December Showcase: Creator Spotlight 💡

Creator: Nathan Lowell: Author, Novelist

Nathan is a novelist who has written and sold many novels over the course of the last several decades. His experience with the written word might only be overtaken by his experience with people. He understands the importance of not just building a list, but building a relationship with his readers. 

Nathan is passionate about the writing community and runs our writer’s mastermind group here in the community. He has more knowledge and experience in his index finger than a lot of us do in our entire bodies, and he loves to share that knowledge and experience with anyone he can. 

He sent his first broadcast in the spring of 2019 and became a part of the community in 2020. 

Spotlight 

Background

How did you start out as a creator?

I started writing when I was a kid. Luckily nothing from those days has survived. I tried to break into the market several times over my life, but never found the right path. In 2005 I discovered podcast fiction and realized that the low barriers to entry meant I could find a market that would be hungry for new fiction they could “stick in their ears.” In 2007, I started writing novels to podcast. In 2010 I sold my first text-based unit with a small press. In 2012, I became a full-time self-published author.

What work were you drawn to?

I’ve been through a variety of careers. I enlisted in the US Coast Guard to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam when I graduated from high school. When my term was up I started working in bookstores although I was always fascinated by computers. I became a data entry clerk and worked up to vice president of information systems before getting into education. First with corporate training and then getting an MA and PhD. I taught for a few years and worked with the National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities to help make online education accessible to those who couldn’t see or hear the teacher. I stayed with that for 13 years and only stopped when they lost their funding in 2012.

What problem did you face?

Fiction publishing has structural issues that only became worse with the rise of ebook publishing. The number of publishing houses shrank over the latter quarter of the 20th century, a retrenchment that continues today. For most of my life, the possibility that I might write a novel, see it published, and have it read seemed as remote as the stars. Podcasting, then self-publishing, brought that possibility down to earth.

Lightbulb Moment

How did you solve your problem?

I realized that self-publishing and the rise of ebook adoption through Kindle and other dedicated e-readers created an opportunity to reach an under-served audience. Because of the way bookstores stocked books, new books force out old ones. For authors who write a series, that meant that, by the time book three hit the shelves, book one was only available through special order, if that. Sales of novels in a series flagged. The traditional publishing wisdom is that readers don’t like to read series. With ebooks, the stories never go out of print. They never aren’t available.

More, bookstore shelves are limited. You can’t buy the books you want to read. You can only buy the books they stock. Bookstores only stock the books that sell the most. Niche authors, new authors, women, authors of color, anything that’s different doesn’t get through the filters. The problem isn’t that books don’t sell from those authors, it’s that publishing doesn’t know how to reach that audience.

 

Having read science fiction and fantasy for half a century, I noticed that the books being offered in the bookstores had some pretty boring, cookie cutter stories. I wanted other kinds of stories and realized the only way those stories would be published was if I wrote them and published them myself. I gambled that a different kind of story would find traction with a large enough audience that I would be able to continue to produce the works.

My gamble paid off handsomely.

 

How did you envision solving the same problem for others?

At first, I didn’t. Eventually I began to see more and more authors finding a successful path. Early on, I worked with a local high school to work with their creative writing program to teach students to write novels. Later I joined some professional organizations in an attempt to show that self-published doesn’t mean second class. 

Now I try to mentor individuals, to be an example of what’s possible, and to help new authors find their audiences by promoting works I admire to my audience.

Current Success & Work

Where are you now in your journey as a creator?

Full-time, self-published novelist. It’s my family’s sole source of income and I love the work I do. I’m still looking for ways to help new authors to level up their skills, to understand publishing.

How is ConvertKit supporting your work?

I mostly use the email list to broadcast my monthly newsletter to the fans. While I realize there are a lot of other models for using these tools, my brand is purposefully minimalist.

 

I do enjoy working with the Writers Mastermind group. I wish more authors would join the discussion. It’s a challenge to get people to understand the value of working together in a field that has historically been a solo enterprise. 

What types of people are you helping now? How has your list grown as you’ve helped solve this problem for others?

I try to help new authors get their work to publication and authors with books who haven’t yet found an audience. I try to help established authors take advantage of the changes in the market, but it’s an uphill battle on all fronts. 

My list serves my fans. It’s my direct connection to them, my lifeline to the people who support me and my work. Once a month I have to ‘fess up and tell them where the next book(s) are – or aren’t. I let them know what they can expect even if I can’t tell them when they might expect it. Mostly the list helps me be real with the people who depend on me to entertain them a few hours a year. 

So far, it’s working out.