September 7, 2025 • 38 mins
“When the characters take over, let ‘em.” - Maria Glymph
In this episode, we sit down with author and indie press owner, Maria Glymph, to talk about her newest release Biography of Deception, her self-publishing journey, and the road to founding Modern Odyssey Books.
She shares with us:
- A look behind Biography of Deception, a literary mystery, and what inspired it
- Why she chose the self-publishing route
- What inspired her to go from self-published author to founder of her own indie press: Modern Odyssey Books.
- Advice for authors who are considering options for their publishing journey
About Maria:
Maria Glymph is a writer who explores poetry, fiction, essays, and hybrid forms, guided by the belief that each story finds the shape most fitting for its tale. An avid reader and art lover, she draws inspiration from diverse voices and creative expressions.
Alongside her own work, Maria is the founder and publisher of Modern Odyssey Books, where she champions global authors and innovative narratives. She divides her time between her writing and building Modern Odyssey into a respected independent press. Learn more at mariaglymph.com and modernodysseybooks.com.
Have a publishing question? Email me at mica@micamerrillrice.com
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"Traditionally Self-Published" theme music is written by Landon Bailey and performed and produced by LNDÖ
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
UNKNOWN (00:00):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
What's up, plot twisters, and a warm welcome to
my page turners, the intriguedreaders and listeners who are
just stepping into the story.
Whatever title you fancy today,I am so happy you're here with
us.
You're listening toTraditionally Self-Published,
where we unravel the chaos ofself-publishing and help you
write your own success storylike a pro.
(00:25):
I'm your host, MikaMerrill-Rice, author with a
passion for learning and sharingthe love.
I'm bringing you real talk withpublishing pros and indie
authors just like me who flippedthe script and built thriving
author careers on their ownterms and are doing it like a
pro.
So whether you're a first-timeauthor or you're a seasoned pro,
(00:45):
you're right where you need tobe.
We have a special guest todayfrom an indie press who knows
nearly everything there is toknow from idea to publishing
through a press and beyond.
So if you're curious what makesan author shine in the spotlight
versus waiting in the wings,then this show is for you.
I'm joined today by MariaGlimpf, an author and owner of
(01:07):
an indie press who I discoveredon Substack under her Modern
Odyssey Books publication.
They offer up monthly chats togive you behind the scenes and
share the books that are intheir catalog, including her
which we are going to be talkingabout today.
So we all cover her latestrelease, her process for
crafting literary fiction, thejourney from self-published
(01:28):
author to indie press owner,what indie authors should look
for when considering a smallpress, and we're going to
conclude with my Inkstarterlightning round and Maria's five
best tips for authors.
So welcome, Maria.
How are you today?
Thank you for having me.
I'm doing well.
I hope you are too.
Good.
Awesome.
All right.
So let's talk about biography ofdeception so before I start with
(01:51):
the questions I have to say thisbook was for me just such a fun
read so biography of deceptionfor those that haven't read it
yet and you want you will wantto this is a literary fiction
with a mystery twist I did notsee the plot twist coming at the
at the end but basically itfollows all of these co-workers
(02:14):
in an office they go in aconference room one one of them
has a incredible plot twist thatjust literally had my mouth like
(02:52):
open, like I did not see thatcoming.
So great read.
Fantastic.
What I want to know is whatinspired this story?
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Well, thank you for all of that that you said.
You know, it's interesting whatinspires any story.
I mean, it really was sort oflike the crash of several
things.
I had just left the corporateworld decided that I no longer,
you know, wanted to work in acorporate environment, that I
(03:22):
was ready for something new.
Obviously, all of thatexperience was in the back of my
mind as I sat down with thisstory that really was going to
be about something else.
And then it just sort ofunfolded.
The other thing is that when Iwas a young girl, I read Harriet
(03:42):
the Spy, which was a favorite,favorite story of mine.
And somehow, it crashed intothis other idea.
And then, you know, and that'show it all really came about.
SPEAKER_00 (03:58):
Well, it definitely works.
And it's so funny that youmentioned Harriet the Spy.
I, I did read Harriet the Spy asa little girl as well.
And in your book, I tabbed everytime that you mentioned or like
referred to a book.
So not realizing that you had awhole list of references in the
back just for me.
I'm like, wow, Yeah, she, youknow, I noticed this reference
(04:20):
to Harriet the Spy and it allkind of made sense as I read
through it.
So I love that tie in.
How did you balance the literaryelements with the mystery plot?
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
You know, it's interesting.
I had not even thought of ithaving a mystery plot until Kay
Stratton, who is a writer, readit and made that comment.
And then James Hartley from theMadrid Review called it kind of
a whodunit.
And it was like, you know, Ihadn't really thought about, I
just thought about it as a storyof the twist.
(04:51):
And so my, you know, my tendencyis more kind of on the literary
side and that's also, you know,my aspiration.
I read a lot of poetry.
So I think that obviously comesthrough.
Language is really important.
And then the other thing is, youknow, I wanted to, there were a
(05:14):
few things about the story and,you know, if you've, it, you
that anyone out there you ifyou've worked in a corporate
environment or in any kind ofwork environment you know when
people say you know my personalmy professional life are
separate that's not true becauseyou are always your complete
(05:35):
self and so part of what Iwanted to bring into the story
was that these characters arewholly who they are with their
full breadth of experience inlife even though they're in a
conference room talking aboutsome other thing.
And so, and I think that that'sreally the aspect of sort of
(05:57):
balancing plot versusintrospection and character, et
cetera.
SPEAKER_00 (06:03):
Very nice.
Uh, yeah, I did, uh, speaking ofcharacters, that was another
thing that I really enjoyed.
Um, this is obviously like an,it's a novella, but the way that
you describe the characters wasyou just, I knew exactly who,
what kind of personality I wasdealing with, like the arrogance
of Batiste, um, you know, thepeople pleasing, uh, Sloan and
(06:29):
like all the differentcharacters.
I, and I just found myselfsaying like, wow, I, You know,
maybe it's just that these typesof personalities exist
everywhere in any work situationthat you go to.
But I just found them sorelatable.
And you did a fabulous job ofdescribing them so effectively
to make this, you know, just toget that sense of their
(06:53):
personality, but also stillbeing able to move the story
about quickly and not giving somuch info dump.
It just, I don't know how youdid it.
It was perfect, whatever youdid.
So I want to know, what is yoursecret for giving them that kind
of depth so that we can connectwith them in just this short
amount of time?
SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
So I guess there are two things that come to mind.
One would be wanting to renderthem as people who are human,
meaning they have positiveattributes and they have
negative attributes because weall do.
And I think that that makes themvery relatable because you see
someone and you, you know, Idon't, or my hope is you don't
(07:34):
look at any of the characters inthis book and despise any of
them.
And you don't, you know, overlylove any of them.
You look at them and you think,oh, Oh, yeah.
And then the other thing is, toyour point about I didn't overdo
sort of the backstory, I thinkthat what I gave was little
(07:56):
snippets of backstory that wereimportant.
And, you know, there are thingsthat everything shapes our life,
but there are some events thathappen to us that have more
gravity than others.
And there are things that we,you know, they show up.
And they, we carry them and theycome out and, um, and that's
(08:18):
just what happens.
So.
SPEAKER_00 (08:20):
Yeah, it was great.
Uh, definitely helped to movethe plot forward, understanding
who they were and their, youknow, who they are outside of
this place and how it applies towhat is going on in the story
was just great.
All right.
So let's talk about thatcrafting the story a little bit.
So when you sit down to write,what's your story starting point
(08:42):
is, are you thinking about yourcharacters?
Are you starting with the plotor your theme?
You know, so I'm
SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
a woman with many projects.
Let's just start there.
It can be anything that spursit.
It can be a line that I readsomewhere in a story.
That happened to me about 25years ago.
I read a line in a book and itconjured up just a whole world
(09:10):
and a whole other story that Iworked on and off on and now i'm
going to focus on it can be thatit is the you know the kernel of
a plot or it could be that it'sa character you know there's no
one way you just never knowwhat's going to sort of trigger
your imagination or at least i'mnever sure what's going to
(09:31):
trigger my imagination and andi'm uh also i would say i'm a
thinker and so what happens isthat i'm triggered and then i
think about things and it'salways sort of working in the
back of my mind.
And then I sit down and, and Itake a lot of notes.
And then it's like, Oh, isn'tthis interesting?
Oh, well, what if this?
Well, you know, so it just sortof unfolds for me that way.
SPEAKER_00 (09:56):
Yeah, I don't know if everybody's like that.
But I'm gonna agree.
And it's probably the samething.
You know, it's a startssomething small, you question
everything about it.
And and then, you know, maybeit's a story or not I have on
myself, I keep note cards inevery room on my house in my
purse.
And I just sort of like, allright, I'm going to just write
(10:17):
down this little idea that justcame up.
It keeps me from forgetting itfor one, but then, you know,
I'll come back to it because younever know where this is going
to develop.
So that's great.
All right.
So what about how you developthe story?
Are you a plotter, a pantser ora planter?
And do you feel like this, thelength of your story changes the
(10:38):
process that you're going touse?
SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
So I'd say, you know, I'm a combination of all.
Sometimes I just sit down andstart writing something.
Sometimes I then sit back andthink, I'm a very visual person.
So sometimes I have to putthings up like on post-its and
look at it so that I can makesense of it in my head.
Sometimes I want to think abouthow something might connect from
(11:02):
one part to another.
And so then I, again, I'mvisual.
So I need to see that.
So maybe, you know, planning andplotting it out a bit more um i
don't think that the so i'm notone for labels and i um you have
to spend my life not conformingto anything and so i don't
(11:25):
really think about it in termsof length or whatever it's going
to be whatever it's going to beand then when it's done you know
that's what it is and i don'tfeel the urge to call it
anything um like biography ofdeception i did refer to it as
another because it's a wonderfulstory but it's shorter it's not
a big novel so it's like okay wecan call it that I didn't need
(11:46):
to call it anything so yeah Idon't think length I think why
put a boundary on something youknow
SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
yeah I do like that it's funny because I think that
the labeling there's more of aspotlight on it lately but if
you go back in time I waslooking this up not that long
maybe a couple years ago, I readThe Old Man in the Sea by Ernest
Hemingway, which in today'sworld would be referred to as a
(12:21):
novella, but it is not.
It is listed as a novel.
And I think you're right.
I think when the story is done,you're done.
You just know it.
There's nothing else that youwant to do to it.
It's where it needs to be.
And I think people are going toenjoy it for what it is.
If you tried to tease this outany more than it is, it wouldn't
have been the same.
experience for me so yeah Iagree with that yeah how do you
(12:47):
approach your editing and yourrefining of your prose
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
well I've only until I started Modern Odyssey I had
I'd never really I'd written alot but I'd never submitted
anything or so I'd never gonethrough great lengths of editing
is what really the point I'mtrying to make that's So I've
published three things of mine.
(13:12):
One was a book of poetry, whichis separate.
But my previous sort of littlestory novella was Hope Time and
Other Things That Are Hard toMeasure.
And when I wrote it, I had metJane Marshall in kind of a
writing community.
And I liked her.
She's easy to like.
(13:33):
And she was an editor and awriter.
And so I just said, hey, youknow, would you be open to edit
my work?
I do my own sort of reading andrereading and scrutinizing of
the word and the sentence andthe why do I want this and you
know and then I and then Ihanded it off to Jane and and
she did her magic and we wentback and forth and then it's
(13:54):
done and ultimately I have to besatisfied with it it has to be
the language that I want it hasto be the story that I want it
has to convey you know what Iwant but with biography of
deception it's interestingbecause I I wrote it and then I
(14:16):
set it aside um I wrote thefirst draft and then set it
aside to work on hope time andthen I went back to it and I
wrote it and even after I'dgiven it to Jane to edit and we
went back and forth I stillwasn't quite I wasn't wasn't
working for me so then I wentthrough and once again I looked
(14:37):
at every piece of background forcharacters I changed some.
I looked at every word, thelanguage used.
Was this the right thing?
I mean, I really took the timeto, you know.
And part of editing, I thinkthat's really hard, is letting
(14:57):
go of things that you've writtenthat you think are just so
beautiful.
And they are.
They just don't fit.
You'll hear a manuscript, and soset them aside.
So anytime I I write something,I have like the document that
says extras, but don't throwaway, you know, because you
might be able to mine somethingout of that elsewhere.
(15:20):
So, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (15:23):
Oh, that is awesome.
I love it.
Oh, my goodness.
All right.
Well, you mentioned earlierHarriet the Spy.
You obviously reference many,many different books and authors
in here and other influences.
But are there any literaryinfluences or favorite mystery
authors who shaped your style?
(15:43):
And I say mystery because youweren't really writing this as a
mystery, but whoever shaped yourstyle, you know, whoever that
author or that book that just,you were like, all right, you
know what?
I really like this and I want todo this.
SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
So I'd say at the top of that list is Gabriel
Garcia Marquez.
I remember reading Love in theTime of Cholera and sitting up
in bed thinking, oh my God, youcan write this way.
And I loved it.
and I loved him and I lovemagical realism and part of that
is because I love mythology andfolklore and the kid in me just
(16:19):
believes that things like thatcan happen and you know why not
the other two that I consider aspart of my holy literary trilogy
are Nikos Kazantzakis and notbecause I'm Greek but because he
was an excellent writer and thenLawrence Durrell and so you know
and all have very differentwriting styles but I just love
(16:43):
them and I read a lot of poetryI read it daily I read a lot of
drama I like to read plays aswell I think all of that just
sort of infuses but so but if Ihad to pick one person I'd say
it's Marquez.
SPEAKER_00 (17:00):
Very nice all right we're going to go on your
journey Maria fromself-published author to indie
press owner this is like a bigjump I really like Looking
forward to hearing about how yougot into this.
So going back to the beginning,what was the self-publishing
journey like?
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
So when I decided to leave my corporate job, I, so
most of my career, I had been aconsultant, my own business.
And, and so obviously that wasan option.
I could go back to doing that.
I had done that before.
I had another idea, which wasdifferent.
It had more of a pro-socialaspect to it that I did explore,
(17:44):
but ultimately decided not topursue.
And the third was to write.
And that's something I've alwayswanted.
And, you know, when I was young,I'm, just wanted that one day
where all I get to do is write.
I don't have to do anythingelse.
I get to get up and write andwrite and write.
And life just doesn't work thatway.
So at this point, I decided Iwould focus on writing.
And then I was faced with thenatural fork in the road, which
(18:08):
is, do I want to go and look fora literary agent and seek
traditional publishing?
Or this world of self-publishinghas gotten better and is no
longer stigmatized as far as Ican tell.
And so is that perhaps somethingthat I might want to do?
And there are pros and cons forboth.
(18:29):
I'm not criticizing either orsaying one has the advantage
over the other, but I chose thelatter.
And I didn't just want toself-publish.
I decided I did want to buildsomething, which would be an
independent publishing house tobe able to publish other authors
as well.
But I started with me.
SPEAKER_00 (18:51):
That's great.
And what are the biggestlessons?
You kind of touched on it alittle bit, but what are the
biggest lessons you learned fromthat indie publishing when you
were doing that?
It takes time.
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
It takes time and a lot of patience.
Having been a business ownerpreviously, it's not new to me
to sit around and think aboutthe business all the time.
But I will say that to use anexpression my mother used to
have, which is, I've been I'mbreaking my head trying to
(19:29):
figure out how to sell books.
(19:51):
million different pieces to thepuzzle of how do you get books
out there and get them sold.
And that's the biggestchallenge.
SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
Yeah, I agree.
I mean, as a self publishedauthor, and you mentioned as
indie press, but I imagine likeeven maybe even some of the
bigger ones, depending on thebook, I guess, you know, what's
getting out there, what'sgetting picked up.
So, so you you talked a littlebit about like going from self
publishing and, and And theneventually opening your, your
(20:23):
indie press.
But was there one like definingmoment where you're like, all
right, this is just what I'mgoing to do.
You know, like just maybe onething that happened that just
kind of sparked this.
And you just said, I'm going forthis.
SPEAKER_01 (20:37):
It is.
And it's, it's kind of a sadstory.
So a very good friend of minewas, was ill.
And my husband and I went to theU S to, to be with him and his
wife.
And it was during the time ofbeing with them that I was
(21:00):
processing at the time how allthis might work out.
It's after having not been in anAmerican grocery store because I
live in Switzerland, I was inthe grocery store and I went to
the section where they hadpuzzles and magazines and that
sparked the idea for the InSearch of series, which I
publish, which are literatureinspired puzzle books.
And at the same time, my friend,he died, and it was a way of
(21:25):
processing grief, which is how Iended up with that book of
poetry.
I didn't set out to publish it,but it's the way that I
processed the loss of a verygood man who was a friend of
mine.
And so those things were sort ofall happening at the same time,
and that's when and how Isolidified that I was going to
launch Modern Odyssey Books.
(21:47):
Well,
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
I'm very sorry to hear about your friend, but you
you know, there's like some,some kind of, um, happiness at
the end of it.
You know, this is the momentthat, you know, you, you decided
this is what I'm going to do.
Maybe it was a life is short orwhatever the case may be.
Um, so, but we're, we're gladthat you did.
Cause I am a big fan now.
(22:10):
So, all right.
Um, so the transition fromauthor to press owner, was it
sort of gradual, you know, youhad this idea, you just said you
were going to do it or you werelike, all right, tomorrow I'm
opening up the business name.
This is it.
I
SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
think it was both.
I mean, at first I was thinkingabout, you know, what do I need
to do to just get this up andrunning?
But I wanted from the beginningto publish other people.
And what's interesting about theauthor publisher split is
because those, while theyoverlap, they're really kind of
two different roles, if youwill.
(22:49):
And I spent most of my time atthe moment with the publisher
hat on and very little with thewriter hat on.
And that's okay because, youknow, I'm building a business
and it's more important that Ido things for, you know, the
other writers.
But, yeah.
But it all kind of came togetherat the same sort of time.
SPEAKER_00 (23:13):
All right.
What makes your press uniquecompared to other small presses?
UNKNOWN (23:18):
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Well, I mean, I can't, I'm not one to compare.
It's one of the things I have alittle bit of a issue is not the
right word.
But, you know, in the literaryworld, we have a tendency to
want to compare.
Like my book is like this bookand that book.
You know, my publishing house islike this publishing house or
not like that.
(23:38):
I mean, that doesn't, it's justnot the lens through which I
look at it.
I think there are a lot ofreally great publishing houses
out there.
I think there are some reallyunique and literary and, you
know, small.
There's some people doing justsome great things, great, great
things.
(23:59):
You know, what I'm doing is justa little bit different.
It's, you know, I've got thepuzzle books also, which it
means it's not just, you know,literature.
So, you know, it's just a littlebit different.
I want to showcase, you know, Iguess two things.
I don't know if this makes meunique, but I'm interested in
global authors.
(24:20):
So I have a tendency to readpeople from all over the world.
That's what I like.
It's a wonderful way to learnabout different cultures and
stories.
And then the other is to justlet forms be what they are.
If someone comes and has someunique hybrid kind of thing,
great.
(24:41):
If it's a good story, let's doit.
SPEAKER_00 (24:44):
Awesome.
What do you find the mostrewarding part of what you're
doing now?
I
SPEAKER_01 (24:53):
think it's, and I'll use Jane as an example.
So Jane Marshall, you know,she's the first author that I've
published and her collection, aline drawn or printed six routes
through Madrid.
And, you know, it's just seeinghow happy she is, you know, when
she saw what the cover was, whenshe held the book in her hand
(25:14):
for the first time, you know,throughout the whole process.
I mean, And it was like, youknow, this is her dream.
My goal is to help her make herdream come true.
And so, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
That's incredible.
And it was a great, great book.
I love the cover.
I love both of your covers.
They're very unique and juststand out to me.
So that's great.
What do you find the mostchallenging?
I
SPEAKER_01 (25:37):
think the most challenging is the marketing and
book selling.
I mean, without a doubt, youknow, the rest of it is easily
overcome.
I'll use Jane in her book againas an example.
I mean, she's done a remarkablejob of just promoting herself
and her book as well.
You know, but it's, but I mean,that's, that's the biggest
(25:58):
challenge.
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
Yeah, I don't think that really goes away.
I tell people this all the time,you know, between self
publishing and even going with apress, you will find that a lot
of your time as an author isspent marketing your own book,
you believe in your book themost, you know, it's not, not
that you don't love Jane's bookor that, um, you're not behind
(26:21):
her.
You are.
Um, but it just helps.
It has to be a relationship, youknow, I think, um, when you're a
press and an author.
Um, and then for me, obviouslyit's just, it's just me, but,
uh, I would have to do itanyway.
Yeah, it is very challenging.
Oh my goodness.
All right.
So how about some advice?
(26:41):
Um, so you have self-published,you've, you've owned your own
businesses, you've worked incorporate, you understand a lot
of the business side of it.
How do you know it's a good fitfor a press of any kind?
Wouldn't matter if it's biggeror a little, but what are you
looking for?
You
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
know, it's interesting.
This makes me think of, I have afriend who's in the process of
job hunting and, you know, intalking with her the other day,
it was all about, you know, I'vegot my list of questions that I
want them to answer and, youknow, and I'm ready in case they
ask me about this and that andthe other.
And it's like, what do you want?
I mean, you're trying to makesure that you fit what they
(27:21):
want, but what is it that youwant?
And I think it's the same withan author.
It's like, what do you want?
Are they offering you what youwant, whether that's in all the
contractual royalty and allthat?
Are they offering you the kindof marketing support that you're
looking for, the editorialsupport?
(27:42):
Do they have the values?
Are they publishing things thatyou align with or not?
Or You know, I mean, there are amillion questions, but it's not
how do you make them want you?
It's how do you make you wantthem?
Also, it's again, becauseeverything is two-sided.
It's a relationship.
So that's, I think, how you,when you feel like it's a good
(28:03):
fit, then it's a good fit.
SPEAKER_00 (28:06):
Yeah, I agree.
And so on that, so I don'tdiscriminate against any way of
publishing.
If you want to be published Ithink of self-publishing,
presses, hybrids as options.
There are options that we havein our toolbox and maybe you
(28:28):
self-publish with one, maybe yougo hybrid with another, maybe
you do traditional with another,whatever the case may be.
But what should authors look forin a press before signing a
contract?
SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
Well, I mean, one is I'd look at all the contractual
things.
very closely.
I'd make sure that, you know,all of the important bases are
covered about all of thedifferent kinds of rights, how
the royalties are split, whetherit's, you know, gross or net
and, you know, all that, that itdoes indicate what the
(29:04):
responsibility is of the authorversus just the publishing
house.
It's like, it's like any othercontract, you know, even if you
were signing a contract with acompany to deliver something in
else.
You want it to be clear of whatpart, what's your part and
what's their part.
And that goes both ways.
And so, and if there's anyquestion, you know, that isn't
(29:31):
in there, then I certainly wouldpursue it.
Now there are standard contractsand all of that, but still I'd
seek out some advice on that.
Yeah.
That's the main thing is just bevery clear of what part of
what's your responsibility andwhat's theirs.
UNKNOWN (29:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:47):
Do you ever feel that there would be a moment
where a self-published authorwould say, all right, maybe I
should just say a self-publishedauthor?
Like, is it ever the betteroption or is it more like
whatever you're feeling thisbook, the book that you've
written needs to do is whatyou're going to do?
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
Well, I think it goes back to what you just said
a little while ago.
I mean, you don't have topigeonhole yourself into
anything.
It might be that, you know, thatyou published with your first
book with the press and then thesecond one you want to do
yourself or vice versa.
You know, you decide I'm goingto do this one for a number of
reasons, including because Iwant to learn all the ropes
(30:25):
myself of the back end ofthings.
You know, but you're never stuckinto one thing.
And then that goes back to thecontractual.
If you want that flexibility,make sure that the contract
you're signing is for that onebook versus for, you know, a
myriad of books or so.
(30:47):
But yeah, I mean, I just don'tbelieve that you get stuck in a
lane.
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
Yeah, I agree.
And what's one myth you want tobust about indie presses?
SPEAKER_01 (31:00):
Well, I mean, the only thing or the biggest thing
is that they're second tier.
You know, again, I canappreciate there are a lot of
people out there who want one ofthe big traditional publishing
houses.
They want Random House orPicador.
They want to have their name onit.
That's fantastic.
But Modern Odyssey isn't alesser press just because it's
(31:24):
not that.
So Modern Odyssey books is, youknow, as legitimate, as
literary, as, you know, everyonehas their own sort of niche.
Everyone has their own, youknow, special qualities.
It's not about size and prestigeis a way that's a value and
(31:47):
people value that in differentways.
SPEAKER_00 (31:51):
Very good.
All right, Maria, we made it theink starter lightning round.
I'm going to ask you somequestions.
And you could just tell mewhatever comes to mind.
So the first one is the firstbook that made you want to be a
writer?
SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
I can't think of a first book, but I will say that
it was many books.
When I was in high school, Itook creative writing and
comparative novels, and it wasjust that whole experience.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:16):
Very good.
All right.
If modern Odyssey books had aspirit animal, what would it be?
A
SPEAKER_01 (32:23):
spirit animal?
Well, as someone who doesn'tknow a lot about spirit animals,
I'd say an eagle.
Okay.
An eagle.
I love it.
For me, it symbolizes freedom,obviously courage, which is what
it takes to not only set up anindependent publishing house,
(32:44):
but to publish things that, youknow, I think are of literary
merit, regardless of what otherpeople think.
So
SPEAKER_00 (32:50):
I'm an eagle.
I think the eagle fits thatwonderfully.
What about tropes?
What's your favorite mysterytrope?
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
not really.
I mean, I love mysteries, youknow, but I'd have to say the
whodunit.
SPEAKER_00 (33:07):
Whodunit's the best.
SPEAKER_01 (33:08):
One
SPEAKER_00 (33:10):
word that describes your editing style.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (33:14):
laborious.
SPEAKER_00 (33:18):
I'll take
SPEAKER_01 (33:19):
it.
And what's your current read?
I am reading The Cowboy and theCossack by Claire Whitaker.
It has been on our bookshelvesfor the over 30 years that we've
been married.
My husband has two worn outcopies from when he lived in
Alaska and they passed that bookaround and I'm only just now
(33:40):
getting to it and I'm sorry it'staken me so long.
It is a wonderful read wonderful
SPEAKER_00 (33:48):
you'll have to send it to me so I don't forget the
name I'm always looking for newreads I especially love finding
old ones that are sitting onshelves my aunt is a big reader
as well and she has a lot ofbooks of what we always did so
it's finding some random bookthat's you know been in out in
the world for 30 40 years I'malways amazed at how how much I
(34:11):
do love them so that's great allright we are to the five best
tips.
So I would like to ask you foryour five best tips for authors.
This is something that we canimplement right now the minute
they stop listening to thispodcast into their own writing.
SPEAKER_01 (34:30):
Well, I mean, I think the first one would be
kind of focus on the language,you know, the word choices,
eliminate any excess.
That's not uncommon as a writingtip.
The other is to be specific youknow it's not a tree it's a
sycamore you know just conjuresup very different things in the
(34:52):
imagination I do think it'simportant to you know read it
take a break from it read it Ithink it helps you just get
clarity on your whole story andand then another one I guess
would be think about how yourcharacters can say things
(35:12):
without having to say a word.
Like what are the gestures theycan use?
You know, what's the subtext?
That would be one.
And then I think, which is thelast one would be the one that's
really the joy of writing isthat when the characters take
over, let them.
(35:33):
Let them do whatever they wantto do.
I
SPEAKER_00 (35:35):
think they sort of do.
All right.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us today.
I have just a few more and weare all done.
Where can listeners find yourlatest book?
SPEAKER_01 (35:51):
Well, you can go to the Modern Odyssey Books
website, which ismodernodysseybooks.com.
You can also find all of thebooks on Amazon and then through
bookshop.org or online.
You can just look up the book.
Yeah, I'm trying to think.
(36:11):
And then in terms of if you're abookshop and you're listening,
then you can order throughIngram or Gardeners.
SPEAKER_00 (36:17):
Very nice.
All right.
And I'm assuming that we canlearn more about the Indie Press
as well on your website.
And then any upcoming releasesthat we should be on the lookout
for?
I'm excited.
I'm waiting.
SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
Yes.
Two rather immediate things.
We are about to opensubscriptions for Paravion which
will be an annual subscriptionfor a monthly narrative to show
up in your mailbox so each monthit'll be featuring a different
(36:52):
author I've asked Jane Marshallto be the series editor and she
is doing that and so we'relooking forward to it and we
will have a submission processetc and we're getting all of
that in place right at themoment so more of that to come
the The second is, and it kindof goes back to what you said
about love to discover oldertexts.
(37:16):
We have a new series called theBrown Paper Library, and they're
small, unique curations of worksacross time, and there'll be
surprises.
So we might intrigue you withthe title and a small blurb on
the back, but you won't knowwhat you're getting until you
(37:38):
get the book and open it up andyou'll be pleasantly surprised.
SPEAKER_00 (37:42):
I love it.
I am a big fan of Blind Datewith a Book.
You don't even need to tell mewhat it's about.
Just give me a little shorttitle or whatever it is that you
want me to know and I am all forit.
So thank you so much, Maria.
This has really been superhelpful.
I've really enjoyed getting toknow you today and I hope to
have you back again soon.
(38:03):
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (38:06):
Yeah, thanks.
Enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (38:08):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Traditionally Self-Published.
If this episode helped you,subscribe, leave a review and
share with your author andreader friends like.
And be sure to check the firstepisode where I share a bit
about how this all came to beand why building a helpful
community is so important.
Until next time, be bold, writesmart and keep turning those
(38:32):
pages.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
What's up, plot twisters, and a warm welcome to
my page turners, the intriguedreaders and listeners who are
just stepping into the story.
Whatever title you fancy today,I am so happy you're here with
us.
You're listening toTraditionally Self-Published,
where we unravel the chaos ofself-publishing and help you
write your own success storylike a pro.
(00:25):
I'm your host, MikaMerrill-Rice, author with a
passion for learning and sharingthe love.
I'm bringing you real talk withpublishing pros and indie
authors just like me who flippedthe script and built thriving
author careers on their ownterms and are doing it like a
pro.
So whether you're a first-timeauthor or you're a seasoned pro,
(00:45):
you're right where you need tobe.
We have a special guest todayfrom an indie press who knows
nearly everything there is toknow from idea to publishing
through a press and beyond.
So if you're curious what makesan author shine in the spotlight
versus waiting in the wings,then this show is for you.
I'm joined today by MariaGlimpf, an author and owner of
(01:07):
an indie press who I discoveredon Substack under her Modern
Odyssey Books publication.
They offer up monthly chats togive you behind the scenes and
share the books that are intheir catalog, including her
which we are going to be talkingabout today.
So we all cover her latestrelease, her process for
crafting literary fiction, thejourney from self-published
(01:28):
author to indie press owner,what indie authors should look
for when considering a smallpress, and we're going to
conclude with my Inkstarterlightning round and Maria's five
best tips for authors.
So welcome, Maria.
How are you today?
Thank you for having me.
I'm doing well.
I hope you are too.
Good.
Awesome.
All right.
So let's talk about biography ofdeception so before I start with
(01:51):
the questions I have to say thisbook was for me just such a fun
read so biography of deceptionfor those that haven't read it
yet and you want you will wantto this is a literary fiction
with a mystery twist I did notsee the plot twist coming at the
at the end but basically itfollows all of these co-workers
(02:14):
in an office they go in aconference room one one of them
has a incredible plot twist thatjust literally had my mouth like
(02:52):
open, like I did not see thatcoming.
So great read.
Fantastic.
What I want to know is whatinspired this story?
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Well, thank you for all of that that you said.
You know, it's interesting whatinspires any story.
I mean, it really was sort oflike the crash of several
things.
I had just left the corporateworld decided that I no longer,
you know, wanted to work in acorporate environment, that I
(03:22):
was ready for something new.
Obviously, all of thatexperience was in the back of my
mind as I sat down with thisstory that really was going to
be about something else.
And then it just sort ofunfolded.
The other thing is that when Iwas a young girl, I read Harriet
(03:42):
the Spy, which was a favorite,favorite story of mine.
And somehow, it crashed intothis other idea.
And then, you know, and that'show it all really came about.
SPEAKER_00 (03:58):
Well, it definitely works.
And it's so funny that youmentioned Harriet the Spy.
I, I did read Harriet the Spy asa little girl as well.
And in your book, I tabbed everytime that you mentioned or like
referred to a book.
So not realizing that you had awhole list of references in the
back just for me.
I'm like, wow, Yeah, she, youknow, I noticed this reference
(04:20):
to Harriet the Spy and it allkind of made sense as I read
through it.
So I love that tie in.
How did you balance the literaryelements with the mystery plot?
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
You know, it's interesting.
I had not even thought of ithaving a mystery plot until Kay
Stratton, who is a writer, readit and made that comment.
And then James Hartley from theMadrid Review called it kind of
a whodunit.
And it was like, you know, Ihadn't really thought about, I
just thought about it as a storyof the twist.
(04:51):
And so my, you know, my tendencyis more kind of on the literary
side and that's also, you know,my aspiration.
I read a lot of poetry.
So I think that obviously comesthrough.
Language is really important.
And then the other thing is, youknow, I wanted to, there were a
(05:14):
few things about the story and,you know, if you've, it, you
that anyone out there you ifyou've worked in a corporate
environment or in any kind ofwork environment you know when
people say you know my personalmy professional life are
separate that's not true becauseyou are always your complete
(05:35):
self and so part of what Iwanted to bring into the story
was that these characters arewholly who they are with their
full breadth of experience inlife even though they're in a
conference room talking aboutsome other thing.
And so, and I think that that'sreally the aspect of sort of
(05:57):
balancing plot versusintrospection and character, et
cetera.
SPEAKER_00 (06:03):
Very nice.
Uh, yeah, I did, uh, speaking ofcharacters, that was another
thing that I really enjoyed.
Um, this is obviously like an,it's a novella, but the way that
you describe the characters wasyou just, I knew exactly who,
what kind of personality I wasdealing with, like the arrogance
of Batiste, um, you know, thepeople pleasing, uh, Sloan and
(06:29):
like all the differentcharacters.
I, and I just found myselfsaying like, wow, I, You know,
maybe it's just that these typesof personalities exist
everywhere in any work situationthat you go to.
But I just found them sorelatable.
And you did a fabulous job ofdescribing them so effectively
to make this, you know, just toget that sense of their
(06:53):
personality, but also stillbeing able to move the story
about quickly and not giving somuch info dump.
It just, I don't know how youdid it.
It was perfect, whatever youdid.
So I want to know, what is yoursecret for giving them that kind
of depth so that we can connectwith them in just this short
amount of time?
SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
So I guess there are two things that come to mind.
One would be wanting to renderthem as people who are human,
meaning they have positiveattributes and they have
negative attributes because weall do.
And I think that that makes themvery relatable because you see
someone and you, you know, Idon't, or my hope is you don't
(07:34):
look at any of the characters inthis book and despise any of
them.
And you don't, you know, overlylove any of them.
You look at them and you think,oh, Oh, yeah.
And then the other thing is, toyour point about I didn't overdo
sort of the backstory, I thinkthat what I gave was little
(07:56):
snippets of backstory that wereimportant.
And, you know, there are thingsthat everything shapes our life,
but there are some events thathappen to us that have more
gravity than others.
And there are things that we,you know, they show up.
And they, we carry them and theycome out and, um, and that's
(08:18):
just what happens.
So.
SPEAKER_00 (08:20):
Yeah, it was great.
Uh, definitely helped to movethe plot forward, understanding
who they were and their, youknow, who they are outside of
this place and how it applies towhat is going on in the story
was just great.
All right.
So let's talk about thatcrafting the story a little bit.
So when you sit down to write,what's your story starting point
(08:42):
is, are you thinking about yourcharacters?
Are you starting with the plotor your theme?
You know, so I'm
SPEAKER_01 (08:50):
a woman with many projects.
Let's just start there.
It can be anything that spursit.
It can be a line that I readsomewhere in a story.
That happened to me about 25years ago.
I read a line in a book and itconjured up just a whole world
(09:10):
and a whole other story that Iworked on and off on and now i'm
going to focus on it can be thatit is the you know the kernel of
a plot or it could be that it'sa character you know there's no
one way you just never knowwhat's going to sort of trigger
your imagination or at least i'mnever sure what's going to
(09:31):
trigger my imagination and andi'm uh also i would say i'm a
thinker and so what happens isthat i'm triggered and then i
think about things and it'salways sort of working in the
back of my mind.
And then I sit down and, and Itake a lot of notes.
And then it's like, Oh, isn'tthis interesting?
Oh, well, what if this?
Well, you know, so it just sortof unfolds for me that way.
SPEAKER_00 (09:56):
Yeah, I don't know if everybody's like that.
But I'm gonna agree.
And it's probably the samething.
You know, it's a startssomething small, you question
everything about it.
And and then, you know, maybeit's a story or not I have on
myself, I keep note cards inevery room on my house in my
purse.
And I just sort of like, allright, I'm going to just write
(10:17):
down this little idea that justcame up.
It keeps me from forgetting itfor one, but then, you know,
I'll come back to it because younever know where this is going
to develop.
So that's great.
All right.
So what about how you developthe story?
Are you a plotter, a pantser ora planter?
And do you feel like this, thelength of your story changes the
(10:38):
process that you're going touse?
SPEAKER_01 (10:41):
So I'd say, you know, I'm a combination of all.
Sometimes I just sit down andstart writing something.
Sometimes I then sit back andthink, I'm a very visual person.
So sometimes I have to putthings up like on post-its and
look at it so that I can makesense of it in my head.
Sometimes I want to think abouthow something might connect from
(11:02):
one part to another.
And so then I, again, I'mvisual.
So I need to see that.
So maybe, you know, planning andplotting it out a bit more um i
don't think that the so i'm notone for labels and i um you have
to spend my life not conformingto anything and so i don't
(11:25):
really think about it in termsof length or whatever it's going
to be whatever it's going to beand then when it's done you know
that's what it is and i don'tfeel the urge to call it
anything um like biography ofdeception i did refer to it as
another because it's a wonderfulstory but it's shorter it's not
a big novel so it's like okay wecan call it that I didn't need
(11:46):
to call it anything so yeah Idon't think length I think why
put a boundary on something youknow
SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
yeah I do like that it's funny because I think that
the labeling there's more of aspotlight on it lately but if
you go back in time I waslooking this up not that long
maybe a couple years ago, I readThe Old Man in the Sea by Ernest
Hemingway, which in today'sworld would be referred to as a
(12:21):
novella, but it is not.
It is listed as a novel.
And I think you're right.
I think when the story is done,you're done.
You just know it.
There's nothing else that youwant to do to it.
It's where it needs to be.
And I think people are going toenjoy it for what it is.
If you tried to tease this outany more than it is, it wouldn't
have been the same.
experience for me so yeah Iagree with that yeah how do you
(12:47):
approach your editing and yourrefining of your prose
SPEAKER_01 (12:52):
well I've only until I started Modern Odyssey I had
I'd never really I'd written alot but I'd never submitted
anything or so I'd never gonethrough great lengths of editing
is what really the point I'mtrying to make that's So I've
published three things of mine.
(13:12):
One was a book of poetry, whichis separate.
But my previous sort of littlestory novella was Hope Time and
Other Things That Are Hard toMeasure.
And when I wrote it, I had metJane Marshall in kind of a
writing community.
And I liked her.
She's easy to like.
(13:33):
And she was an editor and awriter.
And so I just said, hey, youknow, would you be open to edit
my work?
I do my own sort of reading andrereading and scrutinizing of
the word and the sentence andthe why do I want this and you
know and then I and then Ihanded it off to Jane and and
she did her magic and we wentback and forth and then it's
(13:54):
done and ultimately I have to besatisfied with it it has to be
the language that I want it hasto be the story that I want it
has to convey you know what Iwant but with biography of
deception it's interestingbecause I I wrote it and then I
(14:16):
set it aside um I wrote thefirst draft and then set it
aside to work on hope time andthen I went back to it and I
wrote it and even after I'dgiven it to Jane to edit and we
went back and forth I stillwasn't quite I wasn't wasn't
working for me so then I wentthrough and once again I looked
(14:37):
at every piece of background forcharacters I changed some.
I looked at every word, thelanguage used.
Was this the right thing?
I mean, I really took the timeto, you know.
And part of editing, I thinkthat's really hard, is letting
(14:57):
go of things that you've writtenthat you think are just so
beautiful.
And they are.
They just don't fit.
You'll hear a manuscript, and soset them aside.
So anytime I I write something,I have like the document that
says extras, but don't throwaway, you know, because you
might be able to mine somethingout of that elsewhere.
(15:20):
So, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (15:23):
Oh, that is awesome.
I love it.
Oh, my goodness.
All right.
Well, you mentioned earlierHarriet the Spy.
You obviously reference many,many different books and authors
in here and other influences.
But are there any literaryinfluences or favorite mystery
authors who shaped your style?
(15:43):
And I say mystery because youweren't really writing this as a
mystery, but whoever shaped yourstyle, you know, whoever that
author or that book that just,you were like, all right, you
know what?
I really like this and I want todo this.
SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
So I'd say at the top of that list is Gabriel
Garcia Marquez.
I remember reading Love in theTime of Cholera and sitting up
in bed thinking, oh my God, youcan write this way.
And I loved it.
and I loved him and I lovemagical realism and part of that
is because I love mythology andfolklore and the kid in me just
(16:19):
believes that things like thatcan happen and you know why not
the other two that I consider aspart of my holy literary trilogy
are Nikos Kazantzakis and notbecause I'm Greek but because he
was an excellent writer and thenLawrence Durrell and so you know
and all have very differentwriting styles but I just love
(16:43):
them and I read a lot of poetryI read it daily I read a lot of
drama I like to read plays aswell I think all of that just
sort of infuses but so but if Ihad to pick one person I'd say
it's Marquez.
SPEAKER_00 (17:00):
Very nice all right we're going to go on your
journey Maria fromself-published author to indie
press owner this is like a bigjump I really like Looking
forward to hearing about how yougot into this.
So going back to the beginning,what was the self-publishing
journey like?
SPEAKER_01 (17:20):
So when I decided to leave my corporate job, I, so
most of my career, I had been aconsultant, my own business.
And, and so obviously that wasan option.
I could go back to doing that.
I had done that before.
I had another idea, which wasdifferent.
It had more of a pro-socialaspect to it that I did explore,
(17:44):
but ultimately decided not topursue.
And the third was to write.
And that's something I've alwayswanted.
And, you know, when I was young,I'm, just wanted that one day
where all I get to do is write.
I don't have to do anythingelse.
I get to get up and write andwrite and write.
And life just doesn't work thatway.
So at this point, I decided Iwould focus on writing.
And then I was faced with thenatural fork in the road, which
(18:08):
is, do I want to go and look fora literary agent and seek
traditional publishing?
Or this world of self-publishinghas gotten better and is no
longer stigmatized as far as Ican tell.
And so is that perhaps somethingthat I might want to do?
And there are pros and cons forboth.
(18:29):
I'm not criticizing either orsaying one has the advantage
over the other, but I chose thelatter.
And I didn't just want toself-publish.
I decided I did want to buildsomething, which would be an
independent publishing house tobe able to publish other authors
as well.
But I started with me.
SPEAKER_00 (18:51):
That's great.
And what are the biggestlessons?
You kind of touched on it alittle bit, but what are the
biggest lessons you learned fromthat indie publishing when you
were doing that?
It takes time.
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
It takes time and a lot of patience.
Having been a business ownerpreviously, it's not new to me
to sit around and think aboutthe business all the time.
But I will say that to use anexpression my mother used to
have, which is, I've been I'mbreaking my head trying to
(19:29):
figure out how to sell books.
(19:51):
million different pieces to thepuzzle of how do you get books
out there and get them sold.
And that's the biggestchallenge.
SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
Yeah, I agree.
I mean, as a self publishedauthor, and you mentioned as
indie press, but I imagine likeeven maybe even some of the
bigger ones, depending on thebook, I guess, you know, what's
getting out there, what'sgetting picked up.
So, so you you talked a littlebit about like going from self
publishing and, and And theneventually opening your, your
(20:23):
indie press.
But was there one like definingmoment where you're like, all
right, this is just what I'mgoing to do.
You know, like just maybe onething that happened that just
kind of sparked this.
And you just said, I'm going forthis.
SPEAKER_01 (20:37):
It is.
And it's, it's kind of a sadstory.
So a very good friend of minewas, was ill.
And my husband and I went to theU S to, to be with him and his
wife.
And it was during the time ofbeing with them that I was
(21:00):
processing at the time how allthis might work out.
It's after having not been in anAmerican grocery store because I
live in Switzerland, I was inthe grocery store and I went to
the section where they hadpuzzles and magazines and that
sparked the idea for the InSearch of series, which I
publish, which are literatureinspired puzzle books.
And at the same time, my friend,he died, and it was a way of
(21:25):
processing grief, which is how Iended up with that book of
poetry.
I didn't set out to publish it,but it's the way that I
processed the loss of a verygood man who was a friend of
mine.
And so those things were sort ofall happening at the same time,
and that's when and how Isolidified that I was going to
launch Modern Odyssey Books.
(21:47):
Well,
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
I'm very sorry to hear about your friend, but you
you know, there's like some,some kind of, um, happiness at
the end of it.
You know, this is the momentthat, you know, you, you decided
this is what I'm going to do.
Maybe it was a life is short orwhatever the case may be.
Um, so, but we're, we're gladthat you did.
Cause I am a big fan now.
(22:10):
So, all right.
Um, so the transition fromauthor to press owner, was it
sort of gradual, you know, youhad this idea, you just said you
were going to do it or you werelike, all right, tomorrow I'm
opening up the business name.
This is it.
I
SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
think it was both.
I mean, at first I was thinkingabout, you know, what do I need
to do to just get this up andrunning?
But I wanted from the beginningto publish other people.
And what's interesting about theauthor publisher split is
because those, while theyoverlap, they're really kind of
two different roles, if youwill.
(22:49):
And I spent most of my time atthe moment with the publisher
hat on and very little with thewriter hat on.
And that's okay because, youknow, I'm building a business
and it's more important that Ido things for, you know, the
other writers.
But, yeah.
But it all kind of came togetherat the same sort of time.
SPEAKER_00 (23:13):
All right.
What makes your press uniquecompared to other small presses?
UNKNOWN (23:18):
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Well, I mean, I can't, I'm not one to compare.
It's one of the things I have alittle bit of a issue is not the
right word.
But, you know, in the literaryworld, we have a tendency to
want to compare.
Like my book is like this bookand that book.
You know, my publishing house islike this publishing house or
not like that.
(23:38):
I mean, that doesn't, it's justnot the lens through which I
look at it.
I think there are a lot ofreally great publishing houses
out there.
I think there are some reallyunique and literary and, you
know, small.
There's some people doing justsome great things, great, great
things.
(23:59):
You know, what I'm doing is justa little bit different.
It's, you know, I've got thepuzzle books also, which it
means it's not just, you know,literature.
So, you know, it's just a littlebit different.
I want to showcase, you know, Iguess two things.
I don't know if this makes meunique, but I'm interested in
global authors.
(24:20):
So I have a tendency to readpeople from all over the world.
That's what I like.
It's a wonderful way to learnabout different cultures and
stories.
And then the other is to justlet forms be what they are.
If someone comes and has someunique hybrid kind of thing,
great.
(24:41):
If it's a good story, let's doit.
SPEAKER_00 (24:44):
Awesome.
What do you find the mostrewarding part of what you're
doing now?
I
SPEAKER_01 (24:53):
think it's, and I'll use Jane as an example.
So Jane Marshall, you know,she's the first author that I've
published and her collection, aline drawn or printed six routes
through Madrid.
And, you know, it's just seeinghow happy she is, you know, when
she saw what the cover was, whenshe held the book in her hand
(25:14):
for the first time, you know,throughout the whole process.
I mean, And it was like, youknow, this is her dream.
My goal is to help her make herdream come true.
And so, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
That's incredible.
And it was a great, great book.
I love the cover.
I love both of your covers.
They're very unique and juststand out to me.
So that's great.
What do you find the mostchallenging?
I
SPEAKER_01 (25:37):
think the most challenging is the marketing and
book selling.
I mean, without a doubt, youknow, the rest of it is easily
overcome.
I'll use Jane in her book againas an example.
I mean, she's done a remarkablejob of just promoting herself
and her book as well.
You know, but it's, but I mean,that's, that's the biggest
(25:58):
challenge.
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
Yeah, I don't think that really goes away.
I tell people this all the time,you know, between self
publishing and even going with apress, you will find that a lot
of your time as an author isspent marketing your own book,
you believe in your book themost, you know, it's not, not
that you don't love Jane's bookor that, um, you're not behind
(26:21):
her.
You are.
Um, but it just helps.
It has to be a relationship, youknow, I think, um, when you're a
press and an author.
Um, and then for me, obviouslyit's just, it's just me, but,
uh, I would have to do itanyway.
Yeah, it is very challenging.
Oh my goodness.
All right.
So how about some advice?
(26:41):
Um, so you have self-published,you've, you've owned your own
businesses, you've worked incorporate, you understand a lot
of the business side of it.
How do you know it's a good fitfor a press of any kind?
Wouldn't matter if it's biggeror a little, but what are you
looking for?
You
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
know, it's interesting.
This makes me think of, I have afriend who's in the process of
job hunting and, you know, intalking with her the other day,
it was all about, you know, I'vegot my list of questions that I
want them to answer and, youknow, and I'm ready in case they
ask me about this and that andthe other.
And it's like, what do you want?
I mean, you're trying to makesure that you fit what they
(27:21):
want, but what is it that youwant?
And I think it's the same withan author.
It's like, what do you want?
Are they offering you what youwant, whether that's in all the
contractual royalty and allthat?
Are they offering you the kindof marketing support that you're
looking for, the editorialsupport?
(27:42):
Do they have the values?
Are they publishing things thatyou align with or not?
Or You know, I mean, there are amillion questions, but it's not
how do you make them want you?
It's how do you make you wantthem?
Also, it's again, becauseeverything is two-sided.
It's a relationship.
So that's, I think, how you,when you feel like it's a good
(28:03):
fit, then it's a good fit.
SPEAKER_00 (28:06):
Yeah, I agree.
And so on that, so I don'tdiscriminate against any way of
publishing.
If you want to be published Ithink of self-publishing,
presses, hybrids as options.
There are options that we havein our toolbox and maybe you
(28:28):
self-publish with one, maybe yougo hybrid with another, maybe
you do traditional with another,whatever the case may be.
But what should authors look forin a press before signing a
contract?
SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
Well, I mean, one is I'd look at all the contractual
things.
very closely.
I'd make sure that, you know,all of the important bases are
covered about all of thedifferent kinds of rights, how
the royalties are split, whetherit's, you know, gross or net
and, you know, all that, that itdoes indicate what the
(29:04):
responsibility is of the authorversus just the publishing
house.
It's like, it's like any othercontract, you know, even if you
were signing a contract with acompany to deliver something in
else.
You want it to be clear of whatpart, what's your part and
what's their part.
And that goes both ways.
And so, and if there's anyquestion, you know, that isn't
(29:31):
in there, then I certainly wouldpursue it.
Now there are standard contractsand all of that, but still I'd
seek out some advice on that.
Yeah.
That's the main thing is just bevery clear of what part of
what's your responsibility andwhat's theirs.
UNKNOWN (29:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (29:47):
Do you ever feel that there would be a moment
where a self-published authorwould say, all right, maybe I
should just say a self-publishedauthor?
Like, is it ever the betteroption or is it more like
whatever you're feeling thisbook, the book that you've
written needs to do is whatyou're going to do?
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
Well, I think it goes back to what you just said
a little while ago.
I mean, you don't have topigeonhole yourself into
anything.
It might be that, you know, thatyou published with your first
book with the press and then thesecond one you want to do
yourself or vice versa.
You know, you decide I'm goingto do this one for a number of
reasons, including because Iwant to learn all the ropes
(30:25):
myself of the back end ofthings.
You know, but you're never stuckinto one thing.
And then that goes back to thecontractual.
If you want that flexibility,make sure that the contract
you're signing is for that onebook versus for, you know, a
myriad of books or so.
(30:47):
But yeah, I mean, I just don'tbelieve that you get stuck in a
lane.
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
Yeah, I agree.
And what's one myth you want tobust about indie presses?
SPEAKER_01 (31:00):
Well, I mean, the only thing or the biggest thing
is that they're second tier.
You know, again, I canappreciate there are a lot of
people out there who want one ofthe big traditional publishing
houses.
They want Random House orPicador.
They want to have their name onit.
That's fantastic.
But Modern Odyssey isn't alesser press just because it's
(31:24):
not that.
So Modern Odyssey books is, youknow, as legitimate, as
literary, as, you know, everyonehas their own sort of niche.
Everyone has their own, youknow, special qualities.
It's not about size and prestigeis a way that's a value and
(31:47):
people value that in differentways.
SPEAKER_00 (31:51):
Very good.
All right, Maria, we made it theink starter lightning round.
I'm going to ask you somequestions.
And you could just tell mewhatever comes to mind.
So the first one is the firstbook that made you want to be a
writer?
SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
I can't think of a first book, but I will say that
it was many books.
When I was in high school, Itook creative writing and
comparative novels, and it wasjust that whole experience.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:16):
Very good.
All right.
If modern Odyssey books had aspirit animal, what would it be?
A
SPEAKER_01 (32:23):
spirit animal?
Well, as someone who doesn'tknow a lot about spirit animals,
I'd say an eagle.
Okay.
An eagle.
I love it.
For me, it symbolizes freedom,obviously courage, which is what
it takes to not only set up anindependent publishing house,
(32:44):
but to publish things that, youknow, I think are of literary
merit, regardless of what otherpeople think.
So
SPEAKER_00 (32:50):
I'm an eagle.
I think the eagle fits thatwonderfully.
What about tropes?
What's your favorite mysterytrope?
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
not really.
I mean, I love mysteries, youknow, but I'd have to say the
whodunit.
SPEAKER_00 (33:07):
Whodunit's the best.
SPEAKER_01 (33:08):
One
SPEAKER_00 (33:10):
word that describes your editing style.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (33:14):
laborious.
SPEAKER_00 (33:18):
I'll take
SPEAKER_01 (33:19):
it.
And what's your current read?
I am reading The Cowboy and theCossack by Claire Whitaker.
It has been on our bookshelvesfor the over 30 years that we've
been married.
My husband has two worn outcopies from when he lived in
Alaska and they passed that bookaround and I'm only just now
(33:40):
getting to it and I'm sorry it'staken me so long.
It is a wonderful read wonderful
SPEAKER_00 (33:48):
you'll have to send it to me so I don't forget the
name I'm always looking for newreads I especially love finding
old ones that are sitting onshelves my aunt is a big reader
as well and she has a lot ofbooks of what we always did so
it's finding some random bookthat's you know been in out in
the world for 30 40 years I'malways amazed at how how much I
(34:11):
do love them so that's great allright we are to the five best
tips.
So I would like to ask you foryour five best tips for authors.
This is something that we canimplement right now the minute
they stop listening to thispodcast into their own writing.
SPEAKER_01 (34:30):
Well, I mean, I think the first one would be
kind of focus on the language,you know, the word choices,
eliminate any excess.
That's not uncommon as a writingtip.
The other is to be specific youknow it's not a tree it's a
sycamore you know just conjuresup very different things in the
(34:52):
imagination I do think it'simportant to you know read it
take a break from it read it Ithink it helps you just get
clarity on your whole story andand then another one I guess
would be think about how yourcharacters can say things
(35:12):
without having to say a word.
Like what are the gestures theycan use?
You know, what's the subtext?
That would be one.
And then I think, which is thelast one would be the one that's
really the joy of writing isthat when the characters take
over, let them.
(35:33):
Let them do whatever they wantto do.
I
SPEAKER_00 (35:35):
think they sort of do.
All right.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us today.
I have just a few more and weare all done.
Where can listeners find yourlatest book?
SPEAKER_01 (35:51):
Well, you can go to the Modern Odyssey Books
website, which ismodernodysseybooks.com.
You can also find all of thebooks on Amazon and then through
bookshop.org or online.
You can just look up the book.
Yeah, I'm trying to think.
(36:11):
And then in terms of if you're abookshop and you're listening,
then you can order throughIngram or Gardeners.
SPEAKER_00 (36:17):
Very nice.
All right.
And I'm assuming that we canlearn more about the Indie Press
as well on your website.
And then any upcoming releasesthat we should be on the lookout
for?
I'm excited.
I'm waiting.
SPEAKER_01 (36:29):
Yes.
Two rather immediate things.
We are about to opensubscriptions for Paravion which
will be an annual subscriptionfor a monthly narrative to show
up in your mailbox so each monthit'll be featuring a different
(36:52):
author I've asked Jane Marshallto be the series editor and she
is doing that and so we'relooking forward to it and we
will have a submission processetc and we're getting all of
that in place right at themoment so more of that to come
the The second is, and it kindof goes back to what you said
about love to discover oldertexts.
(37:16):
We have a new series called theBrown Paper Library, and they're
small, unique curations of worksacross time, and there'll be
surprises.
So we might intrigue you withthe title and a small blurb on
the back, but you won't knowwhat you're getting until you
(37:38):
get the book and open it up andyou'll be pleasantly surprised.
SPEAKER_00 (37:42):
I love it.
I am a big fan of Blind Datewith a Book.
You don't even need to tell mewhat it's about.
Just give me a little shorttitle or whatever it is that you
want me to know and I am all forit.
So thank you so much, Maria.
This has really been superhelpful.
I've really enjoyed getting toknow you today and I hope to
have you back again soon.
(38:03):
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (38:06):
Yeah, thanks.
Enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (38:08):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Traditionally Self-Published.
If this episode helped you,subscribe, leave a review and
share with your author andreader friends like.
And be sure to check the firstepisode where I share a bit
about how this all came to beand why building a helpful
community is so important.
Until next time, be bold, writesmart and keep turning those
(38:32):
pages.
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