Kiersten Modglin, an Independent Author
“Write like no one is ever going to read it:” the young self-published author gives insight to her lifestyle and secrets to releasing a new book each month.
Being an independent author is no easy task. Without a big publishing company pushing you to meet deadlines, you have to be disciplined enough to make and meet your own deadlines. This rings true for Kiersten Modglin, a highly successful independent author who has just reached over 1 million copies sold.
As an independent author, Modglin self-publishes and advertises all of her own books. Essentially, “indie” authors are running their own business because there is no big editing and publishing company doing the work for them. With the help of an editor, Modglin has found success in being an independent author, as she also markets all of her books on social media and sells them on her website and Amazon.
Modglin makes it her personal goal to have an outline and script done by the middle of the month every month. This is to ensure she has enough time to see her personal editor, make changes, and release a new book at the end of each month. This proves further her dedication to her readers, who she loves and adores.
Being especially active on social media, Modglin welcomes any feedback and comments, and responds to every one of her readers. She loves to hear from those who have read her books, even just to tell her how much they loved or hated, or hated that they loved a plot twist in her thriller novels.
Growing up in Kentucky, she always showed interest in scary mysterious books and shows, such as Goosebumps, Scooby Doo, and even just solving puzzles. As she got older and later relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, her love for mystery grew rapidly with shows like Law and Order and newly discovered books. “And then I read Gone Girl, and immediately knew that was what I wanted to do, that kind of thriller,” Modglin admits. While staying true to her thriller genre, she mentioned she also loves romance books, of which 6 out of her 36 books are.
While being an independent author gives her the freedom to write and release on her own time, it can actually be quite stressful. An important thing to note that Modglin talked about for independent authors, would be learning the business side of releasing books. “You also have to sort of understand business. Because, as you know, as an independent author, we are also the marketers. We are the business people. We’re running our own ads, doing our own newsletters.” She explains I that “having a grasp on the business side of things would help you in the long run…I don’t ever hear authors talking about the business side of going through and publishing books and writing.”
Modglin speaking at a book convention, November 2022
It has become increasingly more important to be sensitive and understand certain phrases that could have been said years ago, might not be particularly okay to say today. Modglin loves to learn with every new book and stresses the freedom of being able to go back and change certain aspects, so she does not offend any of her readers. “I think that it’s so important that we make those changes and being an independent author means I can go back and make those changes. I’m not having to go through a publisher who’s working on 100 books…so I can just make those changes as the readers bring them up to me,” she points out.
Additionally, as a domestic romance thriller writer, and author of The Arrangement, a challenge she may face could be the use of trigger warnings. With it being a fragile topic for people, the placement of trigger warnings is especially important yet a tricky thing to manage in thriller novels, since it could “verge on spoilers, if you include too many,” as she puts it. Given how open and interactive she is with her readers, the young author makes adjustments as needed.
As someone who did not attend college, Modglin states that being disciplined has helped her succeed, a skill she may have picked up in college if she were given the opportunity to go. However, the skill can be picked up many other ways. “I don’t think people should be discouraged if they can’t (attend college) because it’s certainly not a requirement to be successful,” she says. Another key role in her success is her motivation that has to come from within, since there is no one pushing her to meet her deadlines. Of course, being an avid reader is extremely important as well. Reading books after books can help writers pick up words, techniques, and different ways to plot stories.
The young independent author has certainly proven she is disciplined and motivated as she releases a new book each month. Modglin’s books are on the shorter side, because she does not like holding on to secrets for very long. She starts with a short outline, almost always knowing what the twists will be when she’s plotting her books, and then building the whole story around the plot, looking for ways to throw her readers off. As her book of the month progresses, the scenes change frequently, sometimes leading her to ignore the outline, until she needs to go back and see what needs to happen for the book to come together.
Modglin too, has faced fears of “spicy scenes” as she puts it, fear of her grandmother reading it and judging her. At times even feeling like all of her readers are standing over her shoulder as she writes. To overcome this, one parting advice she offered to all aspiring authors out there is, “write like no one will ever read it.”
Here’s a link to her website where books can be ordered:
