We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristen Collins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristen below.
Kristen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I was really ill with my autoimmune disease back in 2016 and I was thinking, man this can’t be the legacy that my kids will remember when I die.
So, I sat down and really thought what would make me happy, and what would be something my kids would remember when I’m gone one day.
I’ve always wrote little stories since I was a child. As a child and allergic to the sun, I wasn’t able to go outside until I was in the junior high. In that time, you find ways to entertain yourself and create fantasy world to escape from the reality one.
I just had no idea until I was an adult and mother, how much I miss and loved creating those worlds. So seven years later, here I am creating fantasy worlds for others to escape to now.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
For people wanting to jump into the self publishing book world, research is essential. I love self publishing because of the complete control I have of my writing.
As an author, I write a mix of ge res but mostly paranormal fantasy romances. In my career, I have published over twenty books so far and recently started publishing on Kindle Vella. After a story is complete there I will publish them as ebooks and paperback wide across many platforms.
As much as I wanna glamorize being an author, truth is as an author I don’t make much money. There’s a formula of sorts that authors need to be successful such as a ton of reviews and of course sales.
I will say since publishing on Kindle Vella that my career has been boosted significantly. Honestly, I believe it’s because it’s a different kind of reader base than a the usual ebook and paperback. On Kindle Vella, we release our stories by episodes. Like webtoon but without any sort of images. Readers purchase token packages and pay a certain number of tokens per episode and the first three episodes of every story are always free.
I co-own and co-operate a company, INDIE/pendent Book Services that gives new (and veteran) authors the tools that are essential for publishing. These tools include but are not limited to; account setups, editing, cover designs, interior formatting and basic how- to knowledge and what to look out for in the self publishing industry. There are so many scams out there that it is easy to get sucked in when you’re new to this field.
My business partner, Rachel Olson-Pruneda has created all of my covers and did all of my interior formats for my books. She’s is a brilliant cover and graphic designer.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I don’t create stories for money. But I’m not going to lie because making some money from my books is a nice little gift to see from time to time.
Writing holds a special place in my heart when I have all these voices rambling in my head and whoever yells the loudest gets their story to the front of the line.
When the story is being told in my head, I can literally see it play out like a film. I also play my playlist of music to drown put everything else around me but their voices.
It becomes empowering of sorts when I get to visualize and bring their stories to life for others to read. Especially when a story can hit the readers with all the feels.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
So many things can help authors succeed in this field. When you buy a book and love it, 1. Review it everywhere it’s available.
2. Go online and tell EVERYONE.
3. Request a copy at your local library.
4. Subscribe to author newsletters.
Do not download copies off of free copies off of pirate websites, only legitimate sites (Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, Apple Books, etc…) and author newsletters. Authors will send you copies via bookfunnel. Authors also list their books for free as a promotion on Amazon too.
If you’re wanting to know how you can support your favorite Authors, feel free to reach out to them. Most Indie Authors love to communicate with readers directly and it makes our days to hear from y’all.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.authorkristencollins.weebly.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/author_kristen_collins
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKristenCollins
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Author_KCollins
- Other: www.be-indiependent.com is where authors can come for affordable services and assistance to self publish.
Image Credits
Graphics Creator: Rachel Olson-Pruneda (No Sweat Graphics & Co-Owner of INDIE/pendent Book Services) Co-Writer: Kae Galla Book Editor: Susette Wallace