Lie Like A Magpie │ Indie Author Interview & Giveaway
- Christina Hitchmough
- Mar 22, 2021
- 6 min read
Author and bookstagrammer Lily Anna, has been a friend of mine for years after we met on an online writing platform for young adults. Lily is from the UK and enjoys reading (obviously) and being surrounded by nature. She has a special love for cats, which is one thing we can definitely disagree upon (dog-lover all the way)!
I have immense respect for Lily as a person, friend and author, and I'm very happy to have her as a guest blogger!
In the following interview with Lily, she talks about her debut novel, Lie Like a Magpie, and her experiences self-publishing.
We will also be giving away a signed paperback and an ebook copy of Lie Like a Magpie! Find out how to enter.
What is Lie Like a Magpie about?
Lie Like a Magpie is a YA Thriller about family ties, secrets and taking responsibility for your actions. It follows main character Maggie navigating the reappearance of someone from her dangerous past and coming to terms with things she may have tried to push to the back of her mind.
Did you enjoy your self-publishing experience?
As a whole I would say I have enjoyed it and think self publishing gives you a lot of freedom to make choices about your own work (including the cover design, which was really important to me) and what you want to put out into the world.
It’s rewarding to do it mostly all yourself, and whilst there is a lot of opinion around how hard self-publishing can be (I can’t deny that it is at times), I think you only know what it’s like if you give it a shot! There were both positives and negatives to my experience, but I think people’s support and the mostly positive response I’ve got to my book outweighs any negatives. It makes the whole process worth it.
What were the stages you went through in self-publishing (e.g drafts, formatting, design)?
My fellow writers will know how many redrafts and rounds of edits it takes to get to the final product. It can take weeks to years of time but of course every person’s work is different.
Personally I ended up redrafting the book about six times. The first draft was just to write the initial story idea down and wasn’t even finished yet. I then had several years gap, writing different projects in between, before I came back to what became my debut, Lie Like a Magpie, with some fresh ideas. The second draft onwards was where it got more serious and I rewrote a lot of it and changed the plot. I decided at about this point that I was going to start properly researching how to self-publish with KDP (Amazon’s publishing platform previously called CreateSpace.) The third and forth draft were me changing and editing things after beta reader feedback and new ideas had come to me. The fifth going into the sixth draft was pretty much when I was doing my last edits before it was sent to a proper editor. At this point I was pretty sick of reading my own work (I’ve probably read the book more than 100 times over and I’m not exaggerating) but I was also really proud of what I had achieved.
Whilst the later drafting stages were going on I was also doing a lot of work on cover designing. There’s over 10 different folders on my laptop with about 10 different variations in each because I was so indecisive about it. At this time I was also trying to get the word out about my book on my social media. Because self-publishing is also not just about doing the actual writing; you have to think about setting up a platform online (Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads etc.) where you can share news about your upcoming book, think about how to market your book online (e.g. making graphics to post and ads) and making sure you try to aim at a target audience, creating “hype” so people are excited for your book release. There’s a lot that goes into it, but if you want it in basic terms an order I followed was this:
Writing, redrafting and editing, screaming into the void-I mean more editing, cover design, interior formatting, promotion and cover reveal, sending a few copies to advanced readers to review early, publication, more promotion.
Did you outsource many aspects of the publishing? (e.g editing, cover design, formatting.)
Both beta reading and editing I definitely needed help with. I was very lucky to have some writer friends and beta readers who helped me during the redrafting stages. I then hired an editor to help me polish the book before publication. As for cover design and formatting, I did both myself. I’m familiar with cover design and as I mentioned in the first question, I liked that I had freedom and choice over what it looked like, but formatting a book was all new to me. Luckily several handy online tutorials helped me.
I also probably have to put a large part of the self publishing down to Amazon. Because without the Amazon KDP publishing service being free to use (minus any costs for editing services and fonts which I had to pay for), I don’t think there would have been an affordable option for me.
I have to say a big thank you as well to a lot of my followers over on Instagram as they’ve definitely helped with sharing about my book. I wouldn’t even have an audience or any sales without them. I’m very grateful for all the support and friends I’ve made.
What were the advantages of self-publishing over traditional publishing?
I might sound like a stuck record but the freedom to make my own choices was definitely a big advantage. Whilst that might mean a lot of the work was down to me, and it was stressful at times, I liked that there was no one “ruling over me” and making big choices about my book without giving me much say in the matter. I feel like that might happen more through a traditional publishing route. I also think it’s a lot more personal when you self-publish. The indie author community online is mostly very lovely and people are friendly. It’s that kind of support that I just don’t think you get when you go the traditional route. Although, I must come out and say it is hard to get sales because you don’t get the same sort of promotion as traditionally published books, it’s not impossible and I think it’s sometimes nice having a smaller audience as it feels special. You know you’ve really worked hard yourself to gain everything you have.
What advice would you offer to other people wishing to self-publish their books?
Definitely make sure you do research. Look up articles on self-publishing, follow other indie authors online, take note of how others market their books and investigate different ways to self-publish (Amazon KDP is not the only way. It was just the right way for me at the time.)
Going back to what I said about promotion and marketing though, I definitely recommend setting up social media accounts to start talking about your writing where other people can see. Social media is such a useful tool to do things like cover reveals. It’s also not all about just getting sales from people. It can be really nice to meet others from the self-publishing community and talk about writing with others. I also really recommend putting your book on to Goodreads and applying for an authors page.
Most of all though, my advice is, go for it and don’t let people dissuade you with their opinions (there are a lot of bad opinions about self-publishing I don’t want to go into.) If you’re interested in self-publishing, you’re only going to know what it’s like if you try it out. It’s really not as scary or as bad as some people make it out to be. To be honest, actually writing and editing is a lot harder in my opinion and takes most of the time!
Are you working on releasing any more books?
I’ve got a few projects in the works! Currently writing and editing different drafts. I’m hoping to publish another book in 2022. This year is mostly about finding my feet with writing again and making decisions on which works I want to develop.
The best way to keep up to date with what I’m working on is over on my Instagram @lilyannawrites.
G I V E A W A Y
How to enter:
1. Follow the author on IG @lilyannawrites
2. You must be subscribed to the CL Graphics newsletter
3. Once you have completed the first two steps, comment "done" on the original IG giveaway post!
*Open from 22nd March to 25th March 11:59PM GMT. UK entries only.*
There will be two randomly selected winners, the first of whom will receive a signed paperback copy of Lie Like a Magpie by Lily Anna, and the second winner will receive an ebook copy of the same book.
Per Instagram rules, this promotion is in no way sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram, Inc. By entering, entrants confirm that they are 13+ years of age, release Instagram of responsibility, and agree to Instagram's terms of use.
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