, quite freqently by my editor when a new book was released, to ask friends and family to help with the promo, leave reviews, help get the word out. What they didn't realise was that I don't have a big family, or a huge circle of friends, I am, basically, doing this alone. And that doesn't work in this world. I don't have a huge amount of confidence either, which may sound weird for someone who's quite willing to do one of the hardest things as an author, and that's put your book out there for people to read, scrutinise, and review. But, self-doubt is something that will always plague me, which is why I find navigating social media as an author, and especially as an indie author, incredibly difficult. I would love to engage and connect with other authors, but making those connections is hard for someone like me. Especially as, during the pandemic, and then the menopause hitting like a smack to the gut, I left writing behind for a couple of years. And coming back to it, it's like having to start over, from scratch, and it's been way, way harder than I thought it would be to do that. And then we have the dwindling sales. The lack of page reads. The loss of engagement with readers I used to have, it's all gone, and I have no clue how to get any of that back, so I'm just concentrating on writing more stories instead, because that's what I do. What I love to do. So, I guess that brings us back to the initial question: Is it really worth carrying on with my writing journey? In this new and much tougher landscape? As an indie author at the bottom of the pile, is it worth all the time and effort it takes to write and release a book that only a handful - if I'm lucky - people will read? The answer, for me, is yes. This is all I've wanted to do, all I've ever wanted to do. Ever since I could pick up a pencil all I've ever wanted was to write stories; be an author. It was my dream. And maybe my dream didn't turn out the way I'd hoped it might, but I've still written over 30 books. I got the chance to be traditionally published, even if that, also, didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped. And I need to stop thinking of myself as a failure because of that, I'm still writing. And I'm good at it, yeah, that's me blowing my own trumpet for a change because, quite honestly, if I don't do it, who else will? 

My latest book, Saving Grace, is still struggling with sales and page reads.

So, to all those other, struggling, indie authors out there. Stick with it. Do what you love, keep going, for you. And most of all, the advice I was asked to give to new writers when I was doing interviews back in my trad published days, that hasn't changed: find your own voice, and learn to love it.

Michelle x

Let the edits begin...

It's that time again, when I get to read through the final version of a new book, and make those all important, and absolutely necessary tweaks. And I know some people really hate the editing process, but I actually like it. Having once been traditionally published, I learnt a lot from the notes I was sent by my editors, which, I hope, has stood me in good stead now I'm back to self-publishing.

Anyway, the final edits for Back To Us are underway, with an eye to a November release. So, if you want a break from all the Christmas books that'll be out there by that time, well, you know what to do. 😉 

I really can't wait for you to read Reagan and Travis' story, and welcome you to the (fictional) small town of Buick...

Have a great day, whatever you're up to! 💗

Michelle x