Speaker 0 00:00:00 <silence>
Speaker 1 00:00:24 Hello and welcome to Small Publishing in a Big Universe. And I am not your host, LA Jacob. This is part two of Live from Bay Con from Santa Clara, California. During the July 4th weekend to Honey 23, Vanessa McLaurin, Ray Ryan Southwick and Brian Bull have interviewed these authors. Check out the small publishing in a big universe marketplace where you will find books by authors who have been interviewed for this podcast. For more information about the marketplace, please see their website, p b u marketplace.com.
Speaker 2 00:01:03 This is small publishing in a big universe, live at Big Con 2023. So would you give us your name and then maybe talk a little bit about what you write or what you particularly like to read? What draws you there?
Speaker 3 00:01:15 I am Author MD New, and I am a queer science fiction, paranormal and fantasy writer. I actually live here in Silicon Valley, so a lot of what I write is reflected of the area that we live in. So almost all of my books will actually take place here in either San Jose, Silicon Valley, or all the surrounding areas.
Speaker 2 00:01:35 And so you've been in Silicon Valley all of your life? Yeah, yeah. Oh, excellent.
Speaker 3 00:01:38 So you'll get a lot of places that, for people who are local, they'll get a lot of references to some of the local areas, which is just a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 00:01:46 Well, that's fascinating. Would you say that you make the Silicon Valley like a character in your book? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:01:52 Okay. And the answer would be absolutely. I make sure that I treat the locations almost like a secondary or a tertiary character where they can come in and for the people who don't know the area, they'll get a flavor for it. And the people who do know the area can go, I know where that location is, or I've been to that spot, or Yes, I've been there. Or Hey, I need to go there.
Speaker 2 00:02:19 No, I love that. So how many times have you attended Bay Con?
Speaker 3 00:02:23 This is my second time.
Speaker 2 00:02:25 Second time? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:02:26 So I'm a newbie.
Speaker 2 00:02:27 I think once you have done it once, you're no longer a newbie, you're a professional now and you're gonna be called to work in the coal mines <laugh> of the Bake on Coal Mines. So what do you find are the biggest challenges facing independent authors today?
Speaker 3 00:02:41 You know, we've actually talked about this quite a lot, especially over the past couple of days. We, I was on a couple of panels where we actually went over this very thing. And the issues, I think they're universal to all authors is you have to understand marketing, you have to understand promotion, you have to understand what I refer to as the back of house. So yes, you get to create these wonderful stories and write these beautiful works, but at the same time you have to, you know, you're running a business. So you have to understand that you need a business license, that you need to have your fictitious business name. All of these things that no one ever thinks about and no one ever offers to tell you mm-hmm. <affirmative> until you get knee deep into it and you find out that, oh wow, I have to do this.
Speaker 2 00:03:30 So it's not just the visibility, but it's also all of the other aspects of running your own business and and being everything.
Speaker 3 00:03:37 Correct. Yeah. That is absolutely it. Unless you are lucky enough to have, you know, there are some authors who have personal assistance or even with publishing houses, they do some of that for you. But you still, if you're gonna come to a con like Bay Con, right, you know, you have to have your business licenses, you have to have your taxes, all that stuff in line because unfortunately the government wants it's cut.
Speaker 2 00:04:01 And what do you feel has been your greatest success as an author?
Speaker 3 00:04:05 For me, my greatest success is when you get somebody who comes up to you and says, I really liked what you wrote. It really resonated with me. And to me that is one of the best feelings because as much as I would like to think that my books get out there and everybody's reading them, the reality is that's not always the case. So when somebody does come up and says, I really liked the story because of X, Y, Z, it, to me that is just what makes it all worthwhile.
Speaker 2 00:04:37 Yeah. I mean, you've touched somebody's heart. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that's what it's all about for me as well. It's just to reach somebody. The writing is communication between you and the reader. And when you see that it's happened when you closed that circuit and then made that connection, magic has happened.
Speaker 3 00:04:54 It really is. It's, and sure it would be nice to have a million dollar contract. I mean, who wouldn't love that? But when you get the individuals that just come up, and this meant a lot to me or I saw myself in that, for me, that's why I actually started writing because I never saw myself in works of fiction. And as a gay man, I wanted to see a gay guy blow up the death star who doesn't wanna get into a tie fighter or an X-Wing or be the hero, right? Well, it was the same thing for me, but you just don't ever see that. And so for my writing, that's what I wanted to do. So when people come up to me and say, Hey, it was great to actually be the hero of the story and to not have it be the plot
Speaker 2 00:05:37 Or the, the cliche or the Right. Right. This has been fantastic. Is there anything else that you'd like to say about yourself or anything in particular that you wanna share?
Speaker 3 00:05:47 Honestly, it is so much about, just all I can ask folks is to pay attention to your local authors. Pay attention to not necessarily the Stephen Kings and the JK Rawlings and the Clancy's and all that. They write wonderful work. But look at the people who you may not know mm-hmm. <affirmative> because they tell wonderful, great stories. And when you come to an event like here at Bay Con, you get an opportunity to go around, especially the dealer rooms that are on the panels and meet these authors who you may not have necessarily ever heard of. And their works are phenomenal, they're fantastic and you can get behind them and enjoy them. So it doesn't matter what you like to read, you're gonna find something and just give the smaller publishers or the smaller publishing houses a chance.
Speaker 2 00:06:42 Would you say that um, it's with the independent authors and your local authors that you're gonna find something truly new and not purely derivative?
Speaker 3 00:06:50 I would almost a hundred percent agree with that. There are a lot of genres that are very formulaic and that's just the way that big publishers work. They have a very set way of doing things. And so when you get these smaller publishers, when you get these independent authors, they can break all the rules and they only are answerable to their readers. And so all of a sudden you get these fun exciting things that no one's ever done before. And that's why I say give the independent authors a chance. You might get some that are terrible, but you might get that gem that you just, all of a sudden, it's your story. It's
Speaker 2 00:07:27 The right book for you. It's the thing that you were looking for that you didn't know you actually needed.
Speaker 3 00:07:31 Exactly. Exactly. I am Author MD new, if you wanna find me on uh, social media and or online, my website is www.md new.com. You can find me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook under MD new.com.
Speaker 2 00:07:47 Thank you so much. This is small publishing in a big universe. We are at Bay Con 2023, this is live. Would you state your name and then talk a little bit about what you write and maybe what you like to read?
Speaker 4 00:07:59 Alright, sure. Brian, thanks for having me. My name's Denise aka and generally I like to write fiction, high fantasy or Space Opera short stories. But lately I've gotten sidetracked into doing some nonfiction projects and some true crime that intrigued me. One was related to the movie Star Valentino and some little side, something that happened to someone he knew. And also there was a murder in my family tree about a hundred years ago. And so I researched that and wrote up a book about what happened there.
Speaker 2 00:08:37 Wow. Yeah, I don't actually know if I have any murderous ancestors. I mean, I'm sure I probably
Speaker 4 00:08:41 Did. Oh, no one that got murdered? Not well,
Speaker 2 00:08:43 No. The one who got murdered. Okay.
Speaker 4 00:08:44 Well that's not one who committed a murder, but yeah. Okay. My grandmother's older sister was murdered.
Speaker 2 00:08:50 So how many times have you attended peon?
Speaker 4 00:08:53 Wow. I attended the first time in the late nineties maybe when the kids were little 'cause I met a mom through playgroup and then I stopped going for a long time. And then I just got back into it probably in the mid 2000, like 2014 or 2015. And I've been coming every year since then and I've been enjoying it very much and seeing the growing community of all the supportive people who come here like yourself.
Speaker 2 00:09:21 That's excellent. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite conventions and I've been going for a while, but what do you find are the biggest challenges facing independent authors these days? Getting
Speaker 4 00:09:30 Your name out there. 'cause when you're with the big publisher, at least you're in a catalog that goes into bookstores or you're in the libraries, you get maybe a little bit more support. Although from some of the traditionally published authors, I know they don't get a lot of support either, but at least their name is listed on the big websites and it's easier for them to get recognized. And it's just been so hard to try to be the one voice among so many other voices and everyone's creative and it's just hard to get noticed I think.
Speaker 2 00:10:05 Is there any tips or tricks that you've found that is helping you overcome that to help you find yourself get noticed?
Speaker 4 00:10:12 I guess just personal connections and especially with the nonfiction, like finding the place where that murder happened and then getting connections to the local historical society and then doing a reading here of my short science fiction thing. It's like they don't wanna hear from my nonfiction book.
Speaker 2 00:10:31 How big a part of getting that exposure would you say is attending Cons like Bay Con?
Speaker 4 00:10:36 Well, since that's kind of the only thing I do and I can't imagine what else I could do 'cause it's hard to get a book signing at a major bookstore if you're not a big name and it's hard to get into local libraries or, so I think this is about all I do and I'm hoping it'll pay off.
Speaker 2 00:10:53 So just wrapping this up, is there anything else you'd like to talk about, about yourself, about your work, about your stories, anything at all?
Speaker 4 00:11:00 No, just I wanna push my latest anthology because I had found them kind of by accident, but I really wanna support them. They're called the dread machine.com and they were just wonderful people to work with.
Speaker 2 00:11:16 Thank you so much, Denise. This has been absolutely fantastic. Thank
Speaker 4 00:11:19 You Brian. Well this
Speaker 5 00:11:20 Will be a little strange, but this is Maka Zelensky, no relation. I'm here at <inaudible> 2023, which is like hundreds of years ago. I have no idea why I'm here and I'm here to talk with uh, some author who is here who claims that she writes stories that have me in them. But you know, that remains to be seen. We'll have to wait a few hundred years. Okay. Please to introduce yourself. Hi, my name's Vanessa McLaren Ray. I write science fiction and fantasy kind of all about communication and getting people together. And I kind of write across the spectrum of storytelling. My latest book is Shadows of Insurrection, which is fake shamans and real swordsmen and a society about to be overrun from without. So we have a hero who has to stand up for his country. What else do you want to know, Maka?
Speaker 5 00:12:17 Well, I have been to uh, Pecon I think, uh, twice now, which is a miracle considering I live many hundred years in future. How many times have you been to Bay Con? Thank you. Well, I've been coming to Beon since 2014 I think. And I started out just coming as a regular member and then I needed more to do, so I got to be a gopher, which is running around helping people. And then I became a regular helper in the art show, which is my favorite part of Beon. And then I started getting onto some panels and stuff and being a speaker and now I'm kind of a regular moderator in Bayan panels, which is fun and a little bit daunting. I got to moderate the guest of honor as part of a panel this weekend, so that was exciting. Okay. Enough about yourself and all wonderful things you do at Bake On.
Speaker 5 00:13:09 Uh, what do you think are the biggest challenges facing indie authors? I think this might seem repetitious <laugh> because I, I think like most indie authors, the main thing I notice is the difficulty in finding the right audience for your stories. Because I tell a lot of different kinds of stories that kind of multiplies for me because I write books for young people, I write books for older people. I write books with aliens in them and books with children in them. And uh, so that is a, a fun challenge and that's uh, one reason that one needs to seek allies <laugh> as one goes into publishing.
Speaker 5 00:13:46 Okay. Okay. E enough whining Vanessa. No more whinging about horrible challenges if you have books out what you complain of. Okay. So what do you think has been your greatest success as an author? Oh, an author. What a fancy word for a writer in terms of having success. I was just so excited when my first book was accepted for publication, but I think it's been even more exciting to see it develop with each book. I feel like I have my feet under me and at this point where I have a duology coming out, I kind of have that confidence that yes, this second book is gonna complete a story that I began in the first book. Even though the first book is in and of itself que vati name of book you it's slightly pitching here. Okay. The book is Shadows of Insurrection and its successors Flames of Attrition.
Speaker 5 00:14:41 So this sounds very dramatic and well it is. Okay, I am supposed to ask if there's anything else you want to tell people that you know in this context of in the authors and stuff and Beon. I think the one thing I would do is encourage you to go out and meet up with people. We're all introverts. In a place like Beon is a great place to go to learn to leverage your introversion, <laugh>, meet other people that you know are introverts and are doing some of the same things. And to make some friends so that even in the dark days when nobody's buying your book, there will be somebody who will run up to you and clasp your hand and say, oh my gosh, that was a great panel. You guys did a great job. And all the darkness of the days before will evaporate. So take yourself out there and meet people and you will find you will feel better. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. We'll now shut up and go away. Thank you very much Vanessa and thank you Maka. It's been a pleasure writing you.
Speaker 2 00:15:45 We are at Bay Con 2023 and this is small publishing in a Big Universe. Uh, would you state your name and what you write, maybe what you like to read?
Speaker 6 00:15:53 Hi, I'm Cheryl R. Hayes. I am an author of Urban Fantasy and Fantasy Short Stories. I also read Science Fiction Fantasy, basically anything you'll shove under my nose.
Speaker 2 00:16:05 And uh, how many times have you attended Bay Conn?
Speaker 6 00:16:08 I've been attending Bay Con, uh, at least since 2013. So I'm not quite here as long as some of the older folks who have been here, but I'm becoming one of those people slowly.
Speaker 2 00:16:21 I'm actually in the same boat. I think I started around uh, 2012 or 2013. What do you find are your biggest challenges facing indie authors these days?
Speaker 6 00:16:30 That actually comes down to a lot to visibility. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, there are a lot of writers and a lot of good writers out there. Just because it has the word independently published out there does not mean that we haven't put the same work into it and had it edited, had it looked over, had taken care of a good cover. But with so much stuff out there on Amazon, on Apple, on Barnes and Noble, it's an embarrassment of riches and it's sometimes really hard to get noticed.
Speaker 2 00:17:01 Right. It's a lot of us all clamoring for the same crowd essentially. Yes. Do you have any tips or tricks that you've used that stand out to you that have helped you uh, navigate that?
Speaker 6 00:17:14 It sounds the hardest to do because we are such an internet-based business, but dealing with people, talking with people one-on-one, asking them what do they like to read and being willing to say if they give you something that is not what you're writing as a response, say, okay, I may not be for you, but I know somebody else. So don't be afraid to say, okay, you don't like werewolves and vampires, which is what I write, but I like ghosts. Like what Brian's writing here, <laugh>. Don't be afraid to say I'm not for you, but my buddy Brian over here has a book that sounds right up your alley. We're not in this competing against each other. We're all in this to help each other. No,
Speaker 2 00:17:58 That's, that's, that's actually, yeah, that's my attitude as well. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I, I love it. So what do you feel has been your greatest success as an author?
Speaker 6 00:18:05 My greatest success actually as an author has nothing to do with books necessarily. I recently sold a short story to another podcast that I was told was not a sellable story. Oh wow. And it took me about 10 years literally to find the right market for it. But I did sell the story. So don't give up.
Speaker 2 00:18:25 Do you want to tell us a little bit about the story? Okay.
Speaker 6 00:18:27 The short story is called The 10th Life. It is literally about my cats. I can't say too much beyond that without giving away the big twist. It is available on Katz Cast, which is available on the Escape Artist network.
Speaker 2 00:18:42 Is there anything else you'd like to talk about? Anything about you personally? And this is just open to anything here.
Speaker 6 00:18:47 I'm known around here as the woman who has lost her mind and knits costumes. Those
Speaker 2 00:18:53 Are independent things. You lost your mind and then you knit costumes. <laugh>. Well
Speaker 6 00:18:57 They're kind of combined when you actually take a look at these costumes. I am a masterclass costumer in the masquerade around here. For those of you who are not familiar with the masquerade, this isn't the dances that you think of. This is basically a costume show where various people of various levels, young kids, older adults, we create amazing outfits and amazing costumes and then get up on stage and show them off. Some people are just showing them off like with a catwalk style, some people go and write entire skits and have entire performances. It's very fun. If you're at a con and you see a masquerade, I highly encourage you to attend. You'll have a fun time.
Speaker 2 00:19:42 Thank you so much Cheryl. This has been absolutely fantastic And this has been Cheryl Hayes.
Speaker 7 00:19:48 This is Small Publishing and a big universe here at Bake on 2023. Would you please tell us your name, a little bit about what you write?
Speaker 2 00:19:57 My name is Brian Ell. I write under Brian c e Buell. And my first book out debuting here at Bay Con is the repossessed Ghost, which is an urban fantasy in the style of the Dresden Viles by Jim Butcher.
Speaker 7 00:20:10 Wow, that sounds wonderful. Uh, is this your first time at Bay Conn?
Speaker 2 00:20:13 Oh no, this is uh, probably my fourth or fifth decon. I haven't attended all of them in a row, but it's been over the last I would say eight or nine years O off and on.
Speaker 7 00:20:23 So what do you find are the biggest challenges facing indie authors?
Speaker 2 00:20:29 Honestly, I think it's exposure. I think it is uh, getting your foot in the door. There's so many of us, it's everybody's screaming for the same thing. And I mean I think that's a pretty common answer. The great problem is gonna be finding the audience. But the other item is I think indie authors have often the unique story, the genre bending the, the things that are a little bit harder to find comp titles for. And so we're all looking for the same audience and it's sometimes it's even harder to market these interesting ideas. And I think it's those ideas that have the greatest import. It's getting away from the regular treadmill, like blowing new tropes, inventing new things once every few years we get something that does break out and it always starts independent small publishing area and then everybody's trying to catch up at that point. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:21:19 Traditional publishers don't want to take that risk, do they? No,
Speaker 2 00:21:22 No. They want to bank on guaranteed sales. They wanna bank on sequels, they want to get with authors that have established audiences and names. So it makes it harder for new authors to find that place. A lot of this comes down to marketing and money and so if the marketing dollars aren't there than the exposure isn't gonna be there. And so as a new author, you're not gonna get the same marketing budget as the bigger names. It's kind of a catch 22, like how do you get that exposure? The sales aren't gonna be there, they're not gonna be as big with a smaller marketing budget and yet the smaller marketing budget is exactly what the new authors are gonna wind up with. So that's, it's a big challenge there and standing out from the crowd, everybody is trying to do that.
Speaker 7 00:22:06 And so along those lines, so what do you feel has been your greatest success as an author?
Speaker 2 00:22:11 I think my greatest success is where I'm at right now. I have, integrity is extremely important to me. I've navigated these waters with as much integrity and empathy as I can and I don't think I've had to compromise any of my character in order to get here. And I've planted a lot of seeds and I'm finally starting to see some grow. So I have definitely known some authors, I'm not gonna name names that have had to make some interesting compromises that I wouldn't make and they've had some levels of success that I wouldn't get because of those kind of compromises. But I think that staying true to myself, I think that's a a pretty big success.
Speaker 7 00:22:49 Oh I think that's wonderful. Anything else you'd like to share with us in closing?
Speaker 2 00:22:53 No, I think that this has been an actual absolutely delightful event at Bay Con this year. As I've said it several times, I feel like it's like almost an out-of-body experience. I see this guy Brian, who's having a great time and it's like, oh wait, no that's me. So <laugh>. Yeah.
Speaker 7 00:23:07 Fantastic. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2 00:23:09 Thank you. This is small publishing in a Big Universe. We are at Bay Con 2023 Live. Would you please state your name and then talk a little bit about what you write and maybe a little bit about like what you like to read as well.
Speaker 8 00:23:23 My name is Steven Brewer, my publisher is Steven D. Brewer. I write fantasy and science fiction. My like to write of a current series out that's kind of a steam punky fantasy adventure with pirates and airships and a trans protagonist. That's Raven's heart. And I'm also working on a series of short stories that are space opera set on the truck stop at the center of the galaxy called Better Angels.
Speaker 2 00:23:45 This is your first BA con, isn't it?
Speaker 8 00:23:47 Yes. This is the first time I've attended Bay Con. I've attended other science fiction conventions, but I've never been out in the west coast for a convention before.
Speaker 2 00:23:55 Is there any conventions that stand out as your favorite to attend? I really
Speaker 8 00:23:59 Enjoyed Reader Con in uh, the Boston area. It's really focused on readers and authors and science fiction. Uh, so that's a wonderful one. And I attended World Con for the first time last year in Chicago, which was amazing. It's so big and spectacular, uh, and so many people there.
Speaker 2 00:24:16 Actually World Con is one of my favorites as well. I have a really soft spot in my heart for that. What do you find are the biggest challenges facing independent authors these days? Oh
Speaker 8 00:24:25 My, it's such a saturated marketplace. It's really hard for your work to get recognized for your, for you to get your work out in front of people to see it. There are a whole bunch of different avenues for communicating and the market is all segmented in different places, so you feel like you have to kind of be everywhere and trying to push stuff constantly to get it out in front of people. And it's also become so monopolized. There are only five big publishing companies left and it's really, really hard, especially if you're trying to be an indie publisher or work with a small press. But still the rewards are in it's incredibly rewarding when you see people enjoying your work.
Speaker 2 00:25:02 Are there any tips and tricks or anything that you've learned that helps to overcome that challenge of finding the visibility and reaching your audience?
Speaker 8 00:25:11 I participated in Outright, which was a conference for L G B T Q I A people in Washington DC last year. It was virtual. I didn't actually go there, but I went to a panel discussion about publicity and one of the things, there was a, one of the guests who said that the key thing is not try to spread yourself out and do everything because you'll burn yourself out and you can't do that. But instead to try and pick one or two things that you like and then do those things and focus your effort on those things. And you can maybe have a small presence in other places as well. But I found that to be really helpful. And so I've been focusing on Mastodon lately. I used to do Twitter, I can't go to Twitter anymore. I do L G B T Q I A stuff and he's all about smashing trans people, right. For whatever reason. And so I simply can't be there anymore. And so I found Mastodon as a, a wonderful place to be that's a supportive, interesting, quirky community. Uh, and I feel like that's where I'm putting most of my effort these days. So
Speaker 2 00:26:05 You'd say that social media is a pillar in your outreach and getting to your audience? Oh
Speaker 8 00:26:10 Absolutely. Yeah. I don't know of any other real way to do it other than spend money. You can try and spend money on Amazon advertising or spend money on Facebook. Of course Facebook hides anything that you post there unless you give them money. That's what their business model is, trying to make sure that nobody will see anything you post unless you give the money.
Speaker 2 00:26:29 What do you feel has been your greatest success as an author?
Speaker 8 00:26:33 I'd say getting published <laugh> has been my greatest success because certainly I spent a long time sending things out and getting rejected over and over again. And when I, I finally found a place that was interested in my work and supported my work, it was so incredibly rewarding and I felt so much better about myself and about my effort to have found a place where it fit in. And finishing my first series and having it out there where people can purchase the whole thing all at once. Bay Con here has been the first time that people have been able to get the entire bundle of all of the stories in my first series. And that's
Speaker 2 00:27:06 Been pretty successful here at Big Count, hasn't it? It's
Speaker 8 00:27:08 Been very successful. It sold extremely well. I sold all the physical copies that we had and I've been selling digital bundles since then. I've been really gratified by the response.
Speaker 2 00:27:18 Just to close this up, is there anything else that you'd like to say about yourself, your Work Water Dragon in particular? Anything that comes to mind? Oh,
Speaker 8 00:27:25 I should talk about Water Dragon Publishing. What a great small press. It's a wonderful community of people. We have a virtual writing group that gets together every week or every couple of weeks online and, and you know, people are kind of spread out all over the place. Some of us are in Rhode Island, I'm in Massachusetts, several people from the Bay Area, we're all kind of strange. I sometimes call it the island of Misfit toys because we all seem like none of us quite fit in. But it's a very supportive, warm, helpful community with wonderful ideas. And then the publisher itself has been an incredible partner to me in terms of letting me have input into decisions about cover art or the editing and getting, you know, useful feedback that makes my stories so much stronger. My brother commented how the first manuscript that I got published here, he'd read the final draft that I'd submitted and then when it came out he read it after it had been published and he was blown away by how much better it was as a result of not a huge amount of editing, but just thoughtful suggestions about how to make things stronger.
Speaker 8 00:28:25 And so it's been a great experience working with Water Dragon Publishing.
Speaker 2 00:28:29 Thank you so much. This has been Stephen Brewer.
Speaker 5 00:28:33 This is Vanessa again live at Bay Con and I have found another new author with two wonderful books that we've been selling here at the Small Publishing Big Universe Table. So could you introduce yourself please?
Speaker 9 00:28:45 My name is Rebecca Gomez Ferrell and I'm the author of Wings Unseen and Wings unhr, which is the Wings Rising series,
Speaker 5 00:28:54 And I just sold two of those books. Woohoo. Woohoo. So we're both really excited. So how many times have you been to Bay Con? And you can count this because you're in the Baylor's room, so you're here.
Speaker 9 00:29:06 So I have been to Bay Con once a few years ago and it was a lot of fun, but I just haven't had the weekend, been able to make it back on the right weekend since. But this year, yes, my books are representing me, so I am ghost attending Bay Con maybe.
Speaker 5 00:29:23 Fair enough. That's a good way to it. Sci-fi fantasy. Attending as ghost is completely legitimate. What are some of the biggest challenges that you've faced as an indie author?
Speaker 9 00:29:34 I think for all authors, the biggest challenge is really finding your audience, getting the eyeballs to your work, which is the marketing piece, which can feel a little bit draining. I am actually quite jealous of the indie authors who really enjoy doing all of their analysis of finding out what ads work and what places work best to do their books. And I really kind of still dream that people will just magically find my books all on their own.
Speaker 5 00:30:03 Well that would be a powerful sort of magic. If we could package that in a box, it would be great. What would you say has been your biggest success as an author? Just kind of basically that moment when you had that feeling like, yes,
Speaker 9 00:30:16 I got this biggest success is probably the first time I had a big industry mag publish one of my short stories, and that was back in, I think I'm gonna get the year wrong, I think 2015 is when Beneath Cecil Skies published one of my short stories and I was like, wow, people really love this magazine and love the writing in it, and I get to be in it. And maybe that means I really am a real writer too.
Speaker 5 00:30:45 That's a wonderful answer. And please tell me the name of the short story so we can Google it. That
Speaker 9 00:30:51 Short story is blow 'em down and M is apostrophe e m shortened for them and it is kind of a jazz age retelling of the story of the Battle of Jericho.
Speaker 5 00:31:05 I have to look that up. And so do you, you get one chance to say one more thing that you want to convey.
Speaker 9 00:31:12 One more thing I want to convey for indie authors out there is perseverance is the number one most important thing for a writing career. You can control your quality, you can get better at your craft, but if you stop putting yourself out there, that's the only thing that into your career. And you have to keep persevering, you have to keep writing, and that's how you get that audience in the end.
Speaker 5 00:31:37 Wonderful. Thank you so much, Becca. I'm so glad I was here when you came by.
Speaker 9 00:31:42 Thanks for having me, Vanessa.
Speaker 1 00:31:45 Hi. I am back. We'd like to thank the authors who took the time to be interviewed for our podcast. Check out the Small publishing in a big Universe marketplace where you will find books by these authors. Please go to their
[email protected] for more information. Theme music is provided by Melody Loops. Other music is found for free on the web. If you want to know more about small publishing in a big universe, visit our
[email protected]. Tweet us at P dash podcast and like us on Facebook at SP podcast. This podcast was edited by yours truly, LA Jacob Executive producer is Steven Radecki. Transcription services provided by Sleepy Fox Studio. This month's episode was sponsored by Water Dragon Publishing. You can hear our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and most of your favorite podcast services. Thank you very much for listening and talk to you soon.
