Self-Publisher Interview with Allison Miller

1. What can you tell me about your experience as a writer?

Lots of setbacks. I at first didn’t do queries properly and I wasn’t paying attention, so I ruined my chances at having that book published. I was younger and overly confident then.

After finding out I wasn’t going through and looking at the submission guidelines, I sank into a two-year depression because it seemed to be that the past few years would’ve been easier if I had made it easier on myself. I published that book with almost no editing, a contrived plot, and a grainy picture of a tree as my cover. It got negative reviews as it should and eventually, two years later, I was finally able to let it go.

Then I came out of my funk and wrote three new books. They have since been unpublished because I was querying again and I had made an effort to become more wholesome, and those books were over the top. The depression I went through this time wasn’t as deep. I had a friend who drew and she was flattered that I commissioned her to draw four covers. Three were published, one without an official/professional cover and the other two were supposed to be part of a duology that I instantly hated after I wrote the end. So, I held onto the artwork as it belonged to me now and changed my style. I came up with Braxley first and when I put it on Scribophile, it showed how rusty I was.

You Know Where I Am was next and this book was like the jewel of Jumanji with how it was rotting my brain. If there was a bad joke, I would make it. An unnecessary scene, put in five of them. Absolute tenuous connections, I forced them to look sincere. However, after a few revisions (not nearly enough), I was ready to submit. I found a publisher and everything was looking great. However, there were some red flags I ignored; my copy editor missed grammar and spelling mistakes, and thought it would be good idea to vomit stupid phrases that weren’t my author voice into the pages. When I rejected the same ones time after time, she got the other women involved and I stopped objecting. Then there came the developmental editing, and thankfully, she got rid of a lot of those lines, which she called atrocious garbage. I didn’t have the emotional fortitude to tell her I didn’t write that garbage, I was just glad to see it go.

Anyway, a few dumb scenes and “what hell was I thinking” passages were removed, and the book was ready for proofreading. Since this company had no communication, and the pandemic was in full swing, I got an old document with some errors still on the page. I had to do their job for them and send the updated version. However, as I said about the pandemic, the email got lost in the inbox and I thought they’d forgotten about me. I found it and profusely apologized for my mistake, but it was already too late. I was pushed to the back of the queue and for seven long months, I was forced to wait until they could get back to me. I had had enough in October of emailing her and having her come back with empty promises of starting next week, so I reached out to the developmental editor and it was more malarkey and shifting blame. These women are allergic to accountability.

Anyway, I said I’d had enough and they said they’d proofread it and get back to me. Well, I went from October to January with no word and I had to email them. They said they’d be on it, and then I got an email with the subject line Contract Decision. They had dissolved my contract, and blamed me for their lackluster copy editing. I wanted to swear and call them names so bad. They thought I was so stupid and I wouldn’t notice the “outside source” they hired was the proofreader’s husband, and I wouldn’t notice the absolute dog crap edits he suggested, or when he suggested them. They were a week old. They had three months and these edits were a week old. I hated this book for so long, and gave it a brief overview, removing her stupid lines, and putting a scene back in they made me take out. I should have said to forget my contract when I had apprehensions in about August of 2019.

Well, anyway. I forgot being wholesome and published Chenille. It has been a surprise success. I finally found use for one of the art pieces I had. Then, the Claudius and Tessa series just flowed out of me, and I am forever scorned on traditional publishing.

2. What made you decide to write a book? 

I was an actress for a long time. I fell out of love with it because, even though I am six feet tall, 130 pounds was apparently too fat to be a model or actress. I was told how beautiful I was, and so talented, but height was a problem. I call bullshit, but what are you going to do? I started writing as a distraction, and to get my feelings out, and still wanted to be a part of the film industry. I tried screenwriting with disastrous results, and then shifted back to novel writing.

I should’ve left the first book I published as a learning experience, and not written it at all, but I apparently don’t learn the first time. After that, I just realized how much I enjoyed it, and I could be as ugly as I wanted to, and it wouldn’t matter.

3. What circumstances brought you to the decision to self-publish your book?

As I said above, I had a bad experience with a now defunct publishing company, and it scorned me. However, it’s more than that. It’s the feeling of my time isn’t important. That, before I even get a manuscript request, I have to pledge loyalty to a place I’m querying. And that I can’t talk about the industry’s BS without a possible agent seeing it and forever writing me off. Oh, and pitch contests are stupid. I don’t think anyone from the big five has any time to screw around on Twitter looking for the next big thing. I think it’s all predatory small presses that don’t know anything.

4. What has your experience as a self-publisher been like?

Ups and downs. I had to commit a lot of literary crimes, get my feelings hurt a lot, lose friends and fans, but now that I’m confident and happy with my work, I can safely say that I’m not going to unpublish any of the books I have up. I’ve revised and updated Braxley and You Know Where I Am to something I can be even more proud of and I’m learning a valuable lesson; it’s from the show Victorious and it’s when she says she isn’t going to do the bird scene again because it’s good enough. And the lesson is, it has to be good enough for you. You can edit and learn what doesn’t work, but you can also decide what criticism you don’t want to take. I can safely say these books I have published are all mine.

5. How do you respond to the negative stigma attached to self-publishing and self-published books?

I say “I could have one or two books sitting in my computer, not being seen by anyone because the agents don’t find it good enough, or I can sell four copies my whole life. If I hadn’t self published, those books never would’ve seen the light of day, and I would keep changing until I didn’t recognize myself anymore.” I chose only making about five dollars over making nothing and feeling I’m not worthy because someone in New York said no.

6. What is one very important lesson you have learned as a self-publisher?

Good covers are important. If you have personality when you market, people will be more inclined to buy your books. And, don’t cave to the pressure of being the happy robot. This is a heartbreaking process and it’s okay to cry and show vulnerability.

7. What do you know now about self-publishing that you wish you knew at the beginning?

How easy it actually is to find cover art, editors, and beta readers.

8. A lot of authors of self-published books have reservations about promoting and marketing their book. Some even feel that it is a form of vanity or self-importance. What is your opinion about this?

Sometimes you have to be full of yourself to get things done. If I was concerned about coming across as pushy and aggressive, I would still be hiding in the corner and doubting myself.

9. How do you promote your books and what form of book promotion has worked the best for you?

I’ve found luck on TikTok and Facebook. I use passages on Facebook and try to be engaging on TikTok, sometimes stitching a video to promote my work. I have to show I’m confident in my work to make others feel confident in it.

10. What are some other important things you have learned as a self-publisher?

You need to find your crowd. You can’t write cozy fantasy in the dark erotic space. And, if you find you no longer want to write cozy fantasy, you can slowly ease into the other genres by beta reading on websites like Scribophile.

11. Do you feel that self-publishing is a viable choice for other authors?

I do. You could end up like I did with a bad publisher, or having no one read your work, or you could have a surprise success.

12. How do you feel that self-publishing their books has helped many unknown authors finally get the recognition their books deserve?

I feel a lot of self-published books aren’t bad, just not ones that agents and publishers can make money off of. I feel if you’re tired of the same old stuff that’s been around since 2007, you can find unique books with a defined author voice in them. The characters aren’t stripped of personality so any old person can place themselves on them.

ABOUT ALLISON:

Allison Miller lives a life of quiet desperation in Vernal, Utah with her husband and their furry children. Connect with her on Facebook here