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Book Shop Chats:
Welcome to Book Shop Chats, your go to podcast for indie authors and learning insight into what it takes to write a book (HINT: You can do it too!!)
Join authors as they share their personal journeys, successes, and challenges, providing you with unique insights into the writing process. The discussions explore into various aspects of storytelling, from character development to plot structuring, ensuring you have a well-rounded understanding of the craft.
Whether you're just starting out or have published multiple works, this podcast is your companion in the pursuit of storytelling excellence. Tune in, gather inspiration, and let your passion for writing flourish alongside a community that celebrates the art of the written word.
Book Shop Chats:
How A Sleepless Night And Fortnite Sparked A Fantasy Series with Nicole Batey
In today's episode we sit down with author Nicole Beatty to explore Forge, a romantasy where magic is an artifact, councils hoard medallions, and a revenge-driven heroine steps into an open challenge that could reshape a corrupt system.
BOOK BLURB:
In Rae Airynn's world, magic is reserved only for those strong enough to earn it, or powerful enough to wield it unchallenged for generations, the most lethal Medallions firmly in the grasp of Hierathynn's most elite.
For centuries, the Council has only included the descendants of five unstoppable families, until a member dies with no heir to claim his Medallion, and his seat of power.
Forced into action, the Council hosts an Open Challenge, and Rae finds herself with a renewed hope that she may finally get the vengeance she's been dreaming of for over a decade—but she'll soon come to find that the threats she'll face in the arena aren't nearly as deadly as the ones lurking within the walls of the Council Grounds.
The Challenge will threaten Rae's life, but the choices she'll have to make will threaten the very morals she clings to so desperately. How much of herself is she willing to sacrifice just to exact her revenge—assuming she even makes it out alive.
AUTHOR BIO
Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, Nicole has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. The second she got her hands on her first Nancy Drew mysteries, she's been hooked on books. She currently writes in the Romantasy genre, but also loves to read anything Fantasy, Romantasy, or Thriller.
Her main goal as an Author is to provide stories that can help readers escape reality for a few hours. But in between the tension-filled slow burn moments, adrenaline-packed action scenes, and giggling/feet-kicking-inducing banter, readers will walk with her characters as they process tough topics like grief or trauma, and ultimately find strength in themselves as well as each other.
LINKS
About Victoria:
Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together.
Here’s how I can help:
📖 FREE 7 day Writing Reset: Daily support in your inbox for 7 days.
Grab it HERE
📝 Developmental Editing: Get expert feedback that elevates your manuscript, strengthens your story, and polishes your characters.
✍️ 1:1 monthly support: Revitalize your creativity, map out your novel, and unleash your authentic voice.
Your story deserves to shine, and I’m here to make it happen. Let’s turn your writing dreams into a reality!
📱 IG: @editsbyvictoria
🌐 LINKS: Victoria Jane Editorial
Oh hey, it's Victoria from Victoria Jane Editorial and your host of Bookshop Chats. This podcast is all about authors writing and the magic that goes into storytelling. We cover all of the things that go into writing a book, from the creative process, from taking your idea to a first draft, creating and cultivating community within the author space, marketing all of the fun things. If you are a reader, a wannabe writer, or an author, you will find tips and tricks that suit whatever level you are at. So I hope that you enjoy. And you are unfortunately or fortunately going to find many more books to add to your TBR. So I will invite you to sit back and listen to the episode. Welcome back to Bookshop Chats. In today's episode, I am chatting with Nicole Beatty. Welcome to the podcast. Hi, thanks for having me. Yay! I am excited to chat, chat with you and like hear all about your books. It's a very moody, misty, like rainy, fallish day today. So I feel like it just I'm I'm in the mood to chat about all things books. Perfect.
SPEAKER_01:Sounds like the perfect backdrop.
SPEAKER_00:Amazing. Well, I am going to give you the floor and let you kind of dive right in and share about your books because there are a few. Um, so yes, uh, definitely I would love for you to share with that, but share that with readers.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, yeah, absolutely. So currently we have one book out right now. It's called Forge. I do have the second one coming. It will be either late September or early October, still waiting on a couple of last minute things that are, which I'm sure we'll talk about later in terms of like all the stuff that comes after writing the book. But essentially, with the first book, I don't want to give too much away, but it is a first book in a four-book series. I'm calling it the Medallion series. So that one was released last year late in December. And it is, you know, it's one of those things that has a lot of different tropes in it that everybody knows and loves. But I personally like to try and take those tropes and do them a little bit differently, maybe not like entirely what you expect, or like kind of like what people, you know, we still want to keep that lovely romanticy aspect to it, but I want it to be a little bit different and feel a little bit fresh for readers as well. So the overall concept of Forge is that our main character, whose name is Ray Aaron, she's our FMC, she's essentially on a classic mission for revenge. That's pretty much how we start. We love a good revenge story. Yes, we do. We love a little feminine rage wherever we can get it. So we definitely have that with her. She's also, I did inspire my main character with myself a little bit. She is also a redhead. So write sometimes you have to write what you know, right? And then sometimes a fiery redhead, that's our main character. So I do know a little bit about that. Um, but essentially how we start off in this series is that um we're essentially in this world where magic is a little bit different than what you're used to. Magic is not something that people are born with or something that, you know, is like, oh, you're the chosen one. So now you have magic or anything like that. Magic is actually it's almost like a remnant, or I would even almost call it an artifact of a of a civilization that was before the humans that are in this book. So all the people that are in this book are humans. They're normal. We're not talking high faith, we're not talking whatever else out there, just basic, everyday humans. But essentially what happened in this world is that 400 years before where we are in the book now, there was a civilization called the Forgers. They were the sort of like semi-human, still human, but they had natural magic. So they were the ones that had actual magic in their veins. And then they actually created these things called medallions that um harnessed their magic and made it a lot more potent. It also um, in their world, it made it easier for them to control their magic, which was a lot more wild, obviously being within their blood. So they have these medallions. They are also not very good people, I will say. They didn't rule very well, they were a little bit dictatory, not really great. So obviously led into a uprising by the humans way back in the um 400 years ago. And then so that's how we get to the point of where we are at today. So the humans take over from the forgers, essentially kill them all, and take all the medallions for themselves. Where we are 400 years later, is that instead of um a leader or a king or anything like that, now we have a council, and the council is made up of the descendants of the five generals that led the rebellion 400 years ago. So when they finished that rebellion, they obviously took the five strongest medallions for themselves as they would. And that is how we ended up today with the council as it is, with the five strongest medallions in the world. But of course, as humans do tend to do, they didn't really end up being very good people themselves. Because with ultimate power, usually does come with ultimate corruption. So where we're at right now is where we go back to the main story here, which is where Ray comes in, is when she gets the opportunity to exact revenge on one of the council members, who is very not a good person, very, very much not a good person, is kind of the type that will kill first, ask questions later, doesn't really think that the rules apply to him, as some people too tend to feel that way when they get into that kind of power. So what happens is one of the uh council members ends up passing away at the beginning of the of the book, and they don't have anybody to pass their medallion down to. So it's very much like an heirloom in terms of like the higher families. They pass their medallions down to their children, but in this case, they don't have anyone to pass it down to. So by law, it's forced to go into an open challenge, which means that anybody can come and try and fight to claim it. And then because it is a council medallion, that also means you become a council member yourself if you claim that medallion. So our our good friend Ray here is obviously driven by vengeance, driven by revenge. She wants to enter this challenge so she can win this medallion, which then would give her the power to take out the other council member that she has um a bit of a bone to pick with. However, where we get into the more like romanticy angle of everything is of course we have a number of MMCs as well, which we love to see. We love to see them. There are two main ones. So it's a bit of a love triangle moment for anybody who does enjoy a good love triangle. But main reasons being one of them is one of the other council members who is relatively new himself. He's like a you know, 20, 26-year-old man. He's his father recently died. He is one of the main families that are like part of these descendants, but in his eyes, he doesn't like the way the council is operating things. He wants to change things, he's looking for an ally. And then the other MMC that we deal with is another challenger in the challenge, but also happens to be Ray's enemy's son. So perfect. Very complicated dynamics with that one. But essentially, as we go through the main book, again, don't want to give any spoilers, but we're going through some pretty intense trials trying to get through things, very um life or death situation, deadly trials, um, obviously a lot of relationship building. There's a lot of complicated emotions going on with her. She is going through a lot, so I'll give her that, give her credit there. But um, it's very interesting to see how she behaves. A lot of things come up with her in terms of morals of how far she's willing to go and what she's willing to sacrifice in order to get what she's looking for here and what's worth it, what isn't. Who can she trust, if anyone? Um, and sort of a lot of themes that I think people are really starting to relate to in terms of Ray herself. Like she's a very real person. She's not perfect, she makes mistakes, she makes the decisions that I think a lot of people are probably gonna be a little annoyed with because it's easy for us to say when we're looking from the outside. But she's a real person dealing with real things and real trauma, and um, it's part of her growth journey in the end.
SPEAKER_00:So I love it. I love it. I'm here for that. Uh kind of yeah, just characters that are messy, like it's just it's as annoying as it is. I feel like it's very lovely to be yelling at your character of like, what, but like why? Like, what is this? Why it just builds that connection with the reader, and I think that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and like I love, listen, I love me an Ailen, I love me a Fera just as much as the next girly, but sometimes I find like they can be a little hard to relate to. Like they're very, very high standard characters. Like they they don't make a lot of mistakes, and I mean, maybe that's debatable, but they usually don't make a lot of mistakes. They're very, you know, they're very put together, they have a lot going on, they have like these really amazing, amazing qualities that make them such amazing characters that everybody loves so much. But me personally, when I was writing this book, I really wanted to make sure that I was writing a character that felt relatable, that like an average person can read this and be like, you know what? Like, honestly, if I was her, I probably would do the same thing. Like, I don't know. Like, that's a really tough thing to think about. Or, you know, realistically thinking about people who are going through these like incredibly traumatizing situations. Like, I we can't imagine what this would probably be like to be fighting for your life in something like this. But, you know, that's not the easiest thing to get through. And when you're already dealing with a lot of trauma already, like it's just um, I wanted that was really important to me when I was writing actually all the characters, not just her, but all the characters, I wanted them to feel human, like they're not perfect, and they also, you know, they have an arc. There is going to be, especially in the second book, like the second book is um majorly themed around a lot of character growth and a lot of relationship building, I won't say between who, just to keep the spoiler free. But it's a major, major theme, and especially for Ray, it's a lot of self-reflection on her part, it's a lot of healing from a lot of these traumas and and getting out of bad habits that she's been doing before. So I just thought it was really important because as much as we love a good romantic for escapism and things like that. I also wanted to make sure that it felt real to people that they could actually see themselves in these characters.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. Yeah, I I think that that's so true. That's really part of the reason why I love reading is just connecting with these characters that are are real and relatable. I would love to hear a little bit about how this story came came into your world. Um, I always find that so fascinating hearing how authors share about how these like wildly uh vivid characters and stories and worlds come into their life. Um, so yeah, how did how did you create this?
SPEAKER_01:It's honestly a really funny story. So I feel like honestly super relatable to anybody else that's this thing that also works a full-time job. So I thought of I've been wanting to write a book for a very, very long time, like since I was a child and sort of growing into adulthood. But you know, when they when you start talking with your parents about like, I want to be an author when I grow up, they're always like, okay, that's nice, but like what are what are you really gonna do? So I found a way to um take my passion for writing and actually put it into something that you know people would in general consider a career-making move. So I ended up going into advertising. So I am still a writer, I just do it a little bit differently. But then I've been thinking about it for years. Like I really just, you know, now that I have the time, I have a little bit more experience, I'm older, things like that. I was thinking about it, thinking about it, but like nothing really ever like sparked me to just do it. And then I remember it was last year, the year before the one that just passed, where it was the classic. We had just been on vacation for for Christmas over or Christmas break. I was lying in bed. It was the day before I had to go back to work after being on break. And I just was like unable to sleep. I was like fully experiencing insomnia. I didn't want to go back to work. I was thinking to myself, like, I don't know if I actually want to do this for the rest of my life, or like, I don't know if this is fully fulfilling. Like, I don't know, I gotta be doing something else. Like, this can't be it, this can't be it. So I'm sitting in bed, dreading going to work the next morning. And then it just hit me all of a sudden because I was thinking, like, maybe I should actually just like write a book. Maybe I should just do it and like kind of see where that goes. And then so I was thinking, okay, well, like what kind of book would I would I want to? Because I also enjoy um thriller books as well. So I was thinking, like, do I want to pursue a thriller book? So I had a little bit of an idea for that one, but I haven't really thought about romantic much. And then it was hilarious. I just like randomly thought about the first question I asked myself was, okay, well, I don't want magic to be the same in this world. So, like, how does the magic work? That was the first question I asked myself. While I was lying in bed, my husband's like snoring away next to me, totally clueless. And I'm just sitting there, my gears are churning, and I was like, hey, first things first, how does the magic work? We got to think of something different. I want, I don't want it to feel like something I've read before. What is it? And I sat there and I thought about it and I thought about it and I thought about it, and I went through 50,000 different weird ideas, and then I would try to see if that would work sort of like logistically, what could I get from that? Things like that. And it was actually really funny. This is where the funny part comes in. It was um, I'm not sure if you play much Fortnite, but back in that time I was playing a little bit of Fortnite with my friends, and that was kind of our social thing. And there was a um uh feature in the current season of Fortnite that was about if you if you picked up this like special coin or special thing around the map, it gave you additional abilities in the game. So I was kind of thinking and humming and hawking to myself about what's the magic like? What's the magic like? And I kind of just got this idea from Fortnite. I was like, it'd be kind of interesting if the magic was actually like this, where it wasn't something that was like born in you or like within your blood or transferred anyway. It's almost like you can pass around magic, like it's jewelry. It's almost an heirloom, it's an artifact. Like you can you can wear this thing around your neck, and now you have the powers. And if you wanted to change powers, all you need to do is grab a different medallion. So that's how the core of it started. And then I just kind of obsessed over it until I figured out the rest.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. Yes, that's so yeah. I feel like the the late nights are always good for something, at least, at least if we're not sleeping, we're making up imaginary characters, right? At least I'm being productive at some point. I totally feel that. And I think that that's such a great reminder of like sometimes you just really need to take that leap. And I feel like the often the hardest part of like that whole like I want to write a book is getting that first draft written. And then I feel like once you do that one time, you're like, okay, like I guess I can actually do this. Um, it's not always easy and it takes uh a while, but um, yeah, that first like first draft is just like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I did it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and honestly, the first draft, you just have to accept the fact that it's it's I know I'm gonna be harsh with this, including on myself. It's trash. The first draft is gonna be trash, and you just have to accept that and know that you can't compare a first draft to anything else that's even be been touched at by an editor. Like that's what I find a lot. Um, I talk with a lot of people who are in their writing journey, and there's a lot of comparison that happens, especially with like, you know, the self-published authors comparing themselves to like the SJMs and the Rebecca Yarrises of the world. Like it's gonna be only natural for sure, but we also have to keep in mind that not even in including self self-publishing uh people, but anybody traditional publishing, there's at least like 10 editors that take a look at that that book. There's at least like 15 different rounds, like things like that. There's a whole bunch of things that go into it that people don't really see or or consider when they're criticizing their own work. And I think, and I'm a I'm a victim of this too. I do this to myself all the time, where I'm like, oh, I don't know if I could have ever written that. I don't know if like mine will ever be that good. But you know, obviously you can't think that way when you're just writing the first draft because the first draft, the uh my friend who's a writer as well, um, she always likes to say the first draft's job is just to be on the page. Yes, and that's it.
SPEAKER_00:It's so true, it's so true. And I think too, it's so easy to, like you said, compare yourself to other authors. And then even just like thinking of like obviously, like, you know, Rebecca Yarros and Sarah, they're having like a huge moment, but you have to think of how many other books that they had before the ones that blew up on like book talk and stuff. And I bet you there would be a huge difference between their first book to like you know their 12th book. Um, like it's natural that you grow and but like it all starts with that that first draft and like trusting yourself to like write that and yeah, and write the mess. And I think that's the thing because we're so obsessed with this like illusion of perfection um in creativity, but yet nobody wants it perfect. Like it's just a really weird thing that I've really been like sitting with, uh, and just like how we're constantly chasing it. But perfect characters are not fun to. I mean, sometimes they can be like light, and it's like, okay, everything's happy, and you know, we need a good, like, you know, happily ever after kind of thing where it's all sunshine and rainbows. But I think the relatability of like having that imperfection and just mess and just like real life is always it's just helps you feel less alone, I think.
SPEAKER_01:100%. And I think a lot of people, you're right, like we get so obsessed with this idea of like, oh, my book has to be perfect, or me personally, I start obsessing over every little detail of the book of like, oh, are people gonna like this or not like this? Like, should I make this character say this or do this? Like, I'm not sure you start humming and hawing over it. Meanwhile, you'll never be able to be perfect because everybody likes different things. First of all, they like different tropes, they do and don't like things, people disagree on certain things. So you can never, you can never actually write a perfect book, first of all. You can there's never no such thing as perfect. I like to try to remind myself like what's perfect to me, because this is at the end of the day, like I'm writing this for me, not for for the masses, not to try and get famous, not to try and get whatever. It's I'm trying to write a story that I felt personal about, and it's my story in my head that I want to get out. And so at the end of the day, if I feel good about it, it doesn't need to be perfect. And that's uh it's a still something that I struggle with. I still I still am working on that, but it's something that a lot of a lot of writers talk about. Me and my my writer friend, she's one of my best friends. We talk all the time about the struggles, and you know, sometimes we're just having a bad day and we'll message each other being like, like, I'm doing okay, right? Like, this is is this okay, or even just send a piece of what we just wrote, like writ wrote to each other um about, you know, is this sounding okay? Because I'm like hyper-fixating on this, like, I don't know. And then it's it's just one of those things, and that's also a really good idea, too, in terms of like having community. It doesn't have to be another writer, it doesn't have to be anything like that. Sometimes I just look at my husband or my other friends who aren't writers and just say, like, is this okay? Like, am I doing okay? Or what do you think about this? Is am I overthinking this? And then usually most of the time, the answer is like, yeah, you're good. Stop, stop, stop worrying about it. Just you trust yourself. This is your story, you know your story, you know your characters, just do what feels good to you, the rest will come.
SPEAKER_00:A hundred percent. It's it's so hard though. I think it it's it's wild because realistically, like writing and like any sort of creative endeavor, you're constantly putting yourself in the face of rejection on the day. Like, that's literally like what happens. So I get why we're so obsessed with this like fear of like, oh, like what if people hate it? But I think there's something, and I don't even like calling books bad, but like some of those books that somebody might say is quote unquote bad. I think some of those really simple books that are like easy to read, it are what like kind of helped inspire me to be like, oh, like I could do this and I enjoyed this, and the characters were really sweet, and I loved how they structured this and it it just like you never know when something like that is gonna inspire someone else to take that leap. And I mean, we need all kinds of books, right? Like literary, like fancy, like analytical pieces that make you think, or like the really like easy reads that you finish in a day, right? Like, there's just like both of them are perfect.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. They all serve a purpose for whatever that reader is looking for in that moment. Like also, some things can change day by day. Someone could read a book one day and absolutely love it, and they read the book a day that's a totally different, totally different mindset, and they're just not ready for it. And it's not hitting the same, it's not, you know, like tickling that scratch that they were looking for. It it genuinely changes all the time, and that's why it is really difficult, but it's definitely important to remember that you know, striving for perfection in this industry is is just never gonna, it's a not winning game. Like you're not gonna, you're just gonna drive yourself insane just to try and like be perfect all the time, make sure there's no mistakes. I mean, my first book I edited probably had to have been, I think I read that thing at least 50 times. I had I hired a professional editor to go through it and I still published it with typos and like things that I wanted to change. And then, and you know, it was hard not to crash out a little bit about that when I saw it, because obviously that's a lot of work that goes into that. But again, like we're not perfect, it's fine, it's a little bit of a typo. It didn't change anything. It's okay. We updated the manuscript and off it goes. Like it's it's one of those things where you just have to have a little bit of grace with yourself, I think a lot, and in a lot of ways. You have to have a grace with yourself in a lot of ways. And yes, you have to be ready for people to be like, I don't like this. And you have to be like, okay, sorry that that that wasn't for you. But then there's also, you know, another person that's gonna tell you that they're your favorite, like you're you're their favorite author, or like this was their top five favorite books of all time. So it's all about balance, I think. It's really hard when you're so deep in it, but you know, I've been working a lot on that as well because I also am a bit of a perfectionist and an overachiever. I will admit we are working on that, but um, that's something that I had to learn too, is that you can't be perfect for everything and everybody, and it's okay to make mistakes, it's okay to grow as a writer for sure. That should be the goal is to grow as a writer. You know, I I don't want to look back on my older books and think, like, oh, that was, you know, so bad or I was so bad. I never want to think that way, but the whole point is to grow as long as like I'm I feel like I'm growing along with my characters. Yes, we're all having a bit of a character arc, right?
SPEAKER_00:And I feel like that's the point. And I think I really I I do appreciate that, like looking back at like yeah, the first draft of of some of my stories that they were quite uh something. Um but like it without that, I wouldn't be where I am now. So it's that like magic, like just appreciating it for what it is and what it taught you and the growth that happens. Um, and I'm constantly reminding myself, like I've seen, I don't know where I saw this quote, but basically it's sort of like it, it it asks you like how many years have you been writing? Well, like if you've been writing one, like how what was expected of you when you were in grade one, right? Like in terms of the things that you could get done, like not a lot. Um, like if you could write your name, you were winning. Um, so I think that there's like something like that's a little bit like, oh, we kind of like put so much pressure on ourselves as adults to have this sort of like perfect, like it must be amazing kind of thing. And obviously, yes, you're publishing your book, you want to put like the best that it can be out into the world, but um, it's never, you're never gonna please everyone. And if you do, like are you even really telling a story that's worth telling? I think.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. If you're only writing a story for the purpose of being perfect for everyone else, I don't feel like that's a real story for you because you're not writing it for you at that point. You're writing it to be perfect, and I don't feel I don't feel like that's what people really want in at the end of the day. I think people like a little bit of mess, they like a little bit of reality and like, yes, in the characters, but also in the writing as well. Like, you don't want that perfect book that, and I don't even know what I would classify as perfect. There's so many different definitions for it, but you know, in the sense of like, oh, every word is the best word possible that you could ever pick for this, or that sentence structure is perfect every single time, or like that dialogue is perfect. You know, that's not real though. People aren't looking to escape into a world of perfection, they're looking to, you know, think like look at all the books that people obsess over. That's it's got a lot of darkness and and mistakes and characters that all don't always cooperate with what we want them to do, and and storylines that maybe we don't fully understand or that we don't really relate to, but that's also okay. Like every reader doesn't have to relate to what you're saying, and they're still going to enjoy it. It's okay.
SPEAKER_00:Definitely, definitely. Well, I would love to hear now. Obviously, the books we've got them like done. So let's dive into the other side of it. Because I feel like sometimes we can forget that you know it the book is done. I've did I did the things, so that naturally there's nothing else for me to do. But I think many of us are sorely mistaken.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, I was for sure. I was certainly mistaken. I yeah, okay. So where to begin on that one? So when I finally finished the first one, I finished Forge and I had probably a good solid hour of joy of like, oh, I finished it. Like that moment you get when you type that last sentence on the manuscript. You haven't even edited yet, but just like first draft, last sentence done. Like, okay, great, amazing. You think that that's the hardest part. At least I thought that was the hardest part. And then I was like, great. So, you know, I just have to like submit the manuscript and maybe get a book cover made, and then that's it, right? So, nope, that wasn't it. So then I started talking to my my friend, my writer friend, and she's um, she is a very type A personality in the sense that if she's gonna do something, she's gonna research it to the nth degree. So then she becomes my own personal encyclopedia of facts and things that I need to do. So I'm talking to her about okay, so it's done. Like I'm gonna edit and you know hire a professional editor and all that. But uh, I think like I'm pretty much ready to go. And so she starts asking me questions like, oh, cool, like who's gonna do your illustrations for like your map? Are you doing a map? Are you doing any kind of other illustrations? And I'm just thinking, oh, I probably should do a map. I definitely think I should do a map. Okay, I'm not gonna have to source somebody to do the illustrations. And then I'm I'm thinking to myself, okay, where do I find a book cover? So then I have to go and source somebody to do the book cover. And then you have to think about, okay, now I gotta find the editor, now I've got to find perhaps a proofreader too. Some people like to do them two separate, um, two separate people for that. And then you're thinking to yourself, like, okay, well, I just wrote this full novel, and I feel like that was a lot easier than trying to do all those other things. And then personally, I would I published via Amazon. So Amazon is also um no-shaved, uh, but they're not the easiest to operate with on terms of self-publishing. So I had um a lot of issues with trying to figure out their templates and I'm trying to think of like, okay, it was even the smallest things of when I was setting up the um the product pages on Amazon, they're asking me, okay, what size is the book? Because they have like probably 10 different sizes available. And I'm just thinking, I've never thought about that at all.
unknown:What's the difference?
SPEAKER_01:So then I'm I'm over here in my personal library pulling books out of my bookshelves with a measuring tape, trying to measure all the different books and things and like the different sizes. And so I'm humming and hawing over a book that's literally one inch difference. So I'm over here testing them in my hands, being like, what feels more comfortable in my hands? I bring my husband in, like, which one feels more comfortable in your hands from like a like a larger hand perspective. So then it's just things that you don't think about until all these people are starting to ask you these questions. And then you finally get it all sorted, or you think you finally have it all sorted. And then I distinctly remember I was having a um a friends miss party with all my friends who were coming over and hosting and all that. And I got the notification a couple hours before everybody came over that Amazon had rejected my manuscript. There was something wrong with it. They, you know, they didn't, they didn't pass it for whatever reason. And of course, me being new to the game, didn't realize that you should give yourself ample buffer time for things like this when you're scheduling. Cause I'd already said, like, oh, the book's releasing on X date and I've I've submitted it. It's all good to go. But unfortunately, Amazon bounced it back and it was over a, I believe, a quarter inch bleed trim on the pay on the map page was the problem. Um, but again, what happened was they had to, I had to push out the book launch because they have their rules of how many days it takes for them to review things. I had to resubmit it. And I had a full crash out an hour before all my friends were supposed to come over. And my poor husband, bless him. He was just like, you know what? You you stay here, you handle it, whatever you gotta do. He's upstairs like cooking the turkey, like getting the house ready. He's my my number one supporter, so I definitely couldn't do this without him. But I'm over here freaking out at my desk, being like, I don't know how to get this done, like I have to get this done. And um, he was just like, It's fine, it's fine. Just just get it, just take your time, just think about it. It's fine, you'll figure it out. And I did figure it out eventually, but it's a lot, and you gotta be ready for that. It's um not easy to do it all by yourself, but as long as you have Really supportive people around you, whether or not they can help you with specific tasks or if they are just there for support is really important because there will be moments where you're you're thinking to yourself, why did I do this? I don't know how to do this. This is where also the imposter syndrome starts to kick in because it's like, do I even have any reason to be doing this when there's like big authors out there and chapters and Barnes and Noble and things like that? And you have to remind yourself you have every right to be here just like they are. And it's just a little bit of extra time, a little bit of extra work. Take a breath, you'll figure it out because um it does all get figured out in the end, but it can be it can be quite overwhelming, which I've learned. But lots of really good learning opportunities. So going into the launch of my second book, I I've been way less stressed out because I know how things are going. I know to prepare for things. I've already had a delay come with my with my publishing date, which is why I learned we're not talking about which date specifically we're gonna publish until we have everything in hand, we have the the timeline solidified because you know that that that kind of stuff happens all the time. So it does get better with each time. Um, but definitely the writing of the book is the easiest part.
SPEAKER_00:Right. It's just it is wild. And I think that honestly, like when I'm chatting with authors, um, whether they've self-published or they've gone the trad route, like that that's the the biggest pro often with traditionally publishing, is that somebody's doing that for you. Um, and you're not doing it yourself, is that you kind of are hands off when it comes to that kind of stuff, uh, which is uh definitely like pros and cons to both, I think. Um, but yeah, I can see like there's just a a whole world that is like opening up. And I think it's changing so much now with just how self-publishing has changed in the last five years and and the way in which we consume media, um, with like the rise of book talk and bookstagram and stuff. So I think it's becoming like there's there's so much marketing that goes into it that previously wasn't, I think, in the self-publishing space, which is great because now so many books are are getting out and people are seeing them. And and I think it's becoming this sort of like there it's one isn't better than the other. They're they're both viable options. It's a matter of which one you think is best for the story as it comes to it, right? So I think that yeah, that's such a good thing to think of. I wouldn't have thought of these all these like weird technical glitches and stuff that can kind of go along with um yeah, everything that goes in, like formatting and like, you know, like you said, finding like illustrations, editors, um, like gosh, it's it's a lot. It's a lot.
SPEAKER_01:It feels endless sometimes. And then of course, once you're finished all of that and you get to celebrate because your book is finally out, it's available, all those things. Now you gotta figure out what you're gonna do on social media every single day to keep your presence up. So it's it doesn't quite end. And this is, you know, and I'm very aware that I come from a bit of a different world in the sense that this is what I do for a living every single day. I work in advertising, specifically social media. I work in a social media agency. And even for me, it's it's very difficult to think about it. And especially anybody who's working a full-time job, you that's like the last thing you want to do when you sign off at the end of the day, and then you think to yourself, like, oh man, I really do need to record that reel. Like yesterday, I recorded a reel using the 24 karat laboo-boo audio, and it felt really ridiculous. And one of the last things I wanted to do after a really long day of work, but listen, you do it and it gets out there, and you know, you just remind yourself that it this this kind of the grind is is part of is part of the journey. And that's how you know truly, though, that it's a real passion is when you're so tired and you have so many other things going on. You have a holiday dinner cooking upstairs, trying to get ready for all your friends to come over, and you also choose to prioritize getting this done. I think that you know, sometimes it can make you feel very overwhelmed, and you know, you sometimes feel like you don't know what to do. You think like I shouldn't be doing this, I don't know if I can keep doing this. And I think it's a good thing to remind yourself that you wouldn't be doing this if you weren't passionate about it, and you're passionate about it for a reason. So just keep pushing, get it out there. Sometimes my only social media interaction is just to go on my feed and like a few posts, comment a few posts. That counts too. It doesn't always have to be like, let me edit this whole reel that's gonna take me an hour to edit and then put it out there only to get a few, a few likes and a few views. So it can be discouraging sometimes, but the key with social media, if there's one thing that I've learned, both just from doing this and also from my job, is just keep going, keep pushing, consistency. You you never know which one is gonna pop off. And when it happens, it's great. Also, I've I've made a ton of really good um communications and connections, and I've found people via social media. Like I have a new artist that does all my character art now. I found her via social media. I mean, here actually um talk quite a lot. She's actually been uh DMing me because she decided to read the book that the characters are based off of. So she's been DMing me like late at night trying to talk about the book, and you you make a really a lot of really good connections that way. So I know social media specifically can feel really daunting um to self-published authors because obviously it's just us doing everything, but uh it can be a lot, it can have a lot more value than just like getting your name out there. I think the connections that you make in the book world between readers and other authors is uh is invaluable.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. I feel like that's huge, I think, of just like building that community and the connection and all of that kind of stuff is it really does make such a difference because it is such a lonely kind of place sometimes when you're writing and you're doing it all by yourself. You're got these characters that you're arguing with that don't exist, and you're like, how do I make them cooperate? And then exactly, right? Like to have that, it's it's so true. And I'm often like reminding myself of like, how can I just make this fun? Right? Like, let's just I want social media to feel like easeful. Um, it's obviously it's annoying that we have to do it, blah, blah, blah. But like, how can I make it as simple as possible? Um, and I mean, I've tried the like fancy reels and overcomplicated carousels with all of the lovely, like, you know, clip art and stuff, and they look great, but like it takes so much time. And I'd rather be doing other things with like that are actually more helpful. So I think that's really uh one thing that I'll remind myself and and others that I chat with is just like do what you can do. And it it's it's that's good enough. Um and and just like keep it simple. And I think it I think sometimes we forget that social media is meant to be a social platform, so it's the connection that it thrives off of. So, like you said, like liking, comment, like liking things, um, commenting on things, like that's been such a great way to connect with other people. Um, and I've like you, I've made so many amazing connections um with like you know, authors that I like edit for and just like in general. So it's so yeah, it's been such a great space uh to just learn more about like the whole process because there's still so much that I feel like I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. There's always things coming out that I'm like, oh, I didn't know that that was a thing. Right. And my and then I find too sometimes with social media, it's a it's a fine line to walk to because sometimes I feel it can get also almost overwhelming in the sense that there's all these people telling you what you should and shouldn't do and all these different opinions flying out there. So, like it's a it's a good space, but I also have to remind myself, like, okay, this is a great space to make connections, it's a great space for me to put my you know face out there. I want people to see me who I am as an author. I want to put my personality out there. Um, but also, you know, don't always take everything that's on there that too seriously because I feel like there's a lot of things on there that get really jumbly and opinion-based. And I feel like, you know, some people end up deep diving down rabbit holes and thinking, like, oh, am I not doing enough because this is what people are saying? And I think, yeah, like you said, just do what you can. That's pretty much that's the core that I try to keep to. Some days are better than others, some days you have a lot of energy for it. Some days you just have the energy to sit there and brain rot and scroll your feed and like and share some things, and that still counts. And and making those connections does does help, but it is it can be difficult to not um get sucked into some of these conversations for sure.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's a it's a hard one to balance of just that noise that can come with social media and just the the things that you're like, oh, why did I why do I care about that? Like it's it can definitely feed that sort of like not feeling like you're doing enough kind of energy uh big time. And it's constantly catching myself on that one of like, uh, do I actually feel this way, or is it because I've been sitting scrolling for like too long here? Exactly. Um, right. So I think it's really like mindful. Um, and to me, honestly, like I love when I find content from creators or or authors or whatever that that is just their like unique thing. It doesn't, it's no trend, it it's nothing, it's it's just their personality. And I find that that's that's what I want to cultivate myself is just like the stuff that feels me and the things that I'm like, oh that trend's funny. I'm gonna do that, but I'm not gonna be doing like the ones that are like crazy that take hours to edit. Like, I mean, they look great, but like I'm one person. How can I do all of that?
SPEAKER_01:100%. And I feel like also us authors tend to also bring our perfectionism into social media as well a little bit, where we tend to be hyper-fixated on the follower count. If a follower drops or ads, you start like hyperfixating on that, the number of views you're getting, the algorithm. I mean, you'll never please the algorithm. She's a fickle beast. So yeah, those things that we just have to accept, I think. But I try to keep myself away from that perfectionism on social as well, because it can be it can be difficult to, you know, you're putting a lot of effort into it. That's why you know, I do try to remind myself, like Nicole, just have fun. Just have social. Don't spend a lot of time, like, don't kill yourself over it. It's not that serious. It's meant to be fun, it's meant to be just an outlet of your personality so that people can, you know, when they hear your name or they see your book and they want to look you up, they see your face, they get a little bit of a taste of what you are like as a person. That's really all it's meant to be. And if they want to get in contact with you, there you are. But you know, I I fell victim to a couple of those posts that took hours to edit, and then, you know, it you get barely any action on it. So then you feel horrible about it, and then you're thinking, like, should I even do this? You know, it's not perfect, it didn't work. But that's also part of social. Some things work and some things don't. There's like multi-million dollar brands out there that have posts that flop, and some posts go viral. That's just social is like one of those things you just cannot predict. It's one of those ones where you just have to just be your best self and like you said, like do trends that feel good for you if that's the trend that you resonate with or you think fits with your personality, or even just doing things that aren't trend-based and just showcase your personality. I think that's the important thing with social. But I know that it can be hard for authors and creative people in general to not fall victim to the perfectionism, no matter what platform we are, whether that's on a book or an Instagram post.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, it's it's a tough one for sure. Um, well, I had a lovely time chatting with you. And as we get closer to wrapping things up, I would love for you to share how people can connect with you and follow along your journey, you know, all of the magical social things, and also find your books because that's obviously a very important part of this, too.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. So, I mean, after all that talk about social, I am on social. So I am on all platforms. I'm on threads, uh, Instagram and TikTok under uh at author Nicole Beatty. So just my first and last name. Um, you can find me pretty much anywhere on there. Please feel free. I love getting DMs from people. I feel like sometimes people are asking me, like, do you mind if I message you about something or give you my thoughts and feelings? Please do. I love to yap about anything, but especially about books. And if you want to yap about my book particular, I'll love that even more. My poor husband has been the one that I have to yap about it with constantly. So please spare him. Please DM me. I'm happy to talk about it. Um, and you can find my books currently on Amazon. That is where they are at the moment. So they are on Kindle Unlimited, um, but as well as paperback and hardcover. And the second one should be dropping later this fall, but right now you can get the first one there.
SPEAKER_00:Amazing. Well, everything will be linked in the show notes. So it'll be super easy for people to click through and find you and your books. But yeah, it was lovely chatting. I feel like uh it definitely like perked up my energy. I uh I didn't need the coffee. Um, so I'm feeling a little bit more inspired now. So yeah, thanks so much. Amazing. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed our chat. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. And if you really loved this author, I highly encourage you to go check out their links and comment and share their work because let's be real, as an indie author, all that stuff makes such a difference. And if you're feeling a little stuck on your draft and just want some gentle accountability, check out my one-to-one offers that are linked in the show notes as well. I'd love to support you with your writing or editing journey. And if that's not quite where you're at, I've also put together a really amazing free resource to help with taking your writing to the next level because there are so many amazing resources available without needing to spend a ton of money or get that MFA or all of the things that you may think that you need in order to write a book. Until next time, keep writing your way and trust yourself enough to tell your story. Because I promise if it's coming to you, there's a reason and someone needs to hear it.
