Indie to Trad
The pipeline, uncertainty, and a light at the end of the tunnel
Cross-posted to Substack.
If you’re here for chapter two of Messy Hexes, I promise it’s coming! Ya girl still needs to send out some news and updates. I’m thinking most weeks, I’ll release a new chapter on Wednesdays. Witchy Wednesdays, if you will. So mark your calendars for chapter two on October 7! (I write fast, but we’re in a particularly busy season, so give me some grace!) You can still subscribe for 20% off if you want to follow along on this journey!
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I’ll tell you what, though. It feels good to have a plan. It might surprise you to know (it won’t) that I don’t deal well with uncertainty. And my life has had a whole hell of a lot of uncertainty lately. In so many ways, things have remained exactly the same—my daughter is still dancing her heart out. My son is still sweet as ever. My husband is still the literal greatest. I still have a book coming out in November that I love (and you should totally preorder). Samberts birthday season is still starting next week, which leads into Speech season and the holidays. Before I know it, it’ll be spring, then summer, and I think things will look so much different then. I’m ready.
But in a lot of ways, I’m in limbo. I left my agent a few weeks ago, and Page & Vine decided to pass on my witchy series. I might write more about all of that later, when the dust settles, but I am a firm believer that everything works out in the end. Even that belief can’t save me from the messy middle, though, and I think it serves as a good reminder that your favorite authors are doing a lot more than writing and editing behind the scenes. There’s so much that goes into this business that I expected—rejection, hard work, compromise, money—but there is so much that I never thought of. Agents and publishers being one of them.
When I published The Write Place, I thought I’d be indie forever. Even before it took off, I realized I loved the entire process from start to finish. It was fun, and that was what I started this for. If you’d have asked me why I took a book on submission a few years ago, I don’t know if I’d be able to tell you with any real certainty. I definitely saw the writing on the wall—it was getting harder for indie authors to break out. AI slop and bot page readers are dominating the Amazon charts, the algorithm changes seemingly every day, and an increasingly fatigued online community all played a role, for starters. And yes, I write for me, but I still want people to read what I write. And they can’t really do that if they don’t see my books. So a trad deal felt like the right move. It certainly felt like the next move. It was the thing successful indie authors seemed to be doing. And hey, I’ll try anything once.
Have I loved being a trad author? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I’ve had a career long enough to know that you aren’t going to love every single part of the journey. I didn’t love every part about being indie, either. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet so many readers and work with an incredible team of women to bring these stories into the world. But every time I walked into a Barnes & Noble, I saw my books on the shelf. And that was something I couldn’t do by myself. It was, truly, a dream fully realized.
So where am I going from here? I will start the search for a new agent who aligns a little better with my goals and vision. I have some time before I’d be willing to publish anything after Not the Way it Ends, so I hope to put my witchy series on submission. I’d love another trad deal, and if that doesn’t work out, I’d love to self-publish it. I might be in limbo, but what a privilege (and the result of a lot of hard work) it is to say that any outcome is a win.
Luck is where preparation meets opportunity, if the inspirational poster on my classroom wall is to be believed, and you better believe I’m prepared. I have a whole book written and ready, along with the entire series mapped out! The one thing I do know is that there are more books coming from me in the very near future. And that is no small thing.
Not a Strong Enough Word & Not on the Same Page – Available Now!
Not the Way it Ends – November 10, 2026
Preorder now to get the limited edition sprayed edges and goodies from your favorite indie bookstore!
Did you hear?? I’m going to be at Partners in Crime bookstore in Chicago on Wednesday, November 11 with Cara Tanamachi to celebrate the release of Not the Way it Ends. My goal is to PACK THE HOUSE for the last book in this series. So come on out and celebrate with me! I can’t wait to see you.
And don’t forget, if you preorder Not the Way it Ends, you can enter to win some sweet goodies! Just fill out the form with your proof of purchase. (See form for details and ways to enter.)
In my quest for a healthier (and cheaper?) pumpkin spice latte, I treated myself to some pumpkin spice flavored protein and I’ve been adding it to my coffee. I’m pleased to report that it tastes AMAZING, and I’m getting some added protein. As I’m typing this, I feel like I’ve written about this before, but that’s okay. It deserves a second mention. It’s that good.
Brothers Rival | Fake Dating | Spicy Lessons | Surprise Pregnancy | Large Families
Be on the lookout for a new chapter of Messy Hexes on Wednesday! We get to hear from our MMC this time, and his scene is so fun!
