We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Evelina recently and have shared our conversation below.
Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
As a writer and lover of women’s history, I feel like it is my mission to bright to light the stories of women who have either been forgotten or have been passed over in favor of the men in their lives. We have so many amazing, strong women that aren’t talked about in school or in popular media and I feel like it is my duty to tell as many of them as I can.
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
I am a USA Today bestselling author of biographical historical fiction and non-fiction. My work focuses mainly on bringing to life the stories of strong women you’ve likely never heard of, or at least you haven’t heard their side of the story. To date, I have written 10 books and have a chapter/essay in two others. I’m best known for my Guinevere’s Tale trilogy, which is historical fantasy that tells the story of Camelot from her point of view. I’ve also written historical fiction about Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for president in the U.S. in 1872, and Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy Catholic religious order.
On the non-fiction side, I’m best known for being the world’s leading expert on and first biographer of Virginia and Francis Minor, a husband-wife team who were very active in the suffrage movement alongside Susan B. Anthony, but who have been forgotten. I’ve also written two books on pop culture: Sex and the City: A Cultural History and Fierce Females on Television: A Cultural history. I’ve written a book that traces the evolution of the character of Guinevere from her Celtic roots to today, showing how she changes with society’s views of women and I have a chapter in a book on the ethics of Arthurian legend.
The tie that runs through all of my books is that they are about strong women. I hope to be able to inspire women of all ages and to make them want to learn more about women’s history.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I’m on my way to that happening. I started out wanting to be in traditional publishing. It took me two years to get my first agent. I was with her for two years but ended up having to leave her (the hardest decision I have ever made).
I decided to self publish the books she had already shopped around. I gave myself a six-month crash course in all things self-publishing and put out four books in six months in 2016 (they were already written, just needed to be edited, have a cover created, etc.). Over the next few years, I self-published two more books and in July 2019, I hit the USA Today bestseller list with my Guinevere’s Tale trilogy (which was basically three books in one large volume). The fact that I did this as an indie author is a big deal because that is very difficult to do. I also had one of my books optioned for film, which is another thing that rarely happens to indie authors. (Nothing ever came of it and I have the rights back now, but that is the case for 98% of books that are optioned.)
In June 2020, I was approached by Amy Collins, whom I had met a few years earlier when she gave a talk on book marketing. We remained friends, but I had no idea she was a foreign rights agent. She told me she was becoming a full agent and asked if I was looking for representation. I said yes. (This is a great example of the power of networking.)
I told myself that over the next two years I would work my butt off to jump start my traditional publishing career. I ended up brokering a two-book with Rowman & Littlefield (this was in the works before Amy became my agent) for my cultural history books. She sold the biography I was working on to Globe Pequot and then got me a deal at Chalice Media Group to turn a short story I had written into a novel. In the meantime, I also took a work for hire job to write the history of my local League of Women voters. Plus, I was asked to write a book chapter for an academic work and contribute an essay to an anthology.
And did I mention I have a full time job?
So I did basically nothing but writing and working for the next two years. I pulled four all-nighters in order to meet deadlines (I didn’t even do that in college; not recommended) and used my vacation days and weekends for writing. It was exhausting and I nearly burned out twice. But this year alone, when all of those books are published, I will double the number of books I have published from 6 to 12. I have now proved myself as a writer and am in a position, with the help of my agent, to begin getting the kind of advances that will lead to me being able to write full time. Amy is well aware of my desire and we are working together to make that happen as fast as possible.
My point in telling you this is that opportunities are everywhere if you just look for them. Keep your eyes and ears open; create Google alerts for the things you are interested in so you know what is going on; join professional groups; and work hard. You don’t have to go obsessive like I did–that is just my personality and honestly, it’s not healthy. I’m now trying to undo some of the bad habits and repercussions I picked up mentally and physically during that two year sprint.
Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?
Being an author is no longer just about the book(s). Yes, writing the best book you possibly can is your #1 priority, but you will need more than just a print/ebook to make money. Here are some things I’ve done that help bring in additional income:
1. Audio books – Once you get past the substantial initial outlay (done professionally with a SAG voice actor, they can run you up upwards of $3,000 depending on their fee and how long your book is) audio books are passive income. And they are a very fast growing market.
2. Writing articles – I write articles for magazines, blogs, journals, newspapers and member newsletters for organizations, all of which pay.
3. Speaking – I am a situational extrovert when it comes to speaking. I love the sound of my own voice and I am passionate about my subjects, so I make a great speaker. If you’re scared, practice makes it easier and you may want to take some acting classes. I have spoken all over the country (and internationally online) on a wide variety of subjects. I love it so for me it is a fun way to make some extra money.
4. Editing/advising authors – I occasionally will get jobs through my agent to edit chapters or provide advice to newer authors.
5. Online classes – I used to teach online versions of the speeches/classes I give in person. I am currently revamping my material.
I also write poetry, but that is not at the point to be published yet.
Things I’ve seen other authors do: (If I had the time, I would do these as well.)
1. Write novellas – It is very common for authors to write novellas that fit in the timeline/world of their other books. Sometimes this is at the publisher’s request, sometimes the author does it on their own.
2. Offer subscription book boxes – monthly subscription boxes are very popular but also very time consuming to put together, ship, etc. If you want to know more about this, I can put you in touch with three authors who either have or are doing this now.
3. Use Patreon – Lots of authors have subscription tiers on Patreon where they offer certain extra content to people who pay a monthly subscription.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nicoleevelina.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleevelinaauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicoleevelinaauthor/
- Other: TickTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicoleevelinaauthor?_t=8UhIdwiOXwU&_r=1 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nicoleevelina/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14435011.Nicole_Evelina Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nicole-evelina
Image Credits
Headshot: Melissa Fann of Serendipity Photography