Interview with Jessica Redland

 

Could you tell us a bit about yourself? How you started writing etc.?

 

I’m from Teesside originally but have lived in Scarborough on the North Yorkshire Coast since 2004 – the place which predominantly provides the inspiration for the setting of my books. I live with my husband, our daughter, and our sprocker spaniel. 

 

I’ve worked in HR for most of my career, the last five years spent as a home-based HR Tutor. It’s been really hard balancing a full-time job with writing and family life but I’ve somehow managed. However, I’ve made a big decision to write full-time and will be a full-time author from 8th June. 

 

As for becoming an author, I always loved English at school but never considered taking it any further until a manager told me that my business reports read more like stories and I should write a book. Nice thought, but what would I write about? Then something happened in my personal life which I realised would make a great premise for a book. Once that idea popped into my head, so did several others, so I put fingers to keyboard and my first novel, Searching for Steven, was born. 

 

It took me a decade, on and off, to write Steven (which has since been re-edited and re-issued by my new publisher as New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms).

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When did you begin your first novel and what was the inspiration behind it?

 

My debut novel was Searching for Steven, now re-edited and re-released as New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms. It took a long time write. A very long time! I had the idea in late 2002, started writing in spring 2003 and had my first draft ready to go through the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s (RNA’s) New Writers’ Scheme in summer 2012. It went through the NWS the following year too and was finally in his polished form, ready to go out to find a publishing home in autumn 2013. A whole decade to write. Eek! To be fair, I did get married, have a baby, close a business, change job several times, and move house three times during that decade, so there were long chunks of time when I didn’t write at all. Plus, I learned my craft and found my voice.

 

The premise came from a real-life experience where I was told in a clairvoyant reading (a one-off gift from a friend and not something I’d ever done before) that I was going to set up my own business and meet the man of my dreams who’d be called Steven. As soon as I was told this, I realised it was a great idea for a book and I decided to see how I got on writing it. I needed my heroine, Sarah, to have a best friend to act as a sounding board, but this quickly developed into two best friends because I wanted one to believe in the clairvoyant reading (Elise) and the other to think it was rubbish (Clare) so Sarah would have friends with opposing viewpoints and be torn.

 

As soon as I started to write and the characters of Elise and Clare developed, it became apparent that they had their own stories and that (a) Sarah’s story was too big to give them the opportunity to have sub-plots, and (b) Elise’s and Clare’s stories were too big to be relegated to sub-plots. My ‘Welcome to Whitsborough Bay’ series was born which now consists of four books – a prequel that’s linked to the series, then one book for each of the three friends.

 

 

How did you go about having it published?

 

It went through the RNA’s NWS as mentioned and that provided really helpful feedback to shape it into a publishable novel. I got a copy of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and compiled a list of agents who were looking for my genre of novels and also publishers who accepted direct submissions (many will only accept submissions via agents).

 

Every single agent and publisher seem to want something different e.g. cover letter to include different specific detail, a synopsis of differing lengths, first chapter/first three chapters/full manuscript… It can take a huge amount of time to prepare for each submission. Back then, most submissions were via the post rather than online which could prove very expensive too, particularly if the full manuscript was required.

 

I’d only send off a few submissions at a time and, each time a rejection came back, I’d update my spreadsheet and send out to the next on the list. It was always disappointing to have a rejection but never upsetting that first time around because it was new to me. I didn’t know if I could really write or if anyone would want my work and I therefore very much looked at it as a process. Like applying for jobs, I reasoned that the more attempts you make, the more likely you are to get success.

 

I started submitting around September 2012 but, if I’m honest, I got frustrated with the time and dedication it took, bearing in mind I was doing this alongside a demanding full-time HR role. Many agents and publishers never responded, some taking the “if you don’t hear from us within x months, assume it’s a no” approach which I personally don’t rate. As part of my HR role, I specialised in recruitment and I would never, ever not respond to a candidate applying for a role. How long does it take to send a standard email, after all? In publishing, this approach did make me wonder whether the MS was ever even read. Possibly not.

 

By spring 2013, I was ready to give up on finding a publisher or agent. I had a book ready to go and I started exploring the indie route. I decided to see how things went with the final batch of submissions and, if there were no takers, I’d release it myself. 

 

Then I got a publishing deal. 

 

It was with a US-based company offering eBook only but, before contracts were signed, I got cold feet. After initially saying they loved the book and would change very little, they started questioning the wider series and wanted to cut down words significantly, take out the key thread of friendship and focus only on romance, turn up the heat of the romance and so on. I’m not averse to feedback or changing any of my work under the expert guidance of an editor who absolutely knows what they’re doing but I was concerned that the story I wanted to tell versus the story they wanted to publish were quite different entities and that didn’t feel very comfortable. But was I brave enough to walk away from a publishing deal? What if another didn’t come along?

 

Thankfully it did. A new UK-based company called So Vain Books wanted to take on what was a trilogy at that point (the prequel came later) and were offering eBook and paperback. It’s every author’s dream to hold their own paperback in their hand. I declined the original offer and accepted a deal with them instead. My first book was published in May 2015.

 

 

Did you have an agent? 

 

No. I looked into agents alongside publishers when I first looked for a home for my debut novel but then, once I found a publisher, I didn’t look again. I don’t feel the need for an agent now as my current publishers are amazing and they do many of the things for me that an agent would do such as looking into foreign and TV/film rights.

 

 

Why did you choose to use an independent publisher? And why Boldwood? 

 

Initially with So Vain Books (and the publisher who first offered me a contract) it was down to indie publishers mainly being the ones who accept un-agented submissions and, as I didn’t have an agent, I couldn’t go to the bigger players. 

 

There are still routes into bigger publishers without agents e.g. through digital only divisions like Harper Collins’ One More Chapter and via the #OneDay route with Simon & Schuster (they post it on Twitter on one day each year and accept un-agented submissions for romcoms/contemporary fiction on that day only).

 

So Vain Books didn’t do very well. They were a new publisher and they sadly failed to make an impact. They ceased trading after my series was released and I secured my rights back and indie released them as I was keen to get them back out there. My husband designed me temporary covers so I could do this. I wrote and released several more books as an indie author, the first being Bear With Me.

 

In late 2018, I decided it was time to look for another publishing deal as my books were getting great reviews but not making the impact I’d have hoped in terms of chart position and sales. I felt I needed a publisher to do that for me.

 

I submitted to a very small and select number of publishers including Simon & Schuster’s #OneDay and had some amazing feedback and an open invite to continue to submit to them but I had no formal offers. When I’d sent out my debut, rejections didn’t upset me. This time, they floored me. I’d written nine books and knew I could write so I took each rejection very hard and wasn’t sure how many more I could put myself through.

 

Then I saw an advert on social media for Boldwood Books. I’d been burnt before by a brand new publisher but Boldwood were different in that the CEO and the team were industry experts who’d had proven success elsewhere; very different to my previous experience. I submitted to them on the day they opened for submissions and was thrilled to be accepted as one of their first twenty authors with a 9-book publishing deal consisting of four new books and five from my back catalogue. This has since risen to a 12-book deal as they’ve acquired the rest of my back catalogue too and are gradually re-editing and re-releasing them alongside new books.

 

How would you compare independent publishing to commercial publishing?

 

I can’t really comment on the pros and cons compared with commercial publishing because I haven’t been down that route and it will depend on the company as to how well the relationship between company and author works. I do know there are some authors with the big publishers who feel like the small percentage of top authors get a very large percentage of the promo budget thrown at them and little spend for their books but not everyone will feel like that.

 

What I love about Boldwood is that every author is treated differently. Some are debuts, some are a few books in, some have huge backlists but there are no ‘stars’ singled out for preferable treatment. Everyone has a different marketing campaign and I feel very highly valued. 

 

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And what about pros and cons of being an indie author (self-publishing) and traditional publishing?

 

INDIE PROS - Puts you firmly in control of ALL decisions – what you write, volume produced, cover art, title, pricing, release date etc. You manage your own career. You get all the profits. Can be very rewarding (not just financially)

 

INDIE CONS - All the responsibility is on you. You have to do all the promo and you may struggle for time and money to do this. Need to buy in expertise like an editor, proof reader, cover designer - all adds up. Can be lonely and you may struggle to make an impact

 

TRAD PROS - Team of experts working alongside you to develop your writing career. If you have a great publisher, you are still part of those decisions you’d make as an indie. A good publisher will secure promotions and get that visibility for you to move you up the charts and make an impact

 

TRAD CONS - Royalties are lower per sale but hopefully the greater exposure compensates for that. Depending on the publisher, you may find that key decisions are made for you without consultation, you may have tight deadlines, and you may have limits on output so can’t get work out as fast as you can write it

 

 

In terms of the publishing process, how did you find things like editing, choosing the cover, marketing etc.?

 

As an indie author, I had all these decisions to make. My husband designed my covers for me using stock images that he then manipulated. I had a team of beta readers who would spot plot holes/typos/slow bits and give me feedback and I’d read it several times but I didn’t pay to get them professionally edited. Many of my indie author friends do but many have had problems with poor work and lots of typos not picked up on so it made me question the point in paying for this. Also, you’d need to get booked in with a good editor and proof readers well in advance and that then relies on the book being ready for that schedule. When mine was ready, I wanted to be able to publish it immediately.

 

All the marketing decisions were mine – pricing, promotion etc – but it’s hard finding the time to learn about and action all of this when you work full-time.

 

Being with a publisher, all these decisions are made centrally but with my input. I get to give feedback on the covers, we have a marketing meeting via Skype before the launch of all my books, and I work with the editor, copy editor and proof reader to agree the final copy. My editor is brilliant and knows what she’s doing but, if she suggests removing something I feel is needed for the story, we have a conversation and find the best solution. It’s a very collaborative process and I never feel I’m being told I have to do certain things. Boldwood organise all my formal promotions for me e.g. price reductions, BookBub promotions and they provide me with social media graphics. They regularly promote my work (and that of all the other authors) on social media but I do some myself too using the graphics they’ve given me; the ‘assets’

 

 

What advice would you give to an aspiring author, both in terms of writing and then later, publishing?

 

WRITING

• If you want to write, write. You may not be great at it but you’ll never know unless you try

• If you’re thinking “I’d love to write a book but I don’t have time”, then stop right there. I didn’t have time but I made time. I stopped watching the soaps on TV, I stopped lounging around, I wrote whilst commuting to work (I will point out that this was on the train; not whilst driving!) and I developed ideas whilst in the shower. Very, very few writers ever had the luxury of time when they were starting out, but they had a dream and they made it happen

• Don’t feel you have to write every day. But do think about it each day. I often develop dialogue and plot twists while in the shower, out shopping, or when driving

• Learn how to write. Being good at writing in day to day life v writing a book are two very different skills. There’s a lot to learn but there are some amazing self-help books, courses, and qualifications out there to help. I spent ten years learning my craft whilst writing my debut. To be fair, I had a lot of years where I didn’t write anything as I married, had a baby, opened and closed a business and changed job several times during that time, but I never lost sight of that goal and never stopped learning

• Take the NaNoWriMo approach of just getting on with it. You can edit it later. You might ditch a lot of it later. But if you don’t get the words down in the first place, you’ll have nothing to edit

• Don’t write because you want to make a fortune. Most writers don’t. Most still have a day job. Some only make enough for a cheap night out once a month. Write because you have stories to tell and you couldn’t imagine not sharing them

• Keep a list of ideas. It could be a book title, a plot point, a piece of dialogue or a quirky character. It may not be a fully-formed novel just yet but it could become it one day

 

INDIE PUBLISHING (SELF-PUBLISHING)

• Titles and covers are very important. Look at the books doing well in your genre and don’t copy them but be inspired by what’s popular

• Have your cover professionally-designed or by someone who knows what they’re doing with stock images. Nothing puts readers off more than something that screams “home-made”. An appalling cover can give an expectation of the quality of the writing inside. Would you buy a cake that looks like it has been dropped on the floor? The presentation is really important

• Have your work professionally edited or at least proofread if you can unless you know people who are superb at this and can help you out

• Be ready for investing some money that you might not make back very quickly … if at all

• Read blogs and follow podcasts from successful (and not so successful) indie publishers

• Learn, learn, learn!

• It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience before you get noticed unless you have a significant sum to invest in marketing activities

• You ideally need a few books ready so you can gradually release new content. The Amazon algorithms respond most positively to regular new releases so you don’t really want to get a book out there then not follow it up until three years later if you can help it

 

 

And lastly, we have been exploring some questions more widely and it would be great to have your opinion on them!

 

Do you see publishing as an inclusive industry?

 

I don’t feel I can answer this as I’m not representative of a group that may not feel included.

 

I do, however, feel there is a negative attitude towards the romance genre. Many amazing romance books are dismissed as “fluff” when that absolutely isn’t the case. There is such diversity in romance from light-hearted easy-reading romcoms to emotional stories handling very serious issues to historicals to erotica and all take time and talent to write. 

 

It doesn’t help that there are some very well-known authors who clearly write romance novels yet absolutely dismiss the suggestion that they do this, as though to admit to writing romance would be to make their ability as a writer somehow inferior. There is a very successful male author who clearly writes contemporary romance and vehemently refuses to accept that this is what he writes. And he shifts bucketloads of books, many of which have been made into films! 

 

There are many male authors who write in this genre and, because of how the books are packaged and marketed – and because they’re male – receive critical acclaim and have huge success yet if a female had written the same book, it would not have been accepted in the same way. This makes me sad. I’m very proud to write contemporary fiction and wish elements of the industry weren’t so snobbish about this.

 

I went to a one-day crime literary festival last year. I’m always interested in what authors say – no matter what their genre – and was shocked that no less than four of them made a specific point in their sessions to say “I couldn’t write romance”, the clear meaning being “urgh” as opposed to them not having the ability to do so. The disdain is therefore not just among the publishing community; it’s authors too. And yet it is the most widely-read genre. Crazy eh?

 

 

Would you say it is necessary to have contacts in order to be successful in publishing?

 

No. I didn’t and most of the authors I know don’t. I’m sure that it helps some and there’s no doubt that some big deals will be secured on the back of contacts. As an indie author or being with an indie publisher, I don’t think it makes any difference.

 

An author may occasionally be asked by their editor if they know any good writers of a certain genre and I got an introduction to a big publisher in that way before my Boldwood Books deal. They had a couple of my books but weren’t as quick in coming back to me as I’d have hoped. When the Boldwood offer came through, I withdrew. Even though they were a bigger name, Boldwood felt like home and it was so important to me that I be with a publisher who felt right. 

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