Fionna or… ‘the spooky author’ as she is commonly known as, is a self-published author from Perth, Western Australia. She has a love for writing spooky stories for middle-grade readers, suffers from imposter syndrome, has two kids and has won several writing competitions. Read more about Fiona and her self-publishing journey in her article below. But first…
What is Fionna’s favourite book from childhood?
I actually wasn’t a voracious reader – that was definitely more my sister, but I do remember bingeing series when I needed an escape. I loved Mallory Towers when I was in primary school, and the Tomorrow When the War Began series when I was in high school. Mixed in with that I read Christopher Pike and of course R.L. Stine!
Fionna’s kids favourite picture books?
My son is a lover of trucks. All trucks. Every kind. So oddly, he loved The Green Sheep simply for the pages with the car! My daughter had a little more varied interest but Room on the Broom was a great one!
In this Article
How my love affair [with writing] began…
Hi, I’m Fionna! A late starting writer with a love for the twisted and macabre! I grew up on a healthy diet of X-Files, Are You Afraid of the Dark and Unsolved Mysteries. Growing up I had zero inkling that I wanted to be a writer (unless you count the dozens of diaries I wrote, which I subsequently destroyed in a sacrificial burning to protect all innocent parties in my late teenage years…).
It was only when I was in my late twenties that I picked up my laptop one night and started typing out a fantasy manuscript. Having no idea how to write a story, let alone an entire manuscript I just started writing random paragraphs for fun.
About fifteen thousand words later, I started to think I was on to something. I was, of course, wrong – and I never finished that manuscript, but… that was the beginning my love affair with writing.
Fast forward a few years, one child, half a dozen writing courses, dozens of short story comps, and thousands upon thousands of words later, I had submitted multiple manuscripts to countless publishers and was ready for the next step – with or without permission.
My first book - Twisted Trails
This is when Twisted Trails was born. A middle grade, spooky, choose your adventure series for 8+ with a snarky narrator that berates you every step of the way.
The series began as an idea for a Christmas present for my niece and nephew – a fun project while I had another middle grade manuscript out on submission with various publishers. What started as a quick, fun present, evolved into a 30k word manuscript that I loved writing!
Being a mum to two young minis, writing fun, spooky and humorous choose-your-path books was ideal for my often-distracted brain, and the perfect escape from the usual pressures of life.
Once I had a full manuscript together, I decided why not go the full hog. I knew the self-publishing process (or so I thought) from having a close friend self-publish her own YA (young adult) fantasy book at the same time. So, taking a leaf from her book, and gathering all the fake courage I could muster, I found some beta readers, dabbled with covers and hired an editor. Things rolled on pretty quick from that point and…
…with shaking hands and loads of imposter syndrome, I launched The Midnight Manor in March of 2023.
I was so absolutely thrilled with how it went!
Did I sell millions?
Nope.
Did I make it onto the Ellen show?
Nope.
But I DID receive fan mail from the sweetest book lover and get nothing but support and high fives from all my friends and family. And it was a massive buzz. To hear kids’ reading my books at night and telling their parents all the ways that they ‘died’ in their stories, was, though perhaps a little macabre, absolutely brilliant!
Burn out…
Things rolled on from there with Ghastly Grotto coming out in August of 2023 and Camp Crypt due for release in August of 2024. I eased off the gas a little over the past year as I started to feel really burnt out. Having two kids, a day job and also trying to pump out multiple books a year was starting to feel like a burden, rather than the joy it once was, so I eased on the pressure and I’m back to loving it.
Self-publishing: The Hard parts
The hardest thing I found with self-publishing was learning to take up space in the publishing world. Having always wanted a traditional contract, I suppose the metaphorical pulling up of a chair and validation that I was worthy. I really struggled with the self confidence in owning my space in the industry.
I’m still slowly working through that, but for the most part I have come a MASSIVE way, and I now firmly believe there is room for everyone, and creativity on all levels should be encouraged and supported.
You often look back and think of all the things you would do differently, and perhaps self-publishing is no different, but in all honesty, I can’t recall anything I would change. I’m still very much figuring it out, but I’m proud that I’ve always prioritised imperfect action over perfection.
NOTHING I have put out there has been perfect.
From typos to page numbers to the number of endings I’ve advertised, I’ve made mistakes across it all – but I’m always going to and if I let perfection stop me from moving forward, I wouldn’t have all the joy and self-confidence I now have.
I firmly believe you learn from 'doing' and your confidence to 'do the thing' only grows from actually 'doing the thing'.
Self-publishing: The Best Bits
The best thing about self-publishing? For me and let me get a little meta here for a moment, it was:
- Growing as a person,
- learning to unapologetically take up space and,
- cultivate and prioritise a creative life.
I’m so proud that I’ve put myself out there, and that I’m working towards a richer and more fulfilling life. Self-publishing can be tough – figuring it all out and financially forking out money without any guarantee you will see any of it back is a massive leap of faith, but creating stories and figuring out the puzzle, and finally holding those books in your hands makes it all worthwhile!
My next steps
What’s coming up for me? Camp Crypt, book 3 of Twisted Trails, has only JUST been released!
I also have Sadie and the Secret of the Swamp published by Dragonfly Publishing coming out in October!
I’m also working on a collection of spooky stories for kids and another middle grade story I’m hoping to be published by Dragonfly, as well as book 4 of Twisted Trails!
In addition to all of this (tired of just thinking about it), I also now offer social media services to authors – from campaign packages to style tasters.
More from The Spooky Author:
You can find me on Instagram (@are_you_afraid_of_the_books) and Facebook (Fionna Cosgrove Writer) and probably Tiktok thought I haven’t done much on there for a long time.
FREE STORIES
To check out my books, read some free stories and fact sheets on cryptids and sea creatures, as well as learn more about my author services, (including a free social media guide) head to www.fionnacosgrovewriter.com!
You can find and follow Fionna on socials – Facebook & Instagram or visit fionacosgrovewriter.com
Article and images kindly supplied by Fionna Cosgrove.
Thank you Fionna for sharing your self-publishing experience with Birchy’s Books.
Next week we hear from a NICU nurse turned NICU mom turned Author – Brittney Thrift.
