General

Ready to dive into new worlds and explore uncharted lands? Here are ten indie authors I’ve discovered in 2024 and I think you’ll like them too!

Renée Shantel

Renée is a phenomenal writer and I’m so happy I accidentally stumbled across her work. Her 2024 novel, In The Days Before, was a work of art and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a twisty, pacy thriller.

Dana Gricken

Dana is the most prolific indie author I know, whose output is incredible. I especially enjoyed her short stories, Whispers In The Woods, as her creativity and original thinking was palpable.

April Grace

April and I met at YALC and quickly hit it off. Where my books are dark and twisted, hers are uplifting and wholesome. April’s book The Steel Princess is on my reading list for 2025.

Jennifer Ascienzo

Jennifer is a gifted indie author, creator of the highly-enjoyable sci-fi trilogy, Foiled Stars. I can’t wait to see what Jennifer comes up with in 2025. I especially love Jennifer’s ability to create flawed, relatable characters.

Roxan Burley

Roxan is a dystopian fantasy indie author. I had a lovely time meeting her at YALC and can’t wait to delve into her work in 2025.

L. S. Delorme

Lexy is an original thinker turned indie author who creates gorgeous books. She is the author of The Limerent Series.

Kiera Nixon

Kiera’s debut novel, The Dream Maker, came out in 2024. I love Kiera’s thoughtful, intelligent writing style and can’t wait for her future releases.

Kerry Law

Like me, Kerry is based in Scotland – so it’s always special to read about places I know (or, at least, could drive to in under a day). I follow Kerry on Instagram and I’m very excited about her current WIP. Kerry kindly agreed to be interviewed for an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned for that!

Amy Woodruff

I got an ARC of Amy Woodruff’s fabulous new book, Of Kingdoms And Curses. It was a magical, engaging tale and I can’t wait to read Amy’s future installments in the series.

Hayley Alderton

Hayley isn’t merely the powerhouse behind Indie Visible, where she helps indie authors promote themselves and frequently runs amazing events: she’s also an indie author in her own right.

Oh, wait, there’s more…

If you’re a reader, let me know in the comments which indie authors I should check out. If you’re an author yourself, I regularly interview indie authors for my blog, so send me a message and we can chat.

You’re reading the latest novel from a new author, who has either been published by a small indie press or gone down the self-publishing route. You’re enjoying the tale when, shock, horror! You find an error.

Before immediately rushing onto Goodreads or Amazon to leave a scathing review, let’s take a look at why you might find errors in indie authors’ works and what you should do about it.

Why are there occasional errors in books?

The author has a smaller team behind them

They haven’t been published by the Big Five* and they don’t have as many eyes on their books. Does this mean they haven’t spent hours combing through it? No, it does not. It means that, despite their best efforts and the best efforts of their team, a few mistakes slipped through the net.

*However, even books that did have a larger team and even books published by the Big Five have errors in them. Unfortunately, it happens.

What should you do about it?

Speak to the author

Notice I say ‘Speak to the author’, not ‘Immediately write a vitriolic email berating the author’. My recommendation would be to approach the author and ask if they would like to know about some errors you may have found. This is particularly useful if you’ve got your hands on an ARC as it may not be too late to fix those mistakes. However, even if the book is published, it might still be reaching out to the author. They may be able to release a second edition… or even explain away some inconsistencies in the book in the series.

Become an ARC or beta reader

If you have an eye for detail, why not put your skills to use? Indie authors will appreciate you signing up for advanced reading copies and letting them know your thoughts on their work. You could even take it a step further and become a developmental editor.

What errors don’t mean

They definitely don’t mean the author hasn’t spent months on this book, giving their very best to it. And they definitely don’t mean the book necessarily warrants a bad review. As an indie author, I can guarantee you every book I write was given huge amounts of care and attention. I created the very best book I could at the time. Are any of them perfect? No. There are definitely typos I wish I’d caught and little details I missed that should have been changed. But did I give it my level best? Absolutely.

If you really feel occasional errors distract from the storyline, perhaps sticking to books published by the Big Five is the way to go for you.

That being said, I would like to one day put together a list of all the errors my editor and my team caught, especially if they’re funny, and have them as a sort of bloopers roll at the end of a book one day. Or perhaps they could make a blog post in their own right!

What are your thoughts on errors in books? Does it put you off reading?

Even though I live in the Inner Hebrides, I don’t really venture to Edinburgh very much. The iconic bookshops of TikTok fame have long been on my list to visit – so when I was in town seeing The National, I lost no time in popping in to them.

As a lifelong Swiftie, I was excited to see The National in concert – with Edinburgh Castle as a stunning backdrop.

The National’s distinctive introspective lyrics and slow, musing pacing is thrown by the wayside when it comes to their live show. Their on-stage performance transforms into a screaming, guitar-ridden, beautifully chaotic cohesion of sounds and nuances.

I also purchased a rather snazzy T-shirt – I do love concert merch!

The following day, I popped into Armchair Books first – and what an epic place it is. Floor to ceiling books in every direction and a great range of genres, authors and subjects.

Armchair Books’ narrow door belies the shop’s size – inside it’s a treasure trove of passages and corridors, all leading to more books. It’s a TARDIS-like expanse of literature.

I also explored Edinburgh Books, a really bright and airy shop also with an extensive book collection.

One could really spend all day browsing. I didn’t get anything in this particular shop, but I very much enjoyed the tour and I’ll make sure to go back if I return to Edinburgh.

Both shops had the smell of old pages and leather bindings – exactly how they should!

I love old architecture and there was plenty to be found in Edinburgh. The last picture features a friendly pigeon.

I also had a peek into the Cat Cafe, filled with gorgeously exotic kitties.

Sadly, I didn’t go in because it was closed when I passed.

What did you get up to this weekend? Are you a cat lover? Let me know in the comments.

My debut novel comes out this year (THIS YEAR!!!) Still, there’s a good few months to go between now and the summer, so what should you read while you’re waiting for my book to come out?

Scythe by Neal Shusterman.

10/10.

I’m still to finish this trilogy (I’m just partway into The Toll) but I can honestly say it’s been a long time since I read a book that gripped me like Scythe did. Neal Shusterman’s writing style is exceptional and his ability to create multi-faceted characters is incredible.

Katy by Jacqueline Wilson.

8/10.

Like most 90s babies, I grew up devouring Jacqueline Wilson books. I went on the run with Lola Rose, I learned about Victorians with Charlie, I felt left out like Dolphin and I wanted to be a twin like Ruby and Garnet. However, I wasn’t sure the inimitable Ms Wilson could pull off a retelling of the classic story What Katy Did Next. I was wrong.

I should point out I’ve never read the original by Susan Coolidge so there was never any risk of me making any comparisons but I will say Ms Wilson’s version is exceptional in its own right. I’ve no idea if she includes any nods to the original, but she has done a fantastic job of telling a heart-breaking story.

The book is directed at readers that are slightly younger than my target audience, but I’m confident even teenagers would enjoy this one. It did lose marks in my opinion for having quite a slow-moving opening. There is a lot of scene setting before the crux of the story begins. Fortunately, Ms Wilson’s unique writing style pulls the reader through without feeling like it drags.

Heist Society by Ally Carter.

7/10.

I’m showing my age with this one, which was published in 2011! Thirteen years ago?! But it’s one of my go-to novels when I want something slick and suspenseful. As a teenager, I loved Kat’s personality – arguably more than Cammie in Ms Carter’s other popular series, Gallagher Girls – and how her brain worked. Toss in a cast full of characters, like rich boy Hale, and you have the magic formula for keeping me entertained.

What YA books have you read recently? Maybe you’ve written one? If so, I’d love to read it and review it on the blog – so please get in touch.

Up in Scotland, we take New Year quite seriously. Traditionally, we’ll have a holiday on 2 January as well as New Year’s Day.

I’ve never really been a party person – so my main concessions to the fact that we’ve switched 2023 for 2024 were staying up until midnight, watching fireworks and having moments of self-reflection.

Plus: New Year Resolutions. I’ve always made New Year Resolutions for as long as I can remember and find it a good way of taking stock. What have I achieved? What did I fail to accomplish and why? How can I improve next year? I try to set attainable goals and measure how far I’ve come.

As well as personal resolutions, I’ve also created some book-related ones.

Last year, I didn’t manage to read as many books as I’d have liked. I use an app called StoryGraph to keep track of what I’ve read. It’s super simple to use and I’m excited to think that I’ll see one of my books on there one day!

StoryGraph also creates a fantastic Reading Wrap-Up at the end of every year. 2023 saw me read 35 books, with the first being The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell and the last being I’m Not Done With You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

I make no apologies for my eclectic taste!

This year, I want to smash my reading goals and enjoy a minimum of 80 books. I am a firm believer that to be a good writer, you need to be a voracious reader. As a child, I could devour hundreds of books each year.

I’ve already kicked 2024 off with two amazing books. The Dark Queen by Dana Gricken caught my eye because of its gorgeous cover. I bought the ebook and I’m loving it so far. I’ve also started the utterly captivating Scythe by Neal Shusterman. I can only aspire to such brilliance.

But my resolutions don’t end with just putting a dent in my TBR list. 2024 is also the year the first two novels in my trilogy are set to come out. That means editing them to within an inch of their lives, choosing covers, promoting, kick-starting my non-existent presence on social media and badgering local independent bookshops to stock my book. Plus more stuff I probably haven’t thought of. And, alongside all that, I need to get the third in the trilogy written. And the novel I started and haven’t finished because I got too excited to go back to Mirrordom. So, yeah. Wish me luck. I’m going to need it.

Do you have hopes and dreams for 2024? Do you make New Year Resolutions? Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear all about what you’re up to.

Hello! I’m Roz MacLaren, which, if you’re reading this, I presume you already know. Here are some more quick-fire facts.

I’m a YA author based in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. I live with a black and white cat and own far too many notebooks.

I’ve wanted to be an author since I was five. It would have been earlier, but I don’t think I knew what an author was then. The first books I remember reading were Black Beauty and the Famous Five stories (which I still read because they’re awesome).

My stories tend to be on the darker side, but I do plan on writing something mature and light-hearted when I grow up. If that ever happens.

My debut novel was accepted by a really cool publisher – something that made me so excited I gasped out loud. I’ll never forget reading the acceptance email and grinning for the rest of the day. The novel is called Venom and Blaze.

I’ll be updating this blog with a host of different topics, including book recommendations and reviews, updates on my own books, tips* for new or aspiring authors (get me. Not even had a book released yet and I’m already giving out advice!) and a smattering of personal (in case anyone is interested. I’m told people like to know the person behind the pen.) Is there anything you’d particularly like me to write about? Let me know in the comments.

*Disclaimer: all my tips will just be me saying what worked for me. There’s absolutely no guarantee they’ll work for anyone else. It was a miracle they worked for me, in my opinion.