Curveball
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. But I’ve been busy working on a curveball project that I never saw coming.
When I quit my job to focus on writing books, I had a ‘bucket-list’ of projects I wanted to complete. That list (unfulfilled for various reasons—not least a lack of exposure to the reading public) should have been:
- The entire Kalleron series (six books)
- Fallen Moon
- M7RRORS
- A young-adult dystopian fantasy
It’s not quite worked out that way.
The Fantasy Didn’t Find the Audience
Despite rave reviews for Hammer & Glass and highly positive reader feedback from the Bookstagram community, I realised there was a problem. Me. I have no reach. No author visibility. This is a problem almost all indie-authors face. Regardless of how great the book might be, it’s no more visible than a black cat down a deep well in the dead of a moonless night. And there are no streetlamps—let’s say it’s 1432AD. As silly as that analogy sounds, it actually misses the point (which is far more accurate)—nobody is looking for the cat. That’s how books work. It’s how all sales work. If you want to succeed—your product has to be more than desirable. It has to be visible, and seen by the right people. How do you do that? If I knew, I’d be doing it.
nobody is looking for the cat
My Kalleron fantasy series worked as a coherent project. It resonated with the microcosm who read it, but a handful of people isn’t a sales success. And with my motivation kicked out of me like air from a busted balloon, I left it at four books. I would love to continue the journey—to see where Chara and Goddard go—but writing to no audience is the definition of author hell. It is soul-destroying.
Thus started the Decline
My fragmented book releases (unhindered by a solid marketing plan or good advice) didn’t help in creating a brand image. That’s not entirely a fair reflection of me. It was my choice to write books that appealed to my imagination. I created worlds, characters, and stories that appealed to my heart and soul. And they are, judging by my few reviews (from established book community players), at worst ‘good’ and at best ‘bloody brilliant.’ Unfortunately, commercial success is rarely found in doing what you want. The market doesn’t reward individualism or creative thinking. That’s not to say that traditionally published books are bad. It simply means that compelling and original work often goes unnoticed.
commercial success is rarely found in doing what you want
Rising Hopes—Falling Moon
Bloody brilliant. That’s what one plucky Booksta reviewer said in her IG review for Fallen Moon. Unfortunately, Amazon (as it often does with random impunity) rejected her review umpteen times. ‘Bloody brilliant’ never made it to the sales review. Others said equally positive things about the sci-fantasy with themes of forbidden technology, subverted cultures, and uncontrolled AI. It’s selling like hotcakes, right? Wrong.
Why? It’s taken me over two years to realise what’s going wrong, or at least to accept it. A simple truth. A foundation of book-selling that I’ve been wilfully ignorant about. I don’t write for the market. You want a spicy and edgy fantasy with morally grey characters? Nope. Not me. But that IS the market for fantasy right now. Sci-fi? More expansive and forgiving, but Fallen Moon falls between the cracks of conventional tropes and leans more toward fantasy, even though it’s set in the far future. It’s difficult to pitch. And that’s the rub. If you can’t describe your idea with a few buzzwords—you’re not going to sell it.
I don’t write for the market
I also fall foul of word count limits. Traditional agents often stipulate desired word counts, usually between 80-120k. I’ve read agency bios that say they’ll refuse books from unknown authors over a certain word count. Four of my six current releases fall foul of that rule.
Curveball
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Out of the blue, a new book idea crashed down to Earth, and after a few false starts, I created something that, for me, is out of the ordinary. I can pitch it. I can describe it. And it comes in at a compact 80k words. It even has a strapline for the title: When the truth is revered, lies can be murder.
The story, which I’ve teased on IG and threads, is still a secret. But it’s a crime-thriller with a near-future slant. It’s technically in the post-cyberpunk genre. All that means is that my future isn’t necessarily dystopian. In fact, my future is bright—it revolves around accountability and truth. And that’s the entire premise of the story. A murder leads our intrepid agents down a rabbit hole of conspiracy, deception, and digital heresy. It’s easy to pitch.
a rabbit hole of conspiracy, deception, and digital heresy
My plan is to let a few trusted reviewers read it and give me feedback, then (assuming they think it’s worth it), submit it to literary agents. Unfortunately, that means I can’t self-publish it until the rejections come in, or I wait a few months. That also means I should start a new project. The question is: do I write it for me, or do I try another market-friendly story?
I guess we’ll find out soon.
