I am thrilled to announce that indiefiction.com has added Savior of the Damned to a list of 5 books recommended as a good starting point to indie fantasy (link here: https://www.indiefiction.com/lists/indie-fantasy-books-to-start-with) which is an absolute dream come true! I poured so much of myself into Savior of the Damned, and to see it finally getting recognition it deserves absolutely fills me with profound joy. And you have no idea how quickly the other books I was recommended with made my TBR list. Or maybe you do, having read Savior and wanting more.
I hadn’t originally planned to go the indie route. For a long time, I had planned on trad publishing. But things changed. The industry changed. Advances were getting smaller, more and more of the marketing was heaped on even trad published authors (especially the fledgling ones), and I didn’t have the luxury of waiting around for my incredibly atypical book to find someone willing to take a chance. Especially since I had planned so much to follow it up with.
But this isn’t about my decision to switch to indie. No, it’s a recognition of what I’ve worked so hard for. See, Savior isn’t the kind of book people think of when they think of fantasy, especially trad. Trad fantasy is full of dragons, and more stereotypical elves, and prophecies generated by flesh and blood characters. The clockwork, the steampunkesque influences that birthed the magitek specifically, and their own scattered influences are some of the elements I used to turn Savior into it’s own thing. And it was a risk; because so few titles are comparable, it’s been hard to promote. Sure, it’s been compared to Brandon Sanderson’s Alloy of Law, and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, quite favorably. But that’s about it. Savior is it’s own thing, a little microcosm in a vast ocean of published works, and sometimes it can be dangerous to go against the grain. So many of us are told to chase tropes, to chase trends, whether or not we mean to sometimes things happen subconsciously and we wind up doing just that. how often do we ask, “Are chosen ones tired?” or said, “enemies to lovers is over?” I don’t think anyone is immune to this. What I did, though, is I did my best to subvert the tropes I used. So my chosen one was chosen by magitek, a prophecy machine, designed to replace the lost seers Aurelius had wiped out. The love interest? Obviously one of the players on the opposing team, but it’s quickly noticed that they have more in common despite their differences. I did my best to make Savior stand out as it’s own thing. And to have it picked up as a good intro into what makes indie fantasy as a result of that labor of love is indescribable.
Regardless of my plans, I still went indie. I don’t regret it. There are things I wish were more accessible as an indie writer, sure, but it’s just a different way of getting my work out there. But to have Savior named as a good intro into indie fantasy really highlights how vast the indie publishing scene is. We’re not relegated to only writing what will sell as indie writers, which gives us much more room to experiment. Some things land well, like Savior. Others don’t. I know not all of my work has landed the way Savior has, but it’s because indie exists at all that I was able to make that decision. And delving into the community has been a treat too. Getting to see other works, just as unique as my own, I hope people who discover Savior also discover them too.
Ultimately trad was too restrictive for me. While I respect it is a business model, and I find nothing inherently wrong with it, it’s not the model for my works. It sticks too much to roles that I am not a part of, and the risk of losing my voice, what makes my writing shine, was too great. And I’ve been proven right with this.
I’m glad things changed. It’s been a lot, doing so much by myself. I’ve definitely fumbled a few things, but I’ve learned a lot too. Having the room to grow and experiment and the freedom to do it on my own terms was too much for me to pass up. And I’m glad I didn’t.
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