Interview with Self-Published Author Ethan Proud

In our series of self-publishing interviews, we are talking today to Ethan Proud who was raised in Pinedale, Wyoming and that is where he fell in love with reading, writing, and the outdoors. He published his first series the Rebellion Trilogy with his older brother, Lincoln. Ethan is an avid adventurer, whether it is on the page or in nature and when he is not writing or reading he can be found backpacking, rock climbing, or snowboarding. His latest book is Witchwood and Seabound available at Amazon.

You self-published your latest book, Witchwood and Seabound. Would you please tell us why you chose the self-publishing route? 

I chose to self-publish for two reasons. Number one is control, and number two is that I have a full-time job as an invasive plant manager. My first few books took a considerable amount of time to write and rewrite, so giving up the rights was a scary step. I had tried a few query letters, but decided that I could find readership self-publishing and still retain my rights. Working full-time means that I don’t have time to go on a physical book tour or take the time to aggressively market my book, I need to stretch my dollar and do what I can when I can. I will always love my books and show them TLC when I can, but would a big publisher forget about them if they didn’t sell well in the first few months? I may never know…but I have loved every second of the self-publishing journey. My main goal is to find readers who love my books and want more, not to quit my day job. It means I am very busy, but when you love what you do…

Take us through the process. You had an idea for your book, you wrote it, then you decided to find a publisher. What were your experiences with that? Or did you decide to self-publish without looking any farther?

I looked for a publisher for my first book in the Rebellion Trilogy, which I co-wrote with my older brother Lincoln. We looked for publishers and had a hard time getting past rejection letters. We started looking at publishing packages and settled on using BookLocker since we were full-time students (we started when I was in 7^th grade and Lincoln was in high school), and no idea of how to format, distribute, etc. We published the rest of the trilogy with BookLocker, but for the books I have written solo (Terra Mortem and Witchwood) I have used KDP. It’s important to realize your goals before looking for a publisher and do some research on what other authors have to say.

What different online stores carry your book?

Witchwood and Terra Mortem are currently enrolled in Kindle Unlimited and are exclusively on Amazon, but the Rebellion Trilogy can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and other online retailers.

Authors who go the traditional route have an edge over self-published authors in regards to distribution to bookstores. How did you handle that as a self-published author?

I try not to sweat the brick-and-mortar sellers. But I do have my books in a local bookstore in Pagosa Springs, Colorado called BookEnds. Being a relatively new and undiscovered author, I get plenty of traffic from the locals!

On the other hand, self-published authors have the edge over traditional books in the regards that the author has all the control. I’d like to begin with your cover. Did you make it or did you have someone else design it? If you had someone else, can you tell us who it is?

I’d like to think I’m artistic and could design my own cover, but I can’t. I do come up for the concepts and usually have a specific vision in mind, but not the skills to execute it. I had Tom Edwards at https://www.tomedwardsdesign.com/ do my last two covers. Check him out, he does fantastic work!

So where do you see self-published authors making the biggest mistakes overall?

I think the biggest mistake self-published authors make is obsessing over their first book, and it’s an easy hang up. Your first book or series is your baby, but you got to put it out there and get on with more books. If you have one series, you only have one book to hook your readers, if you have several works, your discoverability is much higher. Your first book won’t be your best, but it will find readers and get your name out there so long as there is another book waiting for them. Every time I write a book I get better. I could have rewritten Rebellion another three times, or I could have given it that nudge out the door and found some readers.

What do you believe the biggest advantages are when self-publishing?

The biggest advantage self-publishing is that you are the boss and you get to do it at your own pace. Creatively, I don’t want to work on a deadline and feel pressure to write. I put aside time every day to write a little bit and set goals, but if I don’t reach them that is okay. If I open up my laptop and stare at it for twenty minutes and nothing comes, that is alright too. I have found that by doing this, I don’t need to be ‘inspired’ to write. Writing is like a muscle and with a little exercise is gets easier.

What was the hardest challenge for you to self-publish your book?

Finding readers for sure, there is a certain stigma against self-published authors. I see that there may be some truth to it, but it is getting more and more difficult to spot a self-published book as new tools are being developed.

They say self-publishers are control freaks. Do you think there is a lot of truth in that?

Absolutely! But can you blame us? We put a lot of work into our stories and we want to keep that integrity. If I can pay a bill or two a month with my sales, that is fine with me-as long as readers are enjoying the stories I have to tell!

Did you get someone to format your book for you or did you do that?

I formatted Witchwood and Terra Mortem. BookLocker took care of the Rebellion Trilogy. I would recommend sourcing your first book out as weird formatting will be just as off-putting to readers as a poorly designed cover. Possibly even more so, as formatting makes the tale easy to read. I can get past an ugly cover, but if the text doesn’t flow…

What steps are you taking to promote it?

I am fairly new to marketing and am open to suggestions, so if any of you have any ideas please drop a comment! I have done book signings, workshops with schools, and played around with ads. This is my first blog tour and I am very excited for it!

Do you have any advice you’d like to share with other self-published authors?

I think the best piece of advice is to just write what you want to write and remember writing is fun. It’s okay to not publish all of your work and keep some private, but if you decide to take the plunge and put something out there that you worked hard on, it’s okay to be proud of it!

If you would like to find out more about Ethan Proud and his books, take a look at his website and follow him on Facebook.