Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tonia Ransom. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Tonia, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you’ve thought about whether to sign with an agent or manager?

I got my literary agent after a visit to StokerCon (a horror convention). She’d heard good things about me from other folks in attendance, and reached out after she read a viral Twitter story I told.

That same Twitter story landed me a podcast and TV/film agent at William Morris Entertainment.

Tonia, 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 a horror writer living in Austin, Texas. I write scripts for TV/film, audio dramas, and prose. I have one novella out and several short stories in various outlets.

I’m also a podcast creator. My podcast “Afflicted” is a full cast audio drama about a demonic book bound in human flesh. I also created NIGHTLIGHT, which has won the IGNYTE Best Fiction Podcast Award. My work on NIGHTLIGHT also earned me a World Fantasy Award.

I got in to writing when I scared my teacher in second grade. We had an assignment to make an illustrated book, including book construction, art, and writing. I’d recently seen Halloween, so I naturally decided to write Michael Myers fan fiction. I was a good kid in school, so when my teacher called my parents, I thought it was because I’d written something amazing and truly scary.

I suppose it was scary…just not in the way I intended. But the good news is that I believed in the power of words from that day forward and kept writing.

I try to write from a place of authenticity. As a Black writer, I grew up with stories that never featured main characters that looked like me, or dealt with the struggles I did. For a long time, I wrote white main characters because I thought that was what was expected. Then, I took a creative writing class and was encouraged to write from my heart. I did, and my writing improved ten-fold. That professor also gave me the courage to submit a story, and my very first submission was not only accepted, but paid $25!

In the coming year, I want to finish another screenplay, turn in a non-fiction book proposal, and get started on my next novel. In a perfect world, I’ll sell at least one of these projects!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve almost given up writing twice in my life.

Once was in high school when I entered a school-sponsored story contest and received remarks that implied horror was not “proper” writing…so I quit. I didn’t want to write anything else.

I picked it back up again when I returned for my 4th stint in college (I enrolled and dropped so many classes due to undiagnosed ADHD). That’s when I met the writing professor that encouraged me to write and share my writing with the world. I kept writing for a few years, and started the book which would eventually become “Risen”.

About halfway through writing that book, I realized I was writing about my dad’s death. I didn’t realize it, but I had PTSD at the time from his death. I just knew it was too painful to write once I had that realization. I ignored that book for years until I got diagnosed and got in therapy to help me cope.

It was still very painful to finish that book, but I’m glad I did. It helped me heal in ways therapy couldn’t, and put me firmly back into “I’m a writer” territory.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think social media has changed quite a lot since I built my career there. Twitter was my go-to, and I told at least a few stories a year using threads and gifs/photos. Two of them went viral, so I gained quite an audience before I left the platform late last year.

That said, I don’t think the formula has changed…it’s just different platforms. Find a way to tell your stories, share your art or business resources that people will find helpful, and interact with people without trying to sell them anything.

The bottom line is that you need to give away something of value to draw folks in, and then you can post about purchasing your work. First and foremost, you should be a valuable member of your community. Give more than you ask for, and eventually your audience will grow. Just do it as often as you can! Consistency matters.

Contact Info:

• Website: tonairansom.com
• Instagram: missdefying
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toniacransom/
• BlueSky: missdefying

Image Credits
Tonia Ransom