Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Stearns.
Hi Katie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Writing has always been a part of my life, even as a kid. As an introvert, my comfort zone is in my head.
There’s a lot going on in there all the time, so writing things down is the best way of externally processing my thoughts. By the time I turned thirteen, I was writing down the stories I thought about as I fell asleep every night. Story ideas come to me all the time, and have for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I decided to let anyone read what I had written.
My stories have always been intensely private, something I’ve guarded with white knuckles because my writing is a gateway to my mind. I also worried that I wasn’t any good, (sometimes I still worry about that actually), but the more people I let read my work the more encouraged I became. Now the idea of someone reading one of my books doesn’t cause me nearly as much anxiety as it used to. Because writing and story building is basically the default setting in my brain, I know that this is what I’m meant to be doing.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Competition has been a tough one. There are so many authors out there! It’s hard to feel like I can compete with the big names, but I’m just starting out. I keep trying to remind myself that even the bestselling authors have all started somewhere.
Most of my challenges have been within myself. In addition to being introverted and shy, I also hate asking people to buy things. Selling cookies was my least favorite part of Girl Scouts as a kid. Selling people my books is by far the hardest part of being an author and the part of the puzzle that I hadn’t thought about when I decided to publish.
That being said, I have done so many things this year that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Cold-calling boutiques and shops to see if I can sell my books at their businesses, setting up at farmer’s markets and vendor fairs, doing a radio interview, and speaking to the public at three different local libraries are all things I would not have had to confidence to do. But I’m learning that when it comes to your dream, you don’t say no to opportunities like those.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Romance novels sort of have a connotation for being smutty or less quality writing. For a long time, I felt weird calling myself a “romance author,” because of that. But I’ve never been interested in writing anything else. Love stories have always fascinated me, so I can’t really help but dream them up in my head. While my stories don’t have anything more than kissing in them (so far), I can confidently say that my stories are about more than just those warm, fuzzy feelings people get when they’re in love.
I do my best to write about people’s lives and what makes them tick. I try to flesh my characters out as much as I can so that by the end the reader feels like they really know them. Most importantly, I depict mental health in a positive light. I don’t shy away from things like depression or suicide, and show my characters working through that things in healthy ways. I’m especially proud of how I wrote my second novel, Water Under The Bridge because it’s an unapologetic view of what it’s like to live with depression and grief. I don’t often see in my personal reading many romance novels that delve as deeply into those issues.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I’m always trying to get my books into new shops and boutiques! Being able to do books on consignment is something I love to do because it benefits me and also supports local small businesses.
Having my books in local libraries is also a great way to support an indie author like myself for free. The first time I saw one of my books at my local library, I gasped and almost had a heart attack. It was such a cool feeling.
And of course, reviews! I have a lot of people come up to me at markets or vendor fairs and say they love my books, but I always forget to ask them to put those kind words in a review for me. Reviews are free marketing, and the feedback I get from them also influences my writing and lets me know what I can do better and what I’m doing well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.authorkatiestearns.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorkatiestearns/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorkatiestearns
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Katie-Stearns/author/B09V88T4ZH?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
Image Credits
JaneCane Photography
