I found great people to help me in all of these areas, but also did much of it myself, so I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when it was all done. You have to write the novel, go through a very extensive editing process to make the novel as good as possible, make sure that it is carefully proof read, and design an attractive cover. How did you self-publish? Did you basically replicate the steps of traditional publishing, hiring several editors and a cover artist?Īs I mentioned, the basic steps in writing a novel are quite simple, and the same whether done through a traditional publisher or self-publishing. I think the most important thing is to work with a team that’s as excited as you are to tell the story you want to tell, whether that leads you to self-publishing or traditional publishing. It’s really exciting! As for the future, it’s hard to tell even what type of novels I will be working on. But do you see yourself going back to self-publishing after that? Or become a fully hybrid author? You have a three-book deal with your current publisher. I am not sure why, but it could be that my writing style and subject matter is closer to English tastes, or it could be that simply through chance, I happened to first find people that believed in my writing in England. For example, I live in Northern California, but my initial breakthroughs have tended to come from London, and then later migrating to the US. There are so many “how-to” books, and so much “established wisdom” in this industry, but in the end the right path to writing and publishing is not the same for everyone. I trolled the internet to learn what I could, but I also found experienced writers, publishers, and various people in the book business who were willing to share their experience and give advice. When I started my writing journey, I clearly did not know anything. Does that apply in your case? Have you done some particularly innovative things that have sparked your success? Usually, when you start from nothing, with no knowledge, and have to learn on your own and do things “your own way”, you actually end up discovering a smarter way to do it (that’s often how startups are born). In a traditional publisher, the network is, for the most part, “in house,” while in self-publishing, you must take the initiative to create your own network. The other essential common ingredient of both approaches is that turning a raw story into a finished novel requires seeking out and learning from a network of editors, cover artists, publicists, and proof readers. Though it sounds obvious, most of the effort is in actually writing the book. Now that you’ve been through the “traditional” process (signing with a publisher), which “way” do you prefer? What have been, so far, the pros and cons of having a publisher?Īt their core, both traditional and self-publishing are actually very similar. You said you did things “your own way” for your first novel, because you didn’t know how you were supposed to do them. Though I’m too young to do that quite yet, I can talk about things as I experience them-the good, the bad, and the plain messy. Adults can look back on their experiences and give advice they wish they had heard when they were our age.
Thanks for having me on the Reedsy blog! One of the things I love the most about being an author my age is that I don’t have to look back on my teenage years to write from that perspective. Is there something, in your opinion, that characterises a “teen author”? Something you, for example, would do very differently from your elder peers? I loved reading your story in The Guardian, particularly because, as a young author, you offer a fresh view on writing and publishing. And It is today’s teen author community that will ultimately shape it, a community we don’t know too well… Whatever the future of publishing is, authors will always be at its core. She now has a three-book deal with Hachette, and published the first of those last year.
She did things her own way because she didn’t know how a book was supposed to be written or published. Today, we interview Anna Caltabiano, a rising teen author who self-published her first novel, All that is Red at the age of 14. While the good folks of the “publishing industry” are discussing trends, numbers, and predictions over at the DBW conference, we thought we would give the readers of the Reedsy blog a sneak peek of what the future could actually hold.
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