"You wanna be a fan of my super unpopular, weird-ass...thing?" LOL! I laughed so hard at this that I had to comment. I've been watching some of your content lately and I really like how authentic you are. Keep up the great work!
I am the queen of talking about my books on my channel without ever showing the cover or mentioning the title. 😅 Throwing my hat into the ring of 'worst marketing' awards.
I'm with you. Why didn't I say a line or two about my books in this video? Why? Well, I didn't. I mentioned them like five times with no covers or titles or information. 😅 😅
This video was so... healthy. Your attitude feels like what all of us struggling indie authors eventually need to achieve. Your wisdom from your experience is just very reassuring and you paint a very realistic impression of how the slow build is going to go. This video was actually more inspiring to me than any one screaming "your wildest dreams COULD come true and you COULD explode into the Top 10 list on Amazon." And I just really appreciate it. Thank you.
Great video! I'm at the day job, writing books as a hobby and doing what I want stage: which means I'm writing off trend books for a small/minuscule audience. I'm also a late starter - finally self-published at 46 after a lifetime of procrastination! Inspired by a previous video of yours, I am flash writing a 40K fantasy for fun, no other motive, and seeing where that takes me. I intend to be my own worst enemy and after writing three books in one world, will start a series set in a new world, but one which is knowingly "evergreen" as a classic epic fantasy. I know it will be long and involved, so writing something fun for me first is a good palate cleanse - I hope! I have done virtually zero marketing, and nothing consistent, but I have adjusted my mindset to "this is my road, and I'm choosing to walk it this way", and accepting that monetary success may never appear, or take a very very long time to arrive. Until then I'll focus on getting better at the craft, one bookish experiment at a time. Thanks for sharing your insights, they are much appreciated.
That's so nice to hear. I so love hearing that I've helped other people write or publish or change up what they're doing. Good luck with the epic fantasy!
I often find the authors I am most drawn to have interesting personal takes and contexts. Greg Egan and Douglas Hofstadter, for example, have this niche appeal to technical audiences, but what makes me read their bibliography is their fundamental humanism and general good will. I'm working my way through The Hidden Lands with that same concept: a recognition of social context that is appealing AND a sense of trust that things are being thought out and explored. There are many things that should trigger me personally involved in the worldbuilding of the books, but their authenticity and perspective help me manage this. Knowing that bad things don't happen for sheer shock value or are not considered carefully builds a framework where I feel okay. Thank you for that!
What a nice comment! Some of the later books will probably a little easier reads in that regard...but my hope is that you really feel the social changes and what was fought for and why and how hard it was, by showing these incremental changes over generations of characters. (While, at the same time, hopefully just getting a good story too!)
Thanks for making this video! There’s a documentary on Clark Ashton Smith, and one of my favorite parts is at the end when they’re interviewing Harlan Ellison. They ask him, “do you wish more people would have read Smith?”, and his response is perfect. “That’s the wrong question. The people who are supposed to find him, find him.” I know that’s cold comfort when you’re in the thick of it and trying to get your stuff out there, but it makes me feel better during those “what am I even doing” moments. Like you said, when you’re writing something that’s off-trend, you can’t really force it. If you try and shove it on people who aren’t your crowd, all you’ll get is hate. So you kind of have to take the slow and steady approach and just try to find your people where you can. My experience has been that it’s a glacial pace, but I’m also not trying to write outside my lane, and I’ve made peace with that. Also, regarding covers, Canva is your best friend. Super intuitive and easy to use.
I think my main block with actually building an author brand is that I'd love to make videos and more content about what I'm writing and my first legit book journey, but I'm incredibly camera anxious and afraid of being judged negatively. I love being a weirdo, but I'm a weirdo in my little bubble and bursting out of it is scary.
I released my first book, a Christmas romance, just before Thanksgiving. And I hardly told anyone about it. My friend told more people about it than I did. I need to get over that whole "don't talk about your writing, it's boring and annoying) that got beaten into me as a kid/teenager.
I feel this. I used to work a table at anime cons selling sketches and awkward people would come up to me and dump the entire story of their fan fic on me or something. I thought, "I never want to be that person" so I decided I would never talk about anything, ever...
Sidebar but as someone who really doesn’t care for fantasy (especially with romantic elements) would you ever consider doing a video recommending fantasy for those of us who find it difficult to get into as readers? (I mostly read non-fiction, horror and literature.)
Well...I do like fantasy and romantic elements so I'm probably a bad person to ask because I am going to recommend a bunch of stuff that has those things 😂 I say just read what you like!
Thanks for your entertaining and informative advice. I also write the books I want to write without worrying about trends & tropes. Because of this I use readership rather than money as my yardstick of success, and so I sell them wide & free, letting my price do all my marketing for me. Audiobooks now account for almost half of my sales. I use the free auto-narrated services offered by Google, D2D/Apple, and Amazon, even so the audiobook version ratings match the ebook ratings.
I enjoyed video all around. I liked the discussion a lot, but I appreciated the style of the video as well. Just sitting down, honestly talking in depth about one thing. It feels very different from most of the videos I see and it's very refreshing!
My local writers group sent me a donation envelope with their new slogan being 'Brick by brick' and I thought... 'they thought of that BEFORE the tiktok trend, how crazy is that?!' LOL Hope they jumped on it!
@ not sure if this will make sense, but last week, people were commenting they had ‘built this FYP brick by brick’ when they came across a video that seemed perfectly suited to their taste. It made sense in TikTok context! 🤣
Just finished the sorcerer's concubine. It was great! I had a fun time reading it and a hard time putting it down 😊. I can't wait to see what happens next in the series!
Thank you for being encouraging. The whole reason I began writing is because I found most books on the market (including evergreen ones) unsatisfying in some way. Traditional fantasy (minus few exceptions) doesn't handle romance very well. Or at least, not in a wat I find satisfying. And the romantasy stuff, for most part, is full of tropes I find cringe 😬 and also, lacks what makes fantasy worth reading. So I don't know. I want to be able to make money with my writing, and I'm not saying 6 figure business. The idea that I'd have to hit specific plot points and write generic crap like growling males is what's holding me back at the moment.
I couldn't agree more. Why would I intentionally make my characters say such cringy things. I want an immersive inspiring world with characters I can root for (not mock)
Yeah, I totally agree with this. I don't mind a little escapism but I want my romantic plot lines to lean deeper and I like it when characters feel really individual. I'm not hating on the growling fae males for anyone who really enjoys that, but I am just SO. BORED. It's definitely harder to sell, and it's frustrating. Even my to-market stuff was always a little off, some of my friends were making WAY more money writing similar stuff but they were much better at writing the growling and the abs and guys who boss girls around and call her "Princess" and all the stuff that I just...apparently I can't do that stuff for any amount of money...
Hearing JAFF and LitRPG brought up and remembering that old WIP where I combined them into a beautiful, terrible Frankenstein, hmmmmm, I should get back to that
I needed this video today. My first poetry collection fell into the new age niche, but my next one is more general. Outside of that, I write speculative fiction and paranormal books - minimal romance. Not sure how to market but will do my best.
You’re adorable. ❤️❤️❤️and your book sounds interesting. I’m an author too. Working on a book that is def quirky as well. Good advice! I love people who share wisdom as their experiencing instead of on the other side of all the success and aren’t relatable.
I do read them. I forget stuff and then it's nice to read them and be a fan of myself 😂 Though I am far more likely to remember AND reread the ones set in my main fantasy world because they're old friends.
This resonates with me as an artist as well. For over a decade I pretty drew 'to market' as you describe drawing what everyone else wanted, and now that I finally bought a house and I'm a bit mroe financially stable, now I have the financial freedom to maybe do my personal more niche stuff. I'm also been hearing a lot of Substack. I had been considering Patreon, but they have been making some...not great changes so I'm going to look into Substack, any tips you think I may not come across in my research. Maybe that could be a video, Patreon versus Substack, for building an audience if you feel confident enough to share your experiences.
@@SeverusFelix Patreon is removing a feature where subscribers can pay per post. This was ideal for creators who didn't want to do monthly subscriptions because what they created took months to finish. And they also increased fees to make up for Apple store fees when buying through the Apple app store. It's not the worst thing ever but a bit annoying. I guess they are adding shops so that is good?
What a perfect topic. All my stuff is hideously "off market" 😂 At 9:34 you say "I know my book is better than this piece of garbage, but they hate mine." Please get out of my head...
I've been interested in books from your weird fantasy world. I liked the two I read (Broken Queen and Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy). So does that make me part of the first thousand? :)
My Hidden Lands books are my favorites since that is my fantasy world, and any one is a good starting point, they're all a little different in vibe. Broken Queen if you like epic fantasy romance and you don't mind waiting for the sequel (I'm working on it!) The Sorcerer's Concubine if you like "two people against the world" sort of love stories, this one is a good introduction if you read the whole trilogy because they travel around a lot. Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy if you like cozier standalones.
Thanks very much for this video. Great advice coming from an honest place. If nothing else, it's nice and encouraging to know we're not alone in the Please Buy My Weird Book I Love So Much Club
One avenue to explore is, how niche your book really is. In your blurb for The Broken Queen, your comps are Elise Kova, Grace Draven and Mercedes Lackey. I think Ekaterina Sedia's The Alchemy of Stone, with a doll protagonist, is a closer match. ChatGPT suggested The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H Wilson, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, The Iron Woman by Ted Hughes, The Tin Man and the Witch by Jess Wells. You could do collabs with these authors. You could also define a new subgenre to make it easier to discuss your niche. For example, Diane Callahan deliberately coined the Curio Fiction subgenre.
Well, for comp titles you want to use authors that are widely known, at least within your genre. In most cases you also want to focus more on themes, writing style, tropes, vibe, not particular plot elements. Few people think "I want to read a book about a doll person" so it's not a good marketing angle and would narrow the audience, losing out on a lot of potential readers who have more broad interests in mind. "The Alchemy of Stone" does not look to have romance, seems to have a steampunk vibe whereas mine is high fantasy, and is described as "lyrical" and resembling a "fable"; The Broken Queen is definitely not like a fable. So it would not be a good match for most readers. I have much more in common with Mercedes Lackey in writing style, protagonist growth arc, romance balanced with coming of age elements, rich fantasy world-building.
Instead of trying to cultivate 1000 fans over what seems to be like years, is it possible to just pay money to an influencer (who is popular in that niche) to read your book and pray that they like it? or just hiring a marketing team in general to figure out how to sell your off-brand book?
Why even bother going through all the thousands of hours of practice and reading and living only to write what you don't care about to only have a very remote shot at capitalizing on a trend that might disappear in a month? Zero point. Your passion project will be way easier and higher quality.
Well in my case it was to build a financial basis to do the passion project. And that worked. I wouldn't say I didn't care about it at all, though. It's all been fun. The passion project is actually probably...much harder. But more satisfying.
I don't think it's helpful to think of your own work as "better than that garbage" personally. Art is subjective, yes, but arrogance has no place in a healthy indie community imho. I would NEVER EVER promote your book in this manner. You'll just make a name for yourself in whisper networks and other indie authors won't want to work with you and help promote you.
It is frustrating when actual garbage is popular tho. Like Colleen Hoover is one of the worst writers I've ever read and her popularity grows day by day. You put your heart and soul into something and nobody cares if you're not one of the "famous" authors on Tiktok, etc.
"You wanna be a fan of my super unpopular, weird-ass...thing?" LOL! I laughed so hard at this that I had to comment. I've been watching some of your content lately and I really like how authentic you are. Keep up the great work!
That was my cringe-relatable moment, lol!
"It's a slow courtship." Honestly, that alleviates a lot of my anxiety about marketing. Thank you!
I am the queen of talking about my books on my channel without ever showing the cover or mentioning the title. 😅 Throwing my hat into the ring of 'worst marketing' awards.
I'm with you. Why didn't I say a line or two about my books in this video? Why? Well, I didn't. I mentioned them like five times with no covers or titles or information. 😅 😅
This video was so... healthy. Your attitude feels like what all of us struggling indie authors eventually need to achieve. Your wisdom from your experience is just very reassuring and you paint a very realistic impression of how the slow build is going to go. This video was actually more inspiring to me than any one screaming "your wildest dreams COULD come true and you COULD explode into the Top 10 list on Amazon." And I just really appreciate it. Thank you.
I feel inspired by your videos. As an author myself, I have no clue how to market my books but it's comforting to watch your video.
Great video! I'm at the day job, writing books as a hobby and doing what I want stage: which means I'm writing off trend books for a small/minuscule audience. I'm also a late starter - finally self-published at 46 after a lifetime of procrastination! Inspired by a previous video of yours, I am flash writing a 40K fantasy for fun, no other motive, and seeing where that takes me.
I intend to be my own worst enemy and after writing three books in one world, will start a series set in a new world, but one which is knowingly "evergreen" as a classic epic fantasy. I know it will be long and involved, so writing something fun for me first is a good palate cleanse - I hope!
I have done virtually zero marketing, and nothing consistent, but I have adjusted my mindset to "this is my road, and I'm choosing to walk it this way", and accepting that monetary success may never appear, or take a very very long time to arrive. Until then I'll focus on getting better at the craft, one bookish experiment at a time.
Thanks for sharing your insights, they are much appreciated.
That's so nice to hear. I so love hearing that I've helped other people write or publish or change up what they're doing. Good luck with the epic fantasy!
“Really… 😒 really… 😒😒😒 self-published looking”
😂😂😂
Being weird and off market is the only way to live 😁🤟
I often find the authors I am most drawn to have interesting personal takes and contexts. Greg Egan and Douglas Hofstadter, for example, have this niche appeal to technical audiences, but what makes me read their bibliography is their fundamental humanism and general good will.
I'm working my way through The Hidden Lands with that same concept: a recognition of social context that is appealing AND a sense of trust that things are being thought out and explored.
There are many things that should trigger me personally involved in the worldbuilding of the books, but their authenticity and perspective help me manage this. Knowing that bad things don't happen for sheer shock value or are not considered carefully builds a framework where I feel okay.
Thank you for that!
What a nice comment! Some of the later books will probably a little easier reads in that regard...but my hope is that you really feel the social changes and what was fought for and why and how hard it was, by showing these incremental changes over generations of characters. (While, at the same time, hopefully just getting a good story too!)
Thanks for making this video! There’s a documentary on Clark Ashton Smith, and one of my favorite parts is at the end when they’re interviewing Harlan Ellison. They ask him, “do you wish more people would have read Smith?”, and his response is perfect. “That’s the wrong question. The people who are supposed to find him, find him.” I know that’s cold comfort when you’re in the thick of it and trying to get your stuff out there, but it makes me feel better during those “what am I even doing” moments. Like you said, when you’re writing something that’s off-trend, you can’t really force it. If you try and shove it on people who aren’t your crowd, all you’ll get is hate. So you kind of have to take the slow and steady approach and just try to find your people where you can. My experience has been that it’s a glacial pace, but I’m also not trying to write outside my lane, and I’ve made peace with that.
Also, regarding covers, Canva is your best friend. Super intuitive and easy to use.
Love the sober and easy-going tone to your videos!
I think my main block with actually building an author brand is that I'd love to make videos and more content about what I'm writing and my first legit book journey, but I'm incredibly camera anxious and afraid of being judged negatively. I love being a weirdo, but I'm a weirdo in my little bubble and bursting out of it is scary.
@@apocketfulofink agreed, maybe try video of something other than you? That's what I'm trying. I don't see why anyone would want to stare at my face
Thanks! This is the exact video I needed today.
I released my first book, a Christmas romance, just before Thanksgiving. And I hardly told anyone about it. My friend told more people about it than I did.
I need to get over that whole "don't talk about your writing, it's boring and annoying) that got beaten into me as a kid/teenager.
I feel this. I used to work a table at anime cons selling sketches and awkward people would come up to me and dump the entire story of their fan fic on me or something. I thought, "I never want to be that person" so I decided I would never talk about anything, ever...
Just the video and advice I needed. Thank you!
Sidebar but as someone who really doesn’t care for fantasy (especially with romantic elements) would you ever consider doing a video recommending fantasy for those of us who find it difficult to get into as readers? (I mostly read non-fiction, horror and literature.)
Well...I do like fantasy and romantic elements so I'm probably a bad person to ask because I am going to recommend a bunch of stuff that has those things 😂 I say just read what you like!
Thanks for the helpful and encouraging perspective.
Cute orange cat!
Thanks for your entertaining and informative advice. I also write the books I want to write without worrying about trends & tropes. Because of this I use readership rather than money as my yardstick of success, and so I sell them wide & free, letting my price do all my marketing for me. Audiobooks now account for almost half of my sales. I use the free auto-narrated services offered by Google, D2D/Apple, and Amazon, even so the audiobook version ratings match the ebook ratings.
Baby steps! (Can't help but think of the movie What About Bob? lol) Thank you for the good advice and pep talk ☺
I enjoyed video all around. I liked the discussion a lot, but I appreciated the style of the video as well. Just sitting down, honestly talking in depth about one thing. It feels very different from most of the videos I see and it's very refreshing!
Thank you! I guess it's what I like because a fair bit of my TH-cam algorithm actually is exactly that!
My local writers group sent me a donation envelope with their new slogan being 'Brick by brick' and I thought... 'they thought of that BEFORE the tiktok trend, how crazy is that?!' LOL Hope they jumped on it!
Shows how much I know about TikTok trends...um...I don't even know what that means!
@ not sure if this will make sense, but last week, people were commenting they had ‘built this FYP brick by brick’ when they came across a video that seemed perfectly suited to their taste. It made sense in TikTok context! 🤣
Just finished the sorcerer's concubine. It was great! I had a fun time reading it and a hard time putting it down 😊. I can't wait to see what happens next in the series!
I listen to your videos to feel calm 🥲
You are an endless well of advice, Lidiya!
Thank you for being encouraging.
The whole reason I began writing is because I found most books on the market (including evergreen ones) unsatisfying in some way. Traditional fantasy (minus few exceptions) doesn't handle romance very well. Or at least, not in a wat I find satisfying.
And the romantasy stuff, for most part, is full of tropes I find cringe 😬 and also, lacks what makes fantasy worth reading.
So I don't know. I want to be able to make money with my writing, and I'm not saying 6 figure business.
The idea that I'd have to hit specific plot points and write generic crap like growling males is what's holding me back at the moment.
I couldn't agree more. Why would I intentionally make my characters say such cringy things. I want an immersive inspiring world with characters I can root for (not mock)
Yeah, I totally agree with this. I don't mind a little escapism but I want my romantic plot lines to lean deeper and I like it when characters feel really individual. I'm not hating on the growling fae males for anyone who really enjoys that, but I am just SO. BORED. It's definitely harder to sell, and it's frustrating. Even my to-market stuff was always a little off, some of my friends were making WAY more money writing similar stuff but they were much better at writing the growling and the abs and guys who boss girls around and call her "Princess" and all the stuff that I just...apparently I can't do that stuff for any amount of money...
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor sometimes, being aligned with your creative values matters more than money!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor can't stand the princess nickname.
This is exactly what I want to read (and write!)
Enjoyed your video and advice and how grounded you seem. Finally finished the vid (between life interrupting)
Hearing JAFF and LitRPG brought up and remembering that old WIP where I combined them into a beautiful, terrible Frankenstein, hmmmmm, I should get back to that
Oh goodness, I just noticed the Yang Wen-Li and Reinhard figures in the background! Great video, thanks.
The insight about three categories that sell well is useful to me. Thanks.
As always; thank you so much for your offering.
I needed this video today. My first poetry collection fell into the new age niche, but my next one is more general. Outside of that, I write speculative fiction and paranormal books - minimal romance. Not sure how to market but will do my best.
Congrats on almost 15,000 subs 👏
You’re adorable. ❤️❤️❤️and your book sounds interesting. I’m an author too. Working on a book that is def quirky as well. Good advice! I love people who share wisdom as their experiencing instead of on the other side of all the success and aren’t relatable.
Weird question do you read your books after you write them? And do you remember the plot points?
I do read them. I forget stuff and then it's nice to read them and be a fan of myself 😂 Though I am far more likely to remember AND reread the ones set in my main fantasy world because they're old friends.
Love your cats.
This resonates with me as an artist as well. For over a decade I pretty drew 'to market' as you describe drawing what everyone else wanted, and now that I finally bought a house and I'm a bit mroe financially stable, now I have the financial freedom to maybe do my personal more niche stuff. I'm also been hearing a lot of Substack. I had been considering Patreon, but they have been making some...not great changes so I'm going to look into Substack, any tips you think I may not come across in my research. Maybe that could be a video, Patreon versus Substack, for building an audience if you feel confident enough to share your experiences.
What is Patreon up to?
@@SeverusFelix Patreon is removing a feature where subscribers can pay per post. This was ideal for creators who didn't want to do monthly subscriptions because what they created took months to finish. And they also increased fees to make up for Apple store fees when buying through the Apple app store. It's not the worst thing ever but a bit annoying. I guess they are adding shops so that is good?
@EmoKitsuneDesigns what is it with websites making baffling decisions like that?
Hi cozies! 🤗
What a perfect topic. All my stuff is hideously "off market" 😂
At 9:34 you say "I know my book is better than this piece of garbage, but they hate mine." Please get out of my head...
I've been interested in books from your weird fantasy world. I liked the two I read (Broken Queen and Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy). So does that make me part of the first thousand? :)
Sounds like it! Thank you!! I get so, so happy when I see sales of those books on my dashboard.
0:25 _shakes screen_ "TELL ME!!!!"
Love your kitties!! Looking through your books. Any suggestions on a good one to start with?
The Broken Queen is amazing! I also really enjoyed Prisoner of Silk
Thanks Erica!
My Hidden Lands books are my favorites since that is my fantasy world, and any one is a good starting point, they're all a little different in vibe.
Broken Queen if you like epic fantasy romance and you don't mind waiting for the sequel (I'm working on it!)
The Sorcerer's Concubine if you like "two people against the world" sort of love stories, this one is a good introduction if you read the whole trilogy because they travel around a lot.
Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy if you like cozier standalones.
How do you market your books?
Thanks very much for this video. Great advice coming from an honest place. If nothing else, it's nice and encouraging to know we're not alone in the Please Buy My Weird Book I Love So Much Club
One avenue to explore is, how niche your book really is. In your blurb for The Broken Queen, your comps are Elise Kova, Grace Draven and Mercedes Lackey.
I think Ekaterina Sedia's The Alchemy of Stone, with a doll protagonist, is a closer match. ChatGPT suggested The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H Wilson, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, The Iron Woman by Ted Hughes, The Tin Man and the Witch by Jess Wells.
You could do collabs with these authors. You could also define a new subgenre to make it easier to discuss your niche. For example, Diane Callahan deliberately coined the Curio Fiction subgenre.
Did SOMEONE SAY Grace Draven?!? *am reminded I meant to get the next book*
Well, for comp titles you want to use authors that are widely known, at least within your genre. In most cases you also want to focus more on themes, writing style, tropes, vibe, not particular plot elements. Few people think "I want to read a book about a doll person" so it's not a good marketing angle and would narrow the audience, losing out on a lot of potential readers who have more broad interests in mind.
"The Alchemy of Stone" does not look to have romance, seems to have a steampunk vibe whereas mine is high fantasy, and is described as "lyrical" and resembling a "fable"; The Broken Queen is definitely not like a fable. So it would not be a good match for most readers. I have much more in common with Mercedes Lackey in writing style, protagonist growth arc, romance balanced with coming of age elements, rich fantasy world-building.
Instead of trying to cultivate 1000 fans over what seems to be like years, is it possible to just pay money to an influencer (who is popular in that niche) to read your book and pray that they like it?
or just hiring a marketing team in general to figure out how to sell your off-brand book?
A. Have.... many chocolates?? 😂
Well, I only have this one, so you'll have to trick or treat at some other TH-cam channels 😂
Why even bother going through all the thousands of hours of practice and reading and living only to write what you don't care about to only have a very remote shot at capitalizing on a trend that might disappear in a month?
Zero point. Your passion project will be way easier and higher quality.
Well in my case it was to build a financial basis to do the passion project. And that worked. I wouldn't say I didn't care about it at all, though. It's all been fun. The passion project is actually probably...much harder. But more satisfying.
Naruto...
I don't think it's helpful to think of your own work as "better than that garbage" personally. Art is subjective, yes, but arrogance has no place in a healthy indie community imho. I would NEVER EVER promote your book in this manner. You'll just make a name for yourself in whisper networks and other indie authors won't want to work with you and help promote you.
It is frustrating when actual garbage is popular tho. Like Colleen Hoover is one of the worst writers I've ever read and her popularity grows day by day. You put your heart and soul into something and nobody cares if you're not one of the "famous" authors on Tiktok, etc.