Interview with Self-Published Author R.C. Dickens

 

In our series of self-publishing interviews, we are talking today to R.C. Dickens, author of the coming of age novel, Crown of Blooms.  R.C. Dickens is the pen name of Juniper Ray, a black, queer writer, choreographer, teacher's assistant and disaster living in Appalachia with big dreams of escaping out to the west coast. Juniper has worked as a ghostwriter for several years and has published several short stories. In 2023, they won the Webby Award for Best Single Episode of a Podcast for their appearance on Snap Judgement. Juniper enjoys dancing, singing, anime, cosplay and generally being a menace to the general public. Visit their website at https://rcdickens.wixsite.com/website.

You self-published your latest book, Crown of Blooms. Would you please 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 right off the bat?

Traditional publishing is such a difficult world to navigate as a beginning author. After having had a finished manuscript for years, I was tired of waiting around to move on with this project. I wanted it to evolve and by waiting for a traditional publisher, I felt like I was losing momentum on the project. Self-publishing was my way of taking back control of the project and making my first major step as a writer. 

What different online stores carry your book?

Crown of Blooms is available anywhere ebooks are sold. It’s also available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and my website!

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 was actually lucky. I basically won my cover. A tiktok creator was asking for book concepts to make premade covers and she just happened to select mind and make a fantastic cover. 

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

Marketing is difficult but you have to do it and you have to do it everyday, even when you’re not seeing returns. I know I’m being a bit of a hypocrite, but navigating social media and being open and bold about your project is super important. 

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

The intense terror of being known combined with the toxic writer's tendency to not want to be done with a project. Publishing means it’s done and now it belongs to the world, not you. It’s like sending your baby off to college. So it was difficult for me to accept that this part of the story was done and that it was time for me to move on to the next steps in my creative process, specifically working on the sequels Crown of Thorns and Crown of Roses. 

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

I got someone to do formatting for me. I already had to learn so many new skills for self-publishing, I thought I’d leave this to the professionals. 

What steps are you taking to promote it?

I did crowdfunding for the original publication costs via tiktok and got a pretty good buzz going. I’m active on Instagram and I also do these virtual book tours to get the word out. Writer interviews are also a good way to introduce people to who you are as a creator. 

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

Just because something is hard doesn’t mean you aren’t doing a good job. Self-publishing is impossible and you should be proud of yourself for tackling such a monumental challenge.