Tag: bookbub

articles, Literature Events, Uncategorized, Writing

Author Interview- Rebecca Stone

This week I was lucky enough to interview upcoming Indie Author, Rebecca Stone about her YA Thriller debut, Burn at the Roots.

Burn at the Roots follows Alice Bridges’ journey to self discovery through her university life. As soon as Alice begins Freshers Week, her life is thrown upside down to a tragic incident that will change her family forever. In order to understand how to move forward, Alice must unravel the past that lead to the tragic event.

I am now joined by Rebecca Stone.

Hi Rebecca, thank you for setting up this interview with me, I’ve been really excited to ask you some questions on your upcoming book. We’ll start with the question that everyone has been asking. Is this your first book?

Hello Charlotte, thank you for having me! Yes, this is my first published book. I’ve written many for my eyes only but this is the first one that’s actually ready to be shared with the rest of the world – I’m so excited! Burn at the Roots is my first YA book and it’s mainly based around York.

I’m not surprised! After reading Burn at the Roots, I noticed that the book is mainly set in York. Was there a particular reason in setting the location in the North of England?

Yes, actually there is. I’m a fellow Northerner myself! I was born in Leeds and used to love visiting my relatives in York. I would always be found wondering the Shambles during the weekends and having a bite in Betty’s – if it wasn’t fully booked that is. I mean what’s not to love about the place, even JK Rowling was inspired by the city!

I’ve heard there’s so much memorabilia all over the place?

There is! Some of the shops now focus on trying to create the magical experience. I’d definitely recommend going near Halloween! (laughs)

So about your book, the first question from one of your fans has asked: Who is your favourite character?

Ooh that’s a tricky one! I’d probably have to say Pasha. I love how confident she seems, despite owning the fact that she’s a total swot! I wish I was that confident when I was her age!

Ah, so are any of these characters based on yourself?

They’re all an extension of my personality really. I love being active similar to Matt, I’ve always had an interest in academia and I love travelling just as much as Alice. I can’t speak another language yet but I am trying!

Are any of the characters in Burn at the Roots based on real people?

No, but I hope they seem like they are! I’ve tried to focus on some of my personality traits and tried to stretch them out to form characters on their own. Hopefully I’ve done them all justice!

We’ve got another one from a fan here too – Where did you get your inspiration from?

This is going to sound really cheesy but it was actually a dream I had on holiday! I remember dreaming about York Maze and knew that I wanted that to be the final scene of my story. I then worked back from that and ended up coming up with the plot along the way. I normally read thrillers and wanted to write something that I knew I would’ve loved to have read growing up. There was no Holly Jackson or Karen McManus around when I was a teen, so why not just come up with your own story?

I know! I wish I had those authors around too! I think I would’ve been reading a lot more if they were published back in the day. With your book talking about secrets and lies, what’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told?

That’s really difficult as I’m actually a really honest person – probably to a fault to be honest! If I had to say my biggest lie was probably signing a note to get out of swimming in secondary school. I didn’t have my kit and it was a last minute change. My dad ended up getting a phone call and thankful he covered for me!

I think there’ll be loads of people reading this that can relate Rebecca, I’m, sure I’ve done this myself at one point! Going back to the book now, did you have any alternative endings?

I did actually and I can’t say much else about them to be honest because they might still come true.

Ooh, meaning?

The alternative endings weren’t necessarily scrapped. I’m hoping to see if I can keep the endings for the next few books. I’m hoping it becomes a series.

That’s so exciting! I’d love to follow Alice, Matt and Pasha on their next journey, even if it hasn’t happened yet!

(laughs) yes, but stay tuned!

Will it be a prequel or a sequel?

I can’t say fully now but something is definitely happening behind the scenes.

Now I know I already have a copy but when can our readers get their hands on it?

Burn at the Roots will be out on Wednesday 27th September and it will be available to buy on Amazon as an ebook. There might be a few deals coming too around Kindle Unlimited which I’m really excited about!

That’s great. Will there be a paperback version?

Not yet but I’m hoping there will be in the near future.

So there we have it! I hope you’re all as hooked with Burn at the Roots as I am.

Grab yourself a copy of the book here!

articles, Uncategorized, Writing

Self Publishing: Is it Worth it?

Over the last few weeks this question has been dangling over me like a carrot. Self-publishing seems to promise me, readers and full ownership of my book but is it really too good to be true?

This form of publishing is one of the routes I’ve been itching to try all along but often felt like it had a negative stigma attached to it.

I’m currently in between querying my first YA novel and whilst I’ve been spending time writing another book, I’ve noticed a few things about my writing style.

I prefer writing for adults.

I prefer the freedom I have with my audience but it’s made me question what to do with my YA book. I know I would’ve loved reading something like this when I was growing up and if it were successful, I already have a series in mind for it. So, I still want to try and publish my book, but which route is best for it?

Free Reign of Your Book

When I say free reign, I mean it.

Self-publishing allows you to literally do what you want with your book. From editing, to production, to marketing. It’s all yours to play around with. For me the concept of making my book look exactly how I want it to and marketing it in a way I think will work best, is like music to my ears. The more involved I am in my book, the better.

However I know not everyone will see it in this way. It can look daunting to someone who’s never tried to create book covers or market their work before, yet alone if your IT skills aren’t the best. It’s also worth considering the time it would take to get all of this up and running in comparison to getting published the traditional route. It could mean more work on production and marketing your book than writing it.

Publishing Houses v Self-Publishing

Doing all of the work means you’re going to need your novel to stand out from the crowd. This will be full of not only other self published authors but indie presses and publishing houses. Although publishing houses may validate the quality of your writing for some people, that doesn’t mean that everyone will view your writing in this way.

Yes you will instantly have a platform if you’re traditionally published to some extent. However, if you self-publish you can still have a platform. In fact, because it’s your book, you’ll probably spend more time promoting it than a publishing house would, meaning a larger audience overall with possibly more engagement.

The Profits of Publishing.

For some it might come down to the price of publishing. In traditional publishing, the average royalties for a new author can range from 7.5% – 12% depending on experience and genre. In self-publishing however, royalties can range from 35% – 70% according to KDP.

A big difference right?

Before you think it’s a no brainier, don’t forget to look at further details. Each book will have its own amount of VAT and tax and may also incur postage costs too. Not only this but once you’re at the end of the tax year, you’ll have to sort your own finances to ensure you’re not doing tax invasion.

Sound like a faff? Stick with traditional publishing. Not fazed? Then look further into self-publishing.

The Outcome

If these points haven’t fazed you or have even excited you about self-publishing, then I’d recommend taking a closer look into the industry. Hopefully I’ve opened your eyes to some of the nitty-gritty parts of self-publishing that you might not have considered before. Only you know whether it’s worth persevering for.

For me personally? I know my audience engagement would be better online and may attract more YA readers. So for me, I’ll take a closer look into self-publishing and if I gain more readers by self-publishing then so be it. For me, it’s all about the readers when it comes to my writing.