We recently connected with Angela Laverghetta and have shared our conversation below.
Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I’ve always loved books. As a very small child, I’d memorize the words and flip through the pages, joyfully reciting the story. This love only intensified after actually learning to read. I couldn’t devour books fast enough. But in tandem with my desire to read everything, was the dream to write my own. Some may argue this, but I believe there are two types of writers: ones who are naturally gifted and those who have to work at it. I am solidly in the latter group. Not to say that those gifted writers don’t have to put in the effort, of course they do, but the learning curve is a little steeper for us less literarily inclined. So, I hiked up my writer pants, and I did the work. I took as many creative writing classes as I could. I read all the craft books. I joined a critique group. And in the end…I severely stunted my creativity. It took me years to recover. Did I need those classes and critiques? Yes, no question! Should I maybe have waited until after I’d spent awhile just creating? Probably also yes. In my opinion, the act of creating is the most important part of writing. Not the act of writing well. In my experience, too much learning craft in our formative years, creates not a story, but a very aggressive inner editor. An editor that is constantly bringing doubt to what should be a joyful experience. In the last few years, I’ve tried hard to dismantle my inner editor while in creation mode and I’ve managed to at get it to stop yelling and only whisper. Are my first drafts horrible? Definitely. But now I’m more able to focus on finding my story and my joy.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My goal as an author is to allow readers to step away from their lives and escape into a fantasy adventure that has a guaranteed happy ending. Life is already hard and uncertain, I feel my books should not compound emotional turmoil, but be a respite from it. This is also why I try to keep my novels fast-paced. Most people have busy lives, which is why there are no full page descriptions or long drawn out internal monologues, just a fun romp. Speaking of fun, there’s also another thing my books do, and that’s turn a spotlight on my home area of Northern Nevada. Because I’m independently published, I’m not forced to set my stories in familiar cities like New York or San Francisco. Instead, I can use less common ones like Carson City. Those familiar with my settings get a kick out of seeing their favorite locales highlighted and those who’ve never been get a glimpse at somewhere unique. My most recent project is combining my love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with my love of Reno, and topping it with the “cherry” of a protagonist in her forties. I’m having so much fun in this world. I know my readers will, too! Along with being an author, I’ve also added developmental editing to my business. I realized all those creative writing classes and books may have had an adverse affect on my creativity, but it definitely gave me a strong sense of story. Now I’m using those skills to help authors develop their novels into the stories they imagine. What was a detriment to me, has helped my fellow writers and I hope to help many more.
Have you ever had to pivot?
As an “authorpreneur” (as creative Joanna Penn calls indie authors), I’ve found myself pivoting in small ways often these last few years. But recently, I’ve had to make a hard left turn. It’s been said that the business of writing books is akin to the entertainment business–you never know what will hit and how hard. So when I put out my first novel, I set up my business to handle the possibility of having a hit. I set up a Shopify store, chose wide distribution over exclusivity, and posted like crazy on my social media accounts. Not surprisingly, the runaway success didn’t happen. Although, this isn’t failure, in fact I’m pretty proud of how well my first book was received, three years later I’ve had to evaluate and make some large changes. And change is always hard. To be honest, I put off this pivot for longer than I should have. The first thing that had to go was my Shopify store. Even though all my marketing materials and links directed readers to it, I knew the monthly expense was not helping my bottom line. I purchased a new domain, and created a website. This had the added bonus of allowing me to advertise my developmental editing business as well as my books, while still being cheaper than the online store front. However, it also meant all new promotional materials and learning new skills, like how to attach an app that will still allow readers to purchase direct from me. I don’t think I was really aware of how much change being an indie author involved, but I’m determined to stay in the business. Things change everyday in the book world. I’ll keep changing and pivoting with it.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
I find most of my readers through in person events. Not those huge, flashy ones everyone talks about, but the small local ones where I’ve met the most wonderful people and some of them even happened to be my ideal reader. A fact, either one 0f us might have missed if we weren’t allowed to take the time and chat. Social media is a great tool, but it can often lead to a feed back loop of just the same few people seeing your posts—the same people who have probably already read your book if it actually appealed to them. I’ve found that nothing beats interaction in real life for connecting with readers and most of my yearly author income is from those events. I’ve even had a person so interested in my book, that even though I had sold out of book one, they bought book two and then the next day ordered the first one. I can’t wait for my first in person event of 2026.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @angelawithapen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092407609199
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/angelalaverghetta
Image Credits
Author Photo by AMPortune Photography