We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Byrd recently and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I currently do not earn a full-time living. That’s definitely my goal (though I doubt it can be done with only 7 books available.)

The first major milestone is a toss-up between clicking “publish” and getting my frist review. Reviews are a lot harder to get, whereas clicking “publish” is more a matter of deciding to just go for it.

The first minor milestone for me was finishing the first draft of my first book. It wasn’t great, but the story was fun and lots of people have read it and want me to re-release that trilogy. Maybe in time I will, but for now I’m sticking with my serial killers… They’re so much fun to write, even when they show emotion. I know that’s a hard thing to believe, but some of them actually do have some level of emotional intelligence and express their own.

From day one in my writing journey, I knew I wanted it to be my sole source of income. I can write fast and release 4 times a year if I want, but the last time I tried that, it put me in burnout. So I’ve learned to slow down my production rate, releasing 2-3 full novels per year, with a short story or 2 also released. Sometimes these characters just won’t stop telling me their plans and feelings, and honestly, I’d not try to stop them unless I had to.

Amanda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m obsessed with fictional serial killers. From Patrick Bateman to Dr. Hannibal Lecter to Dexter Morgan and every butcher in between, Amanda loves figuring out what drives fiction’s deadliest monsters. When she’s not busy writing, Amanda can be found reading, playing video games, or watching shows and movies like Mindhunter, Hannibal, and Dexter. She lives in Florida with her bloodthirsty, flesh-eating cat . And her husband.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is hearing readers get as excited about my stories as I do.

I never really expected this to happen, and the first time (and every time since) it’s put me on ‘cloud 9″ and made me that much more excited to keep doing what I do.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn – or learn, as it were – is that no two authors have the same journey. No two books will market the same. No two readers will react the same.

This is true for all aspects of publishing. Let’s take just writing as an example. I’m a pantser (I don’t outline, I find them a huge waste of time and words.) I do have handwritten notes, but they’re just that, notes. No two pantsers write the same way. I know pantsers who can sit down nd get 3,000 words written in 2 hours. I can’t do that. I average about 2,000 words in 2 hours, but I also write in sprints. I write for 20 minute blocks at a time, with 10 minute breaks between. Some of those blocks are solid words, while others involve research. For me, no two sprints are the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amandabyrd.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda_byrd_author/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoramandabyrd
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amanda_byrd_author Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amanda-byrd-fafffd36-6810-4c06-921d-632cd8ec8131 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14979157.Amanda_Byrd