Indie Author Debut – Nanonovels!

A few years back, I was publishing short stories, and had some ‘great writing but no dice’ reviews from US publishers. At that time, they weren’t interested in short fiction, and wanted to see a novel. I didn’t have a novel. It’s not the kind of thing you can just produce from your sleeve. So my short stories lurked in a drawer. I like to think they were maturing, like fine wine.

As it turned out, also in the drawer lurked an experimental collection of flash fictions. Kind of prose-poem, mini-drama pieces. I was writing one a day as a challenge, to get back on track with writing after a time of upheaval.

These nanonovels were jostling for attention and seemed to want to be published first. I didn’t argue – there were too many of them. Fast-forward through an indie publishing course with Joanna Penn, a layout template course with Joel Friedlander, a crash (and burn) course in ISBNs, cover design and book production, and here they are. Texthouse is now a publisher.

If you like your fiction short, snappy, funny, sad, odd and thought-provoking, you might enjoy Nanonovels. If you ever have writers’ block (or lock) and want to kick your own butt, trying writing a nanonovel yourself. I learned a huge amount about story shape, the power of randomness, and the mystery of creativity. There’s no better way to surprise yourself!

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