Advice from a Seasoned Indie Author: Ross Young

This weeks newsletter focuses on his journey to growing a career as an author and advice he has for new authors

I asked my friend Ross Young if I could interview him for my blog so that he could give my subscribers some insight on how to build their author brands and careers.

Here is what he had to say:

Can you tell us about your books?

Currently, they are all set in the afterlife, in a city called Gloomwood, which is the Grim Reaper's own personal take on whatever comes next! They follow the adventures of Detective Augustan Blunt as he is thrown into bizarre, otherworldly adventures, which mainly involve trying to clean up the Grim Reaper's mess and preventing the destruction of the entire city. They're very odd, silly, and good fun. There's nothing like not taking death too seriously...

What made you decide to become an author?

I have always written and always knew I wanted to be an author. Growing up, I always had my head in a book and, as a result, always made up my own worlds and stories. I think, for me personally, writing is all about escapism and exploration.

A good story, a book, a film, or anything else takes you to places you would never go otherwise. Stories are gateways to things unexpected, woven together from threads of imagination. Does that sound pretentious enough? I can probably try harder.

There's also a very definite part of me that loves writing as a vehicle for that silly strangeness, those ridiculous ideas, which you can't say to people you bump into in the street because they might lock you up. "Oh, hey, what if you wore someone's skin as a suit or a disguise, but the skin was still alive, and it turned out it was all a trick because the skin was actually the person? All the organs and bones were fake and now the skin was eating you. Like a skin-based human fly trap thing?" No... Security at the supermarket didn't like it either.

Is there anything you would have done differently in your journey to becoming an author?

Many things, but I don't think you want me to list a bunch all at once, so I'll give a couple of things. I would have prepared better for releasing my first book. I would have tried to build up interest, and I would have aimed to keep the momentum up. I waited far too long to release my second book. Anything I could have capitalised on was long gone. If you're writing a series, don't put the blurb of the next book in the back of your first book...unless you've actually written it!

Where do new authors go wrong in self-publishing and what should they keep in mind?

Your covers are important. I'm sorry, but they are, and I learned this the hard way. I suggest you take a careful look at other books in similar genres and see what they've done. If your book is viewed on a page of 50 others, does yours fit in AND stand out? Yeah, it's a weird combination. Don't mislead your readers. If it stands out, is it for a good reason? You better hope it is.

What advice would you give to new authors?

First, try to find like-minded writers out there, people who like your genre, or the things you are writing - NOT AS POTENTIAL READERS TO YOUR UNDOUBTABLY GLORIOUS MANUSCRIPT, but as people to talk to about ideas and opinions who you can trust. Make sure you have people read your work who can give you valuable opinions - sorry, but your partner/parents/best friends, probably are not objective. Yes, I'm sure you are the exception and I'm completely wrong.

Putting your writing out there under a pseudonym, on websites where other people can read them, is valuable. Some of the best feedback I have ever had has been from people online who had no real investment in me or my writing. Let other people read your writing. Do look for advice, take it on board, and then choose what to ignore later.

You're not an expert, nobody is, but you are a writer. It's a bit like becoming a parent. You might have no idea what you're doing, and you probably KNOW you have no idea what you're doing, but you better bloody do it because you're a writer now and nobody is going to write for you... I mean, if you stop writing, the risks are considerably smaller than if you stop parenting, but hopefully, you get the idea.

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Where can you find this guy?

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