During my Spring 2026 term, I had so many fantastic students come through my Advanced Creative Writing class. One of them asked to conduct a virtual interview with me via Email and asked questions that I later shared with the class, with the student’s permission, of course, because they dove deep into some of the modern questions that aspiring writers have today regarding the industry, social media, and the direction it is taking. Below is the full interview.
What did your writing path look like? Right now, I want to focus on submitting short stories to magazines/competitions before I transition into writing books, but I’m curious if you started with short stories or jumped off the deep end into novel-writing.
I jumped off the deep end. Even as a child, I was writing — what I perceived to be — books. I’ve written short stories in my time, as any author does, and entered a fair few competitions, but ultimately my strength is in longer and more complex storylines layered with plot points and complicated world-building. I struggled to simplify enough to live within the constraints of a word or page count. Short stories are a great way to learn how to be concise and what truly needs to be in a story, but it isn’t my strong point. I do have two short stories published in indie author collections, the second one coming out next month, but I still don’t claim it as a strong point.
Alternatively, to build up a more professional writing profile, I’ve done some freelance writing with Charleston Woman’s Magazine. My undergraduate degree is in Mass Communications, so I’ve learned how to write for press releases, news reports, broadcast scripts, and articles, and have since used that to make a little extra change on the side and build my credibility.
Ultimately, everyone’s journey is different, and you are on yours, which is the important thing!
What’s something you didn’t realize was part of the publishing and/or writing process?
Networking. Networking is one of the most important aspects of the publishing and writing process. I’ve met so many other writers, bookstore owners, editors, etc. simply by going to events like bookstore openings, writing groups, and applying for internships. This has led to more people, more connections, and more opportunities. You have to put yourself out there a lot in this industry. For me, it’s kind of the fun part. I was terribly shy for years and years, but (dropping some lore here) I had a personal training business when I was 19 that closed down because of COVID, and I learned very quickly that being shy wouldn’t be beneficial. That time that I learned how to network was pivotal for all the things I’m doing now as an author. It kind of sucks at first, and you will spend a lot of time with your hands and voice shaking, but over time you can develop a natural charisma. Practice talking to people you don’t know now, and if you struggle with that, just look at a person, find one thing to compliment, then give them a compliment. That’s the easiest way to start a conversation, and from there just ask them questions to show them you care about what they say. That keeps the conversation going.
It’s a pinnacle skill in all aspects of life that you can start working on at any time. Reaching out via email to ask me questions is a good start, so congratulations.
How do you feel about the publishing industry with the onset of Booktok, social media marketing, and the ‘tropification’ (for lack of a better word) of publishing?
As I said, my undergraduate degree is in Mass Communications, so this is the type of conversation I’ve had a million times, and it never gets old.
Ultimately, the use of the internet, social media, and other forms of mass communication has had a catch twenty-two affect. On one hand, it has made it easier for more indie authors to exist and allowed more people to become writers. They can now write, market, and share their stories in ways that were never available before. There is a lot of beauty in that, and it warms my heart in many ways.
On top of that, I’ve seen a new revival in reading due to things like ‘booktok’. I see more communities being built and more locally owned bookstores opening, which ultimately seems like a positive shift in societal values. When people begin reaching for books again, it can only lead to more beautiful ideas. When people find community in literature, it can only lead to more genuine human connection.
Understand that as an English Professor, an author, and a mentor figure in creative writing, I have very idealistic views on that aspect, but that is the truth of what I see. Books create strong societies with better educated and more empathetic people.
The downside is that it does saturate the market with things that may not necessarily be ‘quality’ writing. I use that term loosely, of course, because ‘quality’ is a matter of opinion.
That saturation does make it harder for people to see an author’s work, and authors, especially indie authors, have to work part-time as influencers as well. The algorithms are complicated and frustrating. I’m speaking from experience there. The numbers matter, but don’t necessarily reflect the ‘quality’ of the writing. It can be extremely difficult, disheartening, and disappointing for a lot of people. It can be really difficult to get people to see your work and see value in it.
If you are someone who wants to make books your full-time career, understand that it is such a rarity. I’ve only met one person thus far (though there are many to meet) who has done it, but he openly admitted it was because his wife was the breadwinner and was cool with him only making 20k or so a year. It was his first published book, after all. I have a signed copy of it and look forward to reading it. In my eyes, he’s living the dream, but he is lucky. For many writers, like me, writing is a passion and a hobby that opens doors to so many unique experiences and allows you to meet really cool people, but it doesn’t allow you to live off those experiences. Perhaps that makes it all the more precious.
So ultimately, don’t fall for the trap of thinking everyone on social media selling their books has ‘made it’, or that writing is now their ‘full-time job’. That isn’t likely the case, and don’t let it create a standard for yourself that you would beat yourself up over not reaching. This growth of ‘booktok’ and other social media sites has created what we have always known: more unrealistic expectations built from selectiveness of what is shown, and the impulse to make comparisons.
As for the ‘tropafication’ (I love that word choice by the way). I don’t see much issue with that aspect of things. If anything, analyzing popular tropes is helpful on the marketing aspect of things because it gives you an idea of what readers are interested in reading about, what’s hot, what’s not, and if you want a highly marketable book you can write within those lines. The tropes aren’t for every writer, but understanding the language of tropes and appreciating the easy categorization of some genres can be beneficial on the marketing end.
To add to that, how do you deal with the over-saturation of the market? When working on the agent assignment, I couldn’t help but feel utterly overwhelmed, knowing just how many talented and brilliant writers are out there and struggling to get traditionally published anyway.
I’ve kind of touched on this a bit already with the last questions, due to my own ramblings, but I think one of the most important things is understanding you aren’t alone. You correctly observed before that online communities have changed the industry, but it’s also good to realize that it has also created safe spaces for shared experiences between fellow writers who are fighting the same fight as you. You will come to realize that all artists struggle with ‘imposter syndrome’; if they don’t, they’ve been in the game long enough to mask it well, or they aren’t as good as they claim to be.
So much of any creative industry is simply luck, not a judgement of the ‘quality’ of any one person’s work. The other aspect is how you, as a creative, are going to be creative in getting people to buy your art. Meaning, you learn how business works. Know your niche, know your genre, know your audience, and speak only to them. Keep trying until you’ve exhausted all options, pivot, and try again.
Personally, I queried for years and then pivoted and self-published. That allowed me to do so many things I otherwise couldn’t do. I learned how to market. I learned how to network. I did unpaid internships to learn more about editing and marketing. I made connections and have done a bunch of book signings. Heck, I was asked to join Main Street Reads at the local Flowertown festival as a local author and do signings and sales for two hours, and sold more of my books in one go than I imagined, not having to pay for a thing to do so. I’ve been on stage with other authors talking about fantasy books and answering questions. I pivoted, built credibility, started writing for Charleston Women’s Magazine, got recognized at a bookstore grand opening by the owner who had been to one of my book signings, and now I’m hitting the querying hard again. I’ve met authors who want to connect me with their publication companies, and I’ve established myself.
Don’t let the saturation scare you. Do it; if it doesn’t work, pivot, learn more, and try again.
The difference between success and failure is your own perception of what is successful and how creative you are in the face of failure.
What was the most helpful thing you’ve done for your writing, both craft and publishing-wise?
The most helpful thing that I’ve done is join a writing group. Almost ten years ago —gross to say because it makes me feel old — I joined up with a new writing group at a local bookstore and met some really cool people, but I had an ulterior motive. I wanted to introduce myself to the bookstore owner. I finally buckled up the courage to ask her if I could buy her some coffee and ask her questions about writing and publishing because, after some research, I learned she had a lot of working experience in this field. That coffee meeting turned into her connecting me to my first editor, and that led to many more coffee meetings with a woman I affectionately call ‘crazy Ellie’. I learned a million things from her and continued my pursuit of knowledge from there. Later on, that bookstore hosted my first signing, my release party, and just recently, at the Summerville Book Festival, I ran into other old members of that same book club.
They too had been published and were on various panels promoting their works. I now have signed copies of their books and look at them fondly, knowing that those were the same works we discussed in our writing club. I knew some of the scenes already because they stuck with me over the years, and now the rest of the world could know them. It was a beautiful, circular moment knowing we had all made it through our own means and individual journeys, and it was comforting to walk into that festival to find familiar faces.
Joining a writing club not only helps you build a community. It teaches you to do one of the scariest things of all: share your work and receive criticism. They were the first to ever read what I wrote. In a lot of ways, it built up my confidence and helped me create connections that I still hold onto in the industry. It helped me meet people who became pivotal on my own journey and who I could walk beside through rejection and success because they were doing similar things.
This is why I’m so adamant about our peer reviews, because I really want you guys to get the chance to experience some of that if you don’t have a writing group in your area to connect with. If you don’t have anything local that you know about, check with small bookstores in the area because they often host those kinds of things!
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