We recently connected with Caroline Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Caroline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

My career would not be possible without the Kindle Revolution, which led to independent publishing. At the beginning, indie authors had a bit of a bad reputation, stemming from the fact that ANYone could publish a book. Well, that’s what happened with me; I’d written a novella in response to a prompt from Harlequin Publishing (they were looking for a specific holiday story, so I wrote it) but they accepted someone else’s version, and I was left with a polished, well-written story I thought deserved to be read. I didn’t need money for it–surely, I thought, there’s a forum somewhere online I could post and people would read it? I didn’t know of any forums…but I had recently purchased a Kindle, and was intrigued by the concept of people being able to read electronically. So I figured out how to publish to Kindle, and was surprised to discover I HAD to charge for the story–the minimum amount was $.99…and even more surprised to discover people actually purchased it! It was a major confidence boost for me, to see those glowing reviews and the income. The following year I did it again, and charged more for the book, and was delighted to discover people really enjoyed my characters and writing style. It took another three years until I moved to writing full-time, but that’s how I “accidentally” got started in indie publishing!

Caroline, 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?

Although I’ve dabbled in other genres, I am mainly a historical romance novelist. I have a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in social history, and historical fiction is just APPLIED social history, right? And we know historical romance is the best kind of historical fiction, because it always ends happily ever after! But what sets me apart? Well, that’s easy: my humor!

I’d been writing full-time for about three years in 2019, when I decided I needed a change. An author friend challenged me to start adding my humor (I flatter myself that I’m a pretty funny person in real life) to my books. Since I was writing medieval Highlanders at the time, I was surprised–NO ONE wrote funny medieval Scottish books! But I accepted the challenge and began to experiment…my first HistRomCom series released in April of 2020, which is EXACTLY when the world needed quite a lot of laughter, if you’ll recall. The fact that so many of my readers were stuck inside reading, desperate for laughter, spurred me on, and I published twenty-three (yes, that’s right) books that year. My fingers cramped from all the words!

But after that, my brand of Hot, Hilarious Historical was in place, and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve branched into Victorian romance, but all of my stories feature hot Scots. I love making people laugh, and although writing comedy can be difficult at times, it’s totally worth it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think it’s vital for everyone–creatives and non-creatives alike–to understand that creative people, especially people who make a living with their art, require time to DO NOTHING. In today’s world, where there’s so much hustle and bustle, such a drive to do everything, be constantly busy, this is difficult to remember. It’s especially hard when you’re doing this for a living–there’s so many other things we could be doing, like marketing, connecting with audience, social media, etc.

But art doesn’t happen by being constantly busy. Art happens when we allow ourselves to sit still, to think, to feel, to brainstorm, to dig deep and consider our existence. The famous artists of the Renaissance survived because some rich dudes paid for their room and board while they got to focus on their art. Today’s artists don’t have that luxury; we have to pay rent and groceries. So it’s easy to lose sight of what makes art happen.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I am still, a decade after starting this journey, amazed that people read the nonsense that comes out of my brain.

I am flattered and amazed by the reviews and the number of readers who reach out to me to tell me I made them laugh, or cry, or stay up all night reading. I’ve been there as a reader, been totally engrossed in a book, fallen in love with characters…and it’s utterly incredible to me to know I’ve created something that gives someone else that experience. I’ve made someone’s life a little better, I’ve made a stranger laugh…and that is the most rewarding thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CarolineLeeRomance.com
• Instagram: @authorCarolineLee
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/CarolinesCohort
• Other: geni.us/CarolineLee

Image Credits
Erin Dameron-Hill