Things People Say To Me As A Writer

You must be very clever!

I don’t think I’m that clever. I struggled a lot at school with writing and reading. When the teaching assistants got me into writing stories, I felt that I received my calling in life. I find learning new skills hard and I’ve always been a late developer. Before the pandemic, I could easily write a couple from paragraphs a day. Sometimes I’m lucky if I can string a sentence.

People say I’m sensitive, but I do have a thick skin when it comes to writing. This is due to countless rejections, death threats from trolls no longer phase me. I’ve also got some lovely reviews from people that have gone on to be my friends.

The easiest part to writing a book is writing the book. Editing, cover design, formatting, marketing and receiving feedback are all different arts in themselves. I think a lot of people reading this, will also be writers themselves that will understand.

You must be rich!

I wish. If I earned more money through writing than my full-time job every month, I wouldn’t work. The problem is that earning money through writing is like a lottery. If I ever won a writing contest, I’d put my money in a savings account. Writing has enriched my mind in large doses, and my bank in small doses.

Sometimes I can earn £100 one day and 10p the next.

A combination of reviews, blog writing, royalties, book sales, and payments has meant that I have earned at least £1300 in the past ten years. That’s not a lot, but it’s an extra £130 a year that I wouldn’t have received if I didn’t. It’s hard to give an exact figure because two of the sites I used to write for no longer exist.

Where can I buy it?

All the books I’ve written, along with the majority of anthologies I’ve been a part of, can be bought on Amazon. I have extended distribution selected when I upload the works on Lulu, Amazon & Draft2Digital. I never go exclusive. I’ve been giving Ingram Spark and Barnes & Noble Press a go, and I really like the latter.

Through Barnes & Noble Press, I hope to get my books available in their physical bookstores. They’re one of the biggest book retailers in the US, and I want my work there. I hope people can eventually find my work in libraries and physical bookstores eventually.

Perhaps uploading my books in other places has been in vain. 90% of my try book sales have been on Amazon. But I have made the odd book sale here and there through other sites. In my opinion, if one person buys it, enjoys it and treasures it, it’s worth it...even if a hundred people hate it.

You could be the next J.K Rowling.

This is probably the one I get the most. Ten years ago, I would have been flattered by this. I adore the Harry Potter series and still do. Now, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing considering how her views have hurt the trans community. As a writer, she’s in a different league to me. She wrote children’s books and I have yet to write a proper children’s book. The closest is Inbu’s Heart which is more of a teen fic.

You should write about this and that

My friends have giving me lots of ideas about the books they think I should write next. Some of them are interesting like the aliens on earth and the memoirs. I’ve also got a long list of stories and book ideas that I want to do but haven’t finished yet. I’ve got three big projects at the moment, and I tend to go to them when I have the inspiration. I try my hardest not to abandon projects, but it happens a lot. There’s fan fics that I haven’t touched in years.

What’s going on in your head?

That sounds like a dangerous question.