When I secured a 3-book publishing deal with So Vain Books in September 2014, I was elated. Six months later, that contract extended to include a prequel novella. So exciting! My star was going to rise and my publishing dreams were going to come true.
Not really.
Two years later, my dreams were in tatters and my star was in a locked box at the bottom of the North Sea. With my publisher about to cease trading imminently, I secured my rights back and was back to square one. It was over and, with less than 2,500 sales across all four titles, it hadn’t quite been the success I’d hoped.
It had taken me one year and twenty-three rejections to get my publishing deal and another nine months to get my first book out there. Although trying to secure another publishing deal seemed the logical route, I couldn’t risk losing what little momentum I had by taking the time to try to do so. Besides, I didn’t have anything new written so I’d have been going out with the same trilogy and novella that So Vain Books had published and I wasn’t sure how well that would be received.
I hadn’t set the publishing world alight with my chart positions or sales volumes but I did have very good reviews. It seemed that hardly anyone discovered my books but those who did loved them. With that encouragement, my husband knocked together temporary covers and I re-issued the four books as an independent (indie) author in the autumn of 2016.
Indie publishing (or self-publishing) is not an easy route. It’s an amazing route to market for so many different circumstances – struggling to find a traditional publishing deal, not wanting a traditional deal, writing something niche, wanting control of decisions to name just a few reasons a writer might choose this route – but it is heaving with other indies. To stand out and achieve success, a lot of time and money needs to go into promotional activities and this can be a massive challenge if you’re not writing full-time and/or don’t have the money to invest. Both applied to me.
We knew the covers looked a bit ‘home-made’ because they’d been a rush-job to get my books back out there so I asked hubby to re-do them hoping fresh covers would have a positive impact. They didn’t.
I toyed with changing the titles but I knew that, like the covers, the problem was visibility. I didn’t have the know-how (or the money or the time) to get my books out there to a wider audience so the reality was that I could change everything about them and it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference.
I had hoped that bringing new books out would gain momentum. I did have a flurry of success with my first two Christmas books in 2017 but the level of sales and the chart positions were still nothing to write home about and they dipped off in the spring.
I paid to go on blog tours which brought me some brilliant exposure and some new fans in the blogging community but didn’t translate into sales. I even won several Chill With A Book awards including book of the month several times, cover of the month and book of the year 2019 for Dreaming About Daran. But it still didn’t translate into sales.
In 2018, completely disillusioned by lack of sales but too swamped down with the day job to invest the time in improving things, I concluded that the indie route was not for me. Several author friends were enjoying great success as indies and it was inspiring to see them doing so well… but it hadn’t hit the mark for me and I was starting to question whether I was kidding myself that I could even write!
I decided to try for a publishing deal again with a new novel I’d written and the potential to open up conversations about taking on my backlist.
Securing a publishing deal with Boldwood Books in spring 2019 is the best thing that could ever have happened to me. I had nine books in my backlist at that point and Boldwood offered me a deal for four brand new books and five from my backlist (although that was really six titles as I’d written a sequel to the original novella and the two would be combined to make one full-length novel released through Boldwood).
This contract turned me into a hybrid author where I had a traditional publishing deal but I also had self-published titles available.
My debut with Boldwood was The Secret to Happiness – the book that secured me the publishing deal. It was released first followed by the re-issue of my original ‘Welcome to Whitsborough Bay’ series, re-edited and re-titled. Making Wishes at Bay View was the combined Raving About Rhys and Callie’s Christmas Wish. New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms replaced Searching for Steven. Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove was the new title for Getting Over Gary, and Dreaming About Daran became Coming Home to Seashell Cottage.
I later signed contract addendums for the final three books in my backlist which Boldwood have been steadily re-releasing over the past year with new titles (except Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes which kept the same title), new covers and a fresh edit. Christmas at The Chocolate Pot Café became Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café and Bear With Me became All You Need Is Love.
None of the edits have fundamentally changed the stories; they’ve just updated aspects such as technology, removed extraneous detail and added in more emotion at times, and have generally resulted in a more polished manuscript and smoother story. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with my amazing editor, Nia Beynon, from whom I have learned so much. Her input has definitely improved my writing.
I am currently working on the edits for the very final book in my backlist to be re-released: the story formerly known as Charlee and the Chocolate Shop. At the weekend, I took the indie version of this book down from sale ready to get the new title, cover and blurb up for pre-order this week (watch this space for the reveal!)
Each time I unpublished one of the other titles in my backlist, I thought nothing of it but when I took Charlee down on Saturday, it felt like quite a poignant moment. As I watched the final of nine titles on my author dashboard (the behind the scenes place where indie authors upload their books, load blurbs and covers and keep a track of sales) turn to ‘unpublished’ it struck me that I wasn’t just unpublishing another title; I was saying goodbye to being an indie author. Even though I struggled to make sales, I was indie for 4.5 years. I’ve had lots of jobs that haven’t lasted that long! It is the end of an era and that feels a little strange.
Although I didn’t have a great start with my first publisher and being an indie was exceptionally tough, I learned so much through those experiences. I learned about the type of author I am, which parts of the publishing process I’m good at (and not so good at), and I’ve appreciated all the amazing things Boldwood have done for me all the more because I know what it means to feel so far away from anything resembling success as an author.
I will be forever grateful that the publishing world has evolved so much over the years that there is an indie route available and that, even those my sales were limited, I still had sales. People who weren’t friends or family members discovered my writing and some of those readers are still with me today although they now sit alongside an amazing group of new readers who’ve discovered my stories thanks to Boldwood.
Indie wasn’t for me but it did help make me the author I am today and I’m glad I experienced it. So, goodbye to being an indie. Will I ever try that route again? Who knows?! I’ve just submitted the first book on another twelve-book contract with Boldwood, releasing four books a year over the next three years. I’m due back the edits on that today, after which I’ll start writing the fourth book in the Hedgehog Hollow series and I would hope that I continue to build a readership and write books that my readers and publisher love. But it’s good to know there’s still the indie route there if I didn’t get a third contract or if I wanted to write something different at some point in the future which didn’t fit in with Boldwood’s genres. Given the choice, traditional publishing is my preferred home but I think it helps when I have such a brilliant publisher and such a great relationship with them. I couldn’t imagine home being anywhere else.
Wishing you a fabulous week and thank you so very much for the part you’ve played in supporting my writing journey so far.
Big hugs
Jessica xx
Although Raving About Rhys was a complete story in novella format, Ruby stayed with me over the next couple of years so, last year, I decided to write a follow-up. Callie’s Christmas Wish picked up a few months after Raving About Rhys ended and, as well as letting the reader find out whether Callie’s happy ending stayed happy, it revealed the secrets to Ruby’s past. But Rhys was about to get his fourth identity and, this time, it would be more than a change of cover…
As for the story, what’s changed? Very little. When I wrote Callie’s Christmas Wish, I needed to incorporate some backstory from Raving About Rhys for the benefit of anyone who hadn’t read Rhys first. Combining the two books meant all of that needed removing because it wasn’t needed anymore. The story itself hasn’t changed at all and we still have the same fabulous cast of characters, including a real treat of a couple more scenes between Ruby and Iris which I loved writing. There’s a bit more detail around the friendship between Callie and her colleague, Maria, and a couple of tweaks to Maria’s storyline but it’s otherwise the same two stories and characters brought together under one book.
It’s currently available on pre-order on Amazon 
I had a lovely writing-related day on Saturday. It was the RNA’s annual York Tea and, as that didn’t start until 1pm, I arranged to meet a York-based writing friend on the morning. The last time we met was before the same event last year so we had a lot to catch up on. It was lovely to hear all about the next steps in her journey towards hopefully securing agent representation for her debut historical novel and she was keen to learn all about my publishing deal.
I could write loads about the York Tea but that’s not the purpose of this post which, instead, is about a lightbulb moment and a reminder of a poem I wrote a couple of years back.
For over six years, I’ve been part of a writing collective who provide support and encouragement to each other, celebrate successes, and offer sympathy during low periods. This is invaluable but, because we’re all published writers now, it’s easy to forget about the early days when typing ‘the end’ was a huge achievement and being published was the holy grail. I know that comparing yourself to others is the worst thing possible but it’s also a natural human inclination. When I compare myself to the other talented authors within my writing family who write for a similar market as me, I have always been bottom of the class. I’ve only vicariously experienced high chart positions, volume sales, Amazon Prime deals, and bonuses for pages read. Whilst thrilled for my friends and cheering on their success, the question has always haunted me: What am I doing wrong? I therefore wanted to work with a publishing expert who would get me the visibility/sales that have evaded me as an indie writer, despite great reviews.
At the RNA Tea, I was sat next to my fabulous author friend, Sharon Booth, and a wonderful RNA member we’ve met before had a conversation with us and expressed her admiration for how well we were both doing. A friend of hers who we’d only previously ‘met’ virtually came over and said the same thing. In fact, she called us both “inspiring”. You know those cartoons where a question mark circles round the character’s head? That was us. We were hearing all these words like impressive, inspiring, role-model, aspirational and felt such a disconnect. It’s absolutely not how we view ourselves so it was astonishing to hear others describe us both in this way.
I’m no poet (as you can see) but the sentiment is there. As writers, we’re so busy shifting the goalposts that we can easily forget to focus on everything that we’ve achieved so far. I’m doing it again at the moment. So far, Boldwood Books have released six books and mine was the fourth of these but the only one out of the six not to break the top 1,000 on release date. Several have actually broken into the top 300 which is beyond amazing and I am so thrilled for them because that is such a wonderful achievement and must be such a buzz. I still haven’t broken the 2,000 mark. When I should be doing a happy dance because this is way better than the positions of any of my other books, I’m worrying that I’ve let my publisher and me down. When did I become such an over-thinker?
A few weeks ago, I arranged for all the females on my side of the family to meet for lunch in York. I met up with my mum, one of my cousins and my two sisters-in-law for a mooch around the shops first. One of my SILs told me how much she was looking forward to reading The Secret to Happiness and how proud she was of everything I’d achieved. I was really touched by that. Then, at the meal, Mum got everyone to sign a card for me and I was asked to give a speech about my new publishing deal. My family were so proud and keen to know more which made me feel like I had actually done something special.
‘I’d love to write a book … if only I had the time’ accompanied by a clear judgement that I obviously have loads of spare time
June was yet another crazy-busy month. The big writing news was my publishing deal. Yay! At 10am on Tuesday 18thJune, the secret I’d been keeping for three months could be shared and I spent the day on social media with a big grin on my face as the congratulations messages came in. I was quite overwhelmed with some of the support I had from friends, family and also fellow-writers, but also from those I didn’t know on Facebook and Twitter. How lovely are some people?
On other writing news, I’m on the final stretch with my MA in Creative Writing. I have the first 15k words of a novel to write for my final assignment and a 3k commentary about the learnings in relation to it. I’m writing a time slip novel which is something completely different for me. The 15k words are almost finished which now means I need to start on the commentary which needs submitting in three weeks’ time. We were able to submit the first 2.5k words from the novel as a formative assignment this month and got the feedback on this last week. I submitted two chapters, one of which saw the lead-up to my protagonist going back in time and the other being her reactions to discovering it had happened because I was keen to get feedback on whether the time slip element actually worked. Thankfully my tutor was very positive about both chapters. The second one was spot on but there were a few tweaks suggested for the first which I completely agree with and have actioned already. I’m quite excited about the way it’s shaping up. I have no idea whether Boldwood will be interested in a time slip but I will definitely finish it as it doesn’t make sense to have to write 15k words of a full-length novel and not see it through to the end.
We had a few family events in June. On my husband’s side of the family, our eldest nephew got married and it was a lovely day with perfect weather. After a church service, we went to the reception at Ravenhall Hotel in Ravenscar which is perched on top of the cliffs overlooking the North Yorkshire Coast with the most stunning of views. We’d love to live in that area as it really is beautiful. A couple of months back, our youngest nephew became a dad but baby Winnie was premature and poorly. In and out of different hospitals, we didn’t have a chance to meet her so it was great to finally have cuddles once she was settled at home and the whole family were invited round to say hello. As I knew she probably would, the munchkin started nagging us about giving her a brother or a sister. No way! One was plenty.
On my side of the family, I went to York at the weekend with my mum and my sisters-in-law. We do this every so often and always have a lovely day shopping, eating and chatting. Ooh, and wine is consumed although it was super hot this weekend so a jug of Pimms went down very nicely too.
Over the next couple of years, sales of the series and a new release, 
When I say my Christmas books were selling well, we’re not talking huge numbers. We’re not talking the sort of income that could match my day job and allow me to write full-time. We’re not talking impressive chart positions. When I started this journey, I’d have been happy for any sales, but now I wanted more and I realised that the only way I was going to be able to find a wider readership was to secure a publishing deal again. The thing was, I’d already been burnt. Could I risk lightning striking twice?
Jessica Redland Author 