If you are an Indie author, and therefore your own publisher, there are a number of things that you are legally responsible for. I thought I’d write a post about this as a checklist for reference, and to help anyone who may need the information. Bear in mind that the information in this post applies to UK citizens who are self-publishing their own work.
I have great news today. My author proof copy of my forthcoming fifth novel, Matthew’s Twin, came in the post this week. This is Book 3 of my Belfast Ghosts series, and marks the final instalment of the trilogy of standalone novels. Like Book 1: The Blue Man and Book 2: The Fairy Lights, this is also an occult, supernatural story. Want to know more? Here’s the back cover blurb:
Matthew’s Twin: The spirit of medieval vengeance made flesh
Belfast Ghosts series: Standalone book 3 of 3
A medieval Scottish soldier.
An Anglo-Irish witch.
A seven hundred year plot for revenge.
Around the time Customs Inspector Matthew began having crippling stomach pains, he began witnessing visions of a past-life involving a Scottish soldier during Edward Bruce’s conquest of Ireland, an Anglo-Irish defender of Carrickfergus Castle and a local witch with a bloodthirsty agenda. When medieval mercenary and vengeful witch performed a necromantic ritual to help the Scottish conquest succeed, Matthew began to learn more about his connection with 14th century Northern Ireland.
After an operation to remove what he thought to be a tumour from his stomach, a mysterious man arrived to cause chaos in Matthew’s life. What did the strange – yet familiar – man have to do with him? Why did malign forces from a dark, medieval past want to cause harm? Was there any way for Matthew to learn about a seven hundred year injustice before the ghosts came to wreak vengeance on him in the present?
Matthew’s Twin will be published on 24 October, just in time for Halloween. In the meantime, I’m celebrating with some bubbly. Cheers!
What an epic eight week summer break it has been! These last two months have been day trips with my little adventurer and a much needed family holiday to Ibiza. I’m back to work soon, and with only a couple of days left of leisure time, I’m starting a transition back to writing and publishing pursuits. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Running Bindweed Anthologies.
My hubby and I have been inundated with a record number of submissions from writers and poets all over the world to our biannual anthologies: Midsummer Madness and Winter Wonderland. We’ve been trying to get through the slushpile within our 4 week response time, which has been a challenge in between full time childcare and being away on holiday. Nevertheless, we’ve managed to stay on top of our Bindweed deadlines this summer, although we’ve had to turn away lots of quality writing simply because of the volume of submissions. On the other hand, we’re thankful that our publication is so popular!
Writing novel WIPS#7 and #8
Producing new writing has sadly fallen by the wayside this summer as other projects have taken over my limited free time. Hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of novel drafting once the little literary one is back to school/childcare and I can structure my before and after work time a bit better.
Belfast Ghosts Book 3 proof copy printed
I snatched as much time as I could this summer working on the story edits for the final installment of my Belfast Ghosts series. Last week I ordered a paperback proof copy, which is coming later this week for my proofreader. She’s excellent, and will no doubt catch things that will embarrass me – but are necessary since there’s only so much my tired, overworked brain can catch when I’ve been stuck on any one book for a long time. Hopefully only minor typos, but I’m prepared to give it another once over if it still needs work.
Legal deposit copies to be posted
I had a request from Edinburgh for 5 x hardcover copies of Diabolical Dreamscapes for legal deposit at the National Library of Scotland, The Bodleian Library Oxford University, the National Library of Wales, Cambridge University Library and The Library of Trinity College Dublin. These are in addition to the copy I sent to the British Library when it was published back in April. Since I was away on holiday, I had to wait until I got home to order these, and as they only just arrived at the weekend, I’ll be posting them today.
And that’s that! I’ll be trying to get myself in gear for scheduling my various projects as we move into autumn so that (hopefully) literary life will flow into a smooth stream. One can hope…
I was inspired to write today’s post after reading this article in The Guardian about writers who are struggling with rent during the cost of living crisis. It got me thinking about a related issue: is writing a luxury that few can afford the time to do?
I admit I hadn’t given this topic a lot of thought before reading the article; maybe ignorance on my part or maybe privilege. Or both. Before I continue, let me clarify that I don’t come from a background of family wealth. I have a steady job, which pays the bills, as does my writer hubby. There is no money tree in our garden. Nope, none. Writing, for both of us, is a supplementary income; a luxury, if you like. I am thankful to be in a position to be able to write regularly and I don’t take this for granted. The reason I am able to write regularly comes down to one word: stability.
In my personal life, unlike the authors in The Guardian article, I haven’t had to move addresses on a yearly basis since my hubby and I were renting in London nearly a decade ago. My current stability allows me to make the time to write. Some other writers, or aspiring authors, may not be so lucky. At a time of soaring food and energy costs, where many people have to work more than one job to make ends meet, exhaustion and other priorities may get in the way of the desire to write. I personally know many writers who have given up on a work-in-progress simply because they can’t juggle everything. Non-essential things fall by the wayside, and for many writers, that means their writing.
Cuts to public funding don’t help matters. On the Arts Council NI website, there have been no grants available for individuals since lockdown in 2020. Believe me, I’ve looked, because like any author I’m always thinking of ways to try and support my writing career. On top of this, bookstore closures cut people off from reading materials from which they may otherwise draw writing inspiration. Money for writing is another luxury that few can afford in precarious economic times; putting books out in the world costs money. Even if an author is traditionally published, where the publisher incurs all costs, they will still have to pay for marketing expenses. Books don’t sell if nobody knows about them.
Economic instability is not conducive to creativity. If creativity is stifled, and original art declines, then what is left?
This week I’m in Ibiza on a much needed holiday.
I’ll be in and out of social media. No writing or editing, minimal reading on the beach. Be back soon…with a tan.
So many books, so many milestones! My second full poetry collection, A Model Archaeologist, celebrates its one year publishing anniversary today. Here’s a photo of one of our cabbage white butterflies on my author hardcover copy, before the little critter took flight in our garden. Aww!
You can celebrate with me by grabbing a copy for free if you subscribe to KU, or as a hardcover for your bookshelf:
A few months back, I wrote an article looking at what percentage of authors make a full-time living from it. This post is to elaborate on the expenses I paid out versus royalties received in 2022, to give a balanced view of what the reality is like being an Indie author. I don’t have much basis for comparison as my fellow Indie authors have not disclosed their own data to me, but I assume I’m fairly typical for a one-woman promotional machine. So here goes:
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I’m making good use of my 8 week summer holiday to do some writing research. As you might know from my other blog posts, I work in a grammar school in Northern Ireland and while school is out for summer, I have been a busy bee working on two novels simultaneously. Novel WIP#7 is a supernatural horror set in London. It was originally an unpublished short story that I wrote back in 2009, and now I have an idea to expand it onto a novel. Novel WIP#8 is the sequel to The Buddha’s Bone, which I am writing at reader request; basically enough readers contacted me to say that they wanted to know what happens next in Kimberly’s story, since things end on a positive note with her and Naoki. The sequel will pick up directly where the story left them in Japan.
The photo is me at Keats & Chapman bookstore in Belfast doing research for novel WIP#7. Can you believe I didn’t know that such a gem of a bookstore existed? I tend to shop in Waterstones, No Alibis and Books, Paper, Scissors in my hometown, so happening upon this fantastic store while on a shopping day out with my family was a treat. I’m doing research on witchcraft (spoiler alert!), a topic I know next to nothing about. But as a reader, I love learning new things. I found these two fabulous non-fiction books on the history of witchcraft, so I’ll be brushing up my historical knowledge on the topic soon.
Prior to 2021, all of my books had been published by small press publishers. Once my books had been released, admittedly, I hadn’t spent any money on advertising; instead I promoted my books at live events, with maybe a token post or two on my website and social media. For my traditionally published books (A Model Archaeologist and Chemotherapy for the Soul) I attended spoken word events, literary festivals and book signings. Likewise, for my debut novel (Gods of Avalon Road) I sold the majority of copies at book launch events in stores such as Waterstones, or through library events.
Once I set up my own imprint in 2021 and launched my first book under my Leilanie Stewart Author brand (The Buddha’s Bone), expenses were high as I had to incur start-up costs; as you would for any business. My costs versus royalties for that left me in an eye-watering deficit; there were a few things that I did two years ago that I wouldn’t repeat, and some that have proved to be worth the money. I’d like to share with you the things that didn’t work for me in the hope that you won’t be out of pocket (by several thousand pounds – yikes!) like I was. Here is what older, wiser, more savvy publisher, Leilanie Stewart, will not repeat again going forward from 2023 onwards:
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I wrote a blog post recently about which is hardest between writing, editing and marketing. Other writers have since engaged when I shared that post on social media with their own thoughts that publishing and marketing are by far the hardest, since the former two of the three are within the writer’s control, whereas the latter involves reaching customers – and that, for the most part, is down to readers, not writers. Since it’s the one year publishing bookiversary of my most popular book, The Blue Man, I thought I’d share some marketing insights that I’ve learned over the past year. I’m by no means a marketing expert; I’m just another indie author who has had more hit than miss over the past year with my marketing experiments. Believe me, this time last year, I was wondering if releasing a ghost horror novel in July, rather than closer to Halloween, was the right decision. Turns out it was, as I guess readers like a creepy read at any time of year; I sure do! With that in mind, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned, so feel free to join me for a coffee (hurray caffeine!) and read on:
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Leilanie Stewart 