Fantasy becomes reality
Holly Bowen with her latest book.
With modern printing technology and online marketplaces, becoming a published author has become much more accessible.
To be successful at it is the same though – lots of time, enthusiasm, ability and strategy.
Taupō’s Holly Bowen launched her second young adult fantasy novel on Tuesday this week at Taupō Library, nearly a year after publishing her debut book as a self-published author.
Her first book in the series was By The Moon and the second is called Between Wind and Stone.
She describes her series as "Mulan meets the Hobbit," featuring a 17-year-old girl on a quest to save her realm.
The books draw inspiration from local landscapes including Tongariro National Park, Kaimanawa Forest, and Craters of the Moon.
"I always wanted to be a writer. I was one of those kids with my head in a book all the time."
Her writing career began during Covid-19 after being made redundant from her tourism job. With a six-month-old baby at home, she started writing in 15-minute bursts during nap time.
"I did that for another seven months and finished the draft."
After receiving seven rejections from traditional publishers, Bowen decided to self-publish. It wasn't a straightforward path.
"You have to pay for the editing, and you pay for the cover design and everything. It's a real steep learning curve."
But the decision aligned with what she'd always wanted.
"My dream was always to hold my book in my hands. When I discovered that you could just upload anything to Amazon and then just buy a copy yourself and have it, that made me think, oh, okay, well, I'll just do it."
Her first book has sold abouty 300 copies through direct sales and 50 on Amazon. The second book already has 45 pre-orders from a print run of 150 copies.
The strategy is to have a back catalogue of books, and a series of books helps too. As more people read and enjoy the stories, they will buy the book.
She doesn’t pre-plan the plot and characters.
"I just kind of write and see where it takes me. So, it means there's a lot of clean up at the end."
The books are available at Paper Plus in Taupo on Amazon and Kindle, and through Bowen's website at hollybowen.com, where readers can purchase signed copies with free shipping.
She balances writing with part-time work, including marketing at Taupō Tandem Skydive, teaching yoga, and raising two boys ages five and three.
She spends three to six hours a week on writing, occasionally dedicating full days to the craft and she found that a bit strange to begin with.
“It seemed like such a weird thing to go sit in a room and write about a made-up world for half an hour as a hobby."
The current series will conclude as a trilogy. Bowen has also drafted a contemporary women's fiction novel she plans to release later this year and may offer it to traditional publishers.