At my desk, 20th June 2026
I always find that I benefit from some authentic Regency visuals to focus my mind when I write. This print of a Regency butcher's was part of my inspiration for Lily and her gout-suffering father when I wrote Clasped. It is an illustration by Charles Williams, published by Thomas Tegg about 1816.
Update time!
It's time for an honest update on my writing progress. I've written eleven books since January, and those people who have given me feedback seem to be enjoying them. I love the writing part. No problems there.
However, it isn't easy to break in as a new author. It's a hard slog, especially as I'm not rolling in money. I watched a Tiktok post about another author yesterday. She spent $5,819 on ISBNs, software, proofs, copyright, copy editing, proof reading and creating covers, for just one debut novel, and she regarded all that as essential and worthwhile spending. She has top-notch socials in her niche, so publicity wasn't an issue for her, but she's still nowhere near breaking even.
I, on the other hand, have a budget of £0. I'm relying totally on Amazon's free promotions and my rather pathetic social media accounts. This mailing list has 298 members, but it's currently shrinking as people get around to unsubscribing because I no longer do canalside homes.
My business spending looks like this
- Website hosting: £80.23 pa
- Domain name: £9.59 pa
- Software for graphics and cover editing: £108.50 pa
- British Newspaper Archive (critical for book research): £89.99 pa
And two more that I probably won't renew on expiry:
- Camtasia software for video editing: £204.00 pa
- Quillbot for self-editing: £99.95 pa
That's a total of £592.26 to cover ALL my books – not just one.
How much have I earned?
Total earnings in May: £23.01
Current month to date: £28.85 (yay, it is going up!)
The net result? A loss. I'll be lucky to break even this year.
My biggest challenge?
I believe the biggest obstacle to my success is getting ratings and reviews. New, unknown indie authors really struggle to get reviews on Amazon. It's an issue because the Amazon algorithm uses these to decide whether to push your book out to more potential readers.
Total reviews for all 11 books to date: UK - 9, US - 6.
A few more people have left stars without written reviews, but not many.
Most of these reviews came from ARC review platforms, which have a cost attached to them. I have already cancelled these services as I can't afford the ongoing costs.
On behalf of myself and all the other authors in the same boat, please would you consider giving a few stars to any books you’ve downloaded recently? Not just mine!
You can go to your orders page and click ‘Account and Lists / Orders’, or you can click on one of these links:
If you're in the UK, click here.
If you’re in the US, click here.
Click on the stars on that page, and that’s all there is to it.
Click – click – done.
But if you have time, maybe you could also click ‘Write a review’ and add a word or two of encouragement? Every bit of honest feedback is hugely valued and appreciated by indie authors like me.
Here's a quick reminder about Clasped:
Clasped is free from 20th to 24th June. I'm very proud of this one!
Clasped is my third spicy Regency mail-order bride romance set in Devon. Lily and Freddie were such fun to write. Every word is written by me - no AI writing here!
Freddie is a gentle giant who has fallen into full-time farming somewhat reluctantly due to the loss of his parents. He will only grow to love it with the right woman at his side – cue Lily, a feisty heroine who fights hard for what she wants, and that's a future as a farmer's wife.
This is a tender, low-spice love story with one mainstream, vanilla bedroom scene. The rating is 2/5 🌶️🌶️ as with all my 'spicies', and there's a Guaranteed Happy Ever After.
As usual, I fell down a rabbit hole researching various aspects of Regency history. This time, I looked into butcher's shops, graphology, and the farming calendar, particularly focusing on October, hence the autumnal cover image.
You'll find my 'historical notes' at the back of each book.
Ratings and reviews will be very much appreciated - thank you!
