Canadian bestseller Eve Langlais shares her top tips for indie authors
This week we welcome Canadian author Eve Langlais, a Professional Member of ALLi and a New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer of hot romance.
Eve likes to blame her twisted imagination for her sarcastic sense of humor which tends to heavily influence her stories. She enjoys writing about strong alpha males, and shifters. Lots of big, overprotective shifters that need the right woman to temper their wild side – and unleash the lover.
“While I might not always know what my mind is going to come up with next, I promise it will be fun, probably humorous and most of all romantic, because I believe in a happily ever after,” she says.
It's not just her bestseller status that makes Collette a great role model to other indie authors. Read on to find out :
- why she advocates the indie route
- how she stays focused on writing despite the many distractions and duties of being an author-publisher
- how long-term planning drives her productivity
What’s your proudest achievement to date as an indie author?
Other than actually finishing a book and having it published, lol? My proudest achievement would probably be the first time I hit USA Today in 2014 with a new release, featuring a moose shapeshifter which caused more than a few giggles.
What’s the single best decision you ever made?
Sitting down and writing my first book. I never imagined it would turn into a career and be something I'd love.
What’s been your biggest surprise as an indie author?
The thing that still continues to shock me is the fact the writing is only a small part of being an indie author.
The thing that still continues to shock me is the fact the writing is only a small part of being an indie author.Marketing, social media, and all kinds of other publishing details are a never-ending, time-consuming job.
What’s your greatest challenge – and how do you deal with it?
Procrastination is my enemy when it comes to ignoring the nitty gritty stuff and writing. And when I do write, I have to deal with self doubt. Sometimes finding the words is hard.
And when you do find the words, believing they're any good can be even harder.
How do you get/stay in a creative mood?
My mind is always going a mile a minute, so ideas aren't usually a problem.
I love working in pure silence, just me and the voices in my head.
How do you remain productive/motivated?
I treat this like I would any other job. That means going to work every day and not slacking off until that day's word count and tasks are done.
What’s your favourite thing about being an author–publisher?
Control. I like ensuring readers get a quality product that is thoroughly edited, properly formatted and pretty to look at.
What are your top tips for other ALLis?
Sit down and write.It's too easy to get caught up in other things and forget the real job is getting those words down and finishing that story.
What’s next for you?
More books. I have a list of projects to take me into the next few years. Sometimes I wish I had more hands, because the shiny ideas never seem to stop!
Meet an inspiring role model for #selfpub #authors everywhere: #Canada's @EveLanglais, bestselling #author of hot romance Share on X
Thank for sharing your insights with us!
Congratulations on your hard earned success.
We authors who follow in your footsteps one day hope to break through to.
Inspirational articles like yours offer a lighthouse beacon of hope for me as an independent author on my journey across unknown waters.
Well done with the series. It is good to have a plan. Like you, I have more than a few projects I want to write, both adult and children’s books, that will take a few years to write and publish. It is only this year that I have realised what I enjoy writing the most and will work on that genre ie magic realism.
As a self published author myself it was so neat to hear from on of my role models in the industry and her accomplishments. Keep them coming! Goteamevelanglais#
Congratulations on your success, Eve, and may you continue to write for many years to come. I, too, suffer from self-doubt and practise procrastination, but you inspire me to keep going and step out of my mystery/suspense comfort zone by going forward with a new urban fantasy series. Now I must download one of your books as I love humour and demons.
Thanks, Gloria. I have to say sometimes writing outside the box can be refreshing and fun. Hope your new series kicks butt.