We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christy Aldridge a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Christy, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Writing has always been my main passion, but unless you strike gold, it takes a while to build up a reader base and turn your love into a full time career. So, another passion of mine that was also a necessity to my writing was cover design. I’ve been creating most of my own. Book covers since I started writing, and had been creating a few for friends without being paid. When I realized I could do this as a side hustle, I started by charging, what I considered, a reasonable price for the art I was listing. Most of the indie community, especially those starting out, can’t afford expensive covers, custom or premade. I knew from experience and applied that experience to my business practices. This approach and having a reputation for a more retro style when it comes to horror are two things I truly believe helped cement my cover design. But, I always try to put the customer first in my work, whether that means multiple revisions or even completely redoing a cover. I’m lucky that most of the authors I work with understand this and keep returning to do more work together. But I don’t think I could have made this process any quicker than it was. It takes time to build trust and relationships, but the time put in, as long as it’s something you’re passionate about, will eventually pay off.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started writing as a child, drawing as well. I can say I mostly credit this to a TV show I was crazy about as a kid. Teen Titans. I wrote fanfiction and drew fan art for that show a lot, and doing that eventually pushed me toward drawing my own stuff as well as writing my own characters.
I was writing paranormal and supernatural romance through most of my teen years and then stumbled upon a Stephen King book. Salem’s Lot. That definitely caused me to shift gears and focus more on my love of horror when writing. Reading King gave me confidence that I could be scary, something that had held me back from writing in the genre before.
I originally published my first book with a vanity press and quickly learned the scam they were. I decided to start self publishing because of it and loved the control I had over all of it. I quickly began releasing my work both in ebooks and physical forms and working on beginning a reader base and connecting with other authors, but I’m not a very social person and that aspect of things has not always been easy.
I started cover design out of necessity and branched out into making that a job as well. I mostly work with horror writers, but I do a multitude of designs and I’m willing to work with any genre.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I enjoy being my own boss. With writing, no one is telling me what to do or write about. That’s all on me. It’s never been a thing for me to write what was popular. I could never do that. So I write books I want to read and then when it comes time to publish, I focus on trying to make the idea sound appealing to anyone that comes across my page.
And with cover design, I have to listen to the author when it comes to customs, but I still have so much control in the style and end product that I enjoy it. Being able to use my input to be sure the cover reflects what the author wants, as well as my talent in the design is always crucial.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
It’s always been for love and to make people I love proud of me. I love art in all forms. I want to do things that being me joy for the rest of my life and writing and art do. So it was always a mission to make those part of my career and support myself that way. But I also have a loving support system and I wanted to make them proud of me as well. That’s something that will always motivate me to continue on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://grimpoppydesign.carrd.co/
- Instagram: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.instagram.com/grimpoppydesign/&ved=2ahUKEwiX74X77JSHAxWswK0AHWF7DmAQjjh6BAgWEAE&usg=AOvVaw2dAXv7h5Mnb1ZMoCsFodo-
- Twitter: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://twitter.com/grimpoppydesign%3Flang%3Den&ved=2ahUKEwiqoruG7ZSHAxXBhY4IHTrcB8kQjjh6BAgUEAE&usg=AOvVaw3cIeN8VWE0KWumtehRt-vi
