Author Interview:  Frances M. Thompson

How would you describe the type of books/genre you write?

I actually write in a number of genres, but I would say the bulk of my books are contemporary fiction and most are short stories. Some of my short stories are romance or love stories, others are urban fiction, and in a few I’ve dabbled with historical fiction, magical realism and experimental fiction (I wrote one of my short stories using two-word sentences only). I’ve also written a suspense-driven crime thriller novella set in London (called The Wait) and will be publishing sequels to this soon – I hope! – but the next book I publish will be a collection of poetry. So, yes, I write in a lot of genres!

What motivated you to start writing?

Writing is one of many creative arts I’ve enjoyed since childhood, but I think the reason I write more now than anything else is that I have slightly more talent at it tha music, dancing or painting! I grew up in a household of books and have always loved reading so I suppose this also fed my interest in writing. As soon as I knew what to do with a pen, I was writing down stories and even turning them into books, but then I stopped writing fiction in my late teens and early 20s – mostly because I felt the need to focus more on my education and paid employment, assuming I would never make any money as an author or writer.

However, about ten years ago I started blogging as a way to get back into writing and then, realising how much I enjoyed writing, I started writing fiction again – one terrible unfinished draft after another. Later, after I had built a following and my writing had improved quite a bit, I published my first book.

Tell us the journey you went on to get your books published (e.g. direct on your website, self-published, assisted-publishing, traditional publisher)

I self-publish my books and began doing so in 2013 with my first short story collection, Shy Feet: Short Stories Inspired by Travel. Prior to publishing I soaked up as much knowledge about the industry as I could find and weighed up the pros and cons of traditional verus other publishing models. Because I’d already shared some of the writing journey with readers and my book was ready (after working with an editor and beta readers) I didn’t want to delay publishing the collection anymore, and I knew that getting a traditional deal for short stories could take a long time if ever it would happen.

Indie publishing was also quite new then and I felt excited by the possibilities opening up so I took the plunge and published it myself. I then went on to publish a book every year until I took some time off to have my first son. The whole process of indie publishing was a steep learning curve but it was very educational, and I learned a lot about things I knew very little about – formatting, design, marketing etc – but once the book was out there and being enjoyed by readers, it was absolutely worth it.

I sold my book on Amazon as an ebook and paperback and now sell the ebook across a number of other platforms. I hope to sell directly to readers in a shop on my blog soon too.

What publishing elements do you most enjoy and most like to avoid, and why? (e.g. design, marketing, formatting etc.)

Needless to say I love the writing part, and I’ve also grown to really enjoy self-editing, though I still work with professional editors too. I do like parts of the publishing and marketing processes, but I’m defintely a big believer in out-sourcing the things I cannot do myself, either because I don’t have time or I don’t have the skills. So all my design and formatting work is out-sourced, likewise editing, copy-editing and proof-reading because I want to ensure my books are really polished and undergo the same rigorous editing and critique process a traditionally published work would have.

I am very involved in the design process – I’ve recently been working closely with an illustrator for my poetry collection and have loved that – but I am not about to start doing my book covers myself because I know I won’t do them justice; I want them to look professional, and I am not a professional book designer – I’m a writer.

I am still not very natural or comfortable doing the marketing work for my books, but I have learned a lot and do enjoy trying different things. One day I hope to have a bit of budget for marketing but for now it’s more important the money goes in making the product the best it can be.

With the hindsight of being a published author, anything you would have done differently?

Great question! I think I would have tried to write a novel sooner. I got comfortable writing short stories, and while each of my three collections have taught me so much – and I can see how much I’ve grown as a writer in each book – I know that short stories are notoriously difficult to market and sell.

Maybe a novel would have been more successful in terms of sales and growing my readership because it’s just a more popular format? I don’t know. That said, I’m currently working on a novel right now and I know that everything I’ve learned as a short story and novella writer is helping me progress this manuscript much quicker and smoother than previous attempts so I try not to regret it taking so long.

What tips or advice would you give an aspiring indie author who is looking to self-publish?

I would say that any indie author needs to get comfortable with the idea of being business-minded as well as creative. When you’re an indie author you have to use other parts of your brain to manage what is essentially a business. This isn’t as “fun” or satisfying as writing your books, but it is just as important, if not more so.

You have to be prepared to learn A LOT and make a lot of mistakes. Likewise, you have to learn to balance your time so you’re not too focused on the business-side, because as an indie author you only really see any kind of serious money come in when you have multiple books, so you need to keep writing more rather than focusing on marketing one or two books.

Also I would say that if you’re going to self-publish, don’t even think about doing so without working with an editor and proofreader. Indie books have a terrible reputation for not doing so and readers get turned off immediately by typos, or writing that isn’t really its best. Likewise, I personally think it’s best to hire a book cover designer and/or someone to help you get your book looking great in terms of layout and formatting. You should see your books as an investment, and this means spending money and time on them.

What marketing or promotional tools or techniques do you use to reach your readers?

Recently, I’ve had quite a bit of luck just sharing my work on Instagram and Facebook – I never used to do it but I re-assessed this earlier in the year and the result is I had a little boost in sales. I also host regular competitions to giveaway copies of my books (via my blog, newsletter and social channels) and I also make it very clear to any reader that they can always read my ebooks for free in exchange for Amazon or Goodreads reviews. Like, I mentioned, I’m hoping to start selling directly to readers on a shop on my blog and once that is set up I will also explore some other paid promotions and advertising.

What impact do you want your books to have on your readers?

I like to say that I write “stories that move you”, so that really sums it up. I want my readers to feel moved by what I’ve written, be it a smile, a laugh, a few tears or just some new thoughts. I don’t want to give readers answers but questions. The best thing I hear in reviews of my books is that readers feel they get to know the characters really well and really quickly, and they want to know what happens next with them. That’s definitely something I actively try to do because I’m a real people person and love getting to know a character well in a book myself, so it’s great to hear this is happening in my stories too.

What’s next on your writing journey?

As I mentioned above, I’m publishing my first collection of poetry soon and I am also working on a novel. I’m actually documenting the whole process of writing this novel in a series of How to Write a Book posts on my blog. It’s been very helpful for me as it’s making me a lot more mindful of the whole journey, rather than just rushing into it, which I’ve definitely done in the past, with terrible results! I’m also hoping to publish one or maybe two sequels to my crime thriller novella next year, and I have been working on a non-fiction book for two years now (about what the first year of motherhood was like for me) but I’ve decided to put it on the back burner to focus on my fiction at the moment.

All of this will slow down quite a lot, however, in November as I give birth to my second child, but that’s another big advantage of being an indie author – I’m very much in charge of my writing and can take time off when I need to, which for now as a freelancing mum of (nearly!) two young children is very important.

I used to be very impatient with my writing, wanting to publish more books and quicker, but now I see that there is a lot of value in taking my time and learning as much as possible rather than rushing into projects and feeling overwhelmed; I never want my writing to feel anything but a joy to pursue… at least most days!

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About the Author

Frankie is a freelance writer, blogger and author of a number of books. As Frances M. Thompson she writes contemporary fiction and has published over 10 books as an indie author. Blogging over at As the Bird flies, British-born Frankie writes about travel, writing and motherhood, and about life in Amsterdam where she lives with her Australian partner and young family.

Frankie is also the creator of WriteNOW Cards, affirmation cards for writers to help you build and enjoy your writing practice. You can follow Frankie’s many journeys on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Frankie also shares a lot of her writing and travel inspiration on Pinterest.