In this day and age, we can do almost anything at the click of a button. Often times, it feels like the world is literally at our fingertips, as cliché as that sounds. It has come in handy especially now with a pandemic happening. We can have almost anything delivered to our door. The internet, cellphones, and video chats definitely made quarantine a little easier. We’re able to do so much from home with a few clicks. And because of this, many careers and jobs are changing. Authors are definitely adapting to new technology and opportunities. They now have easier and faster access to editors, publishers, and tools. However, more and more people are choosing to self-publish their works. Authors now have a new avenue that didn’t exist just a few years ago for many–self-publishing. It’s no longer complicated or unattainable. A pile of rejection letters may be devastating, but it’s no longer the end of the road.
New author, Nenny May, knows this all too well. She tells Life On The Up, “I have always had it at the back of my mind that I wanted to make money from my writing and I always looked towards traditional publishing. Though after countless rejection letters from the biggest names I decided to take a chance on myself.” Nenny May is a law student from Nigeria who is a fitness enthusiast, baker, and avid reader. Did I mention that she’s only 18? Although she is young, she isn’t waiting things out. And decided to self-publish her new thriller Missing after a friend reminded her of all of the hard worked she put into writing and that now rather than later, was the perfect time to try. Many authors often have second thoughts about self-publishing or it’s a last resort. For one, even though it’s easier because of technology, it’s still a lot of work. There’s no team or big publishing house backing you up or promoting your work. But more importantly, when self-publishing first started trending there was a stigma associated with self-published authors.
Luckily, things are changing and Nenny hasn’t felt any backlash from being a self-published author. She says, “Sure it’s daunting, [being a self-published author], and it puts the author at an unfair disadvantage in the sense that most issues quickly and easily handled by the publishing house fall heavy on the shoulders of the author. But a stigma? From my experience, people I’ve associated with have worked with me in the same way I assume they would a traditionally published author. I haven’t faced any form of stigma and hopefully in my career I won’t.”
There’s a lot to learn when you’re a self-published author, but Nenny is up for the challenge and wouldn’t have it any other way. When asked what her message would be to other authors who have faced rejection, she says, “If they reject you, take matters into your own hands. It’s your book after all. And if they don’t see the beauty in it, it’s their loss. I had been rejected more times than I could count and now, I have people singing praises about my work. What I’m trying to get across is that if nobody sees your talent, what matters is that you see it. You have the power to make it shine without those people that are rejecting you.” And it’s that positive attitude that lead to the release of her new book. Her new thriller, Missing, is fast paced. When the bodies of 10-year-old boys start turning up all over Charlotte, North Carolina a laid-off news reporter turned part-time babysitter, finds herself in the middle of the investigation.
Although she now considers herself a “thriller author”, it wasn’t always this way. Nenny explains, “Generally growing up I read a ton of romance novels, adventure stories, and at the time I started writing I thought that was my voice. And, so I wrote a romance story with an adventurous twist, but I never felt quite right with that book. It was well written and well edited but it just didn’t feel like me. And then I tried writing my first mystery thriller novel titled To New York’s Attorney, I knew that was more like me. I knew from that book what my voice was. I was and am a thriller author, more inclined to tell legal or psychological thrillers.”
To purchase Nenny May’s new thriller Missing, click here.
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