I am beyond excited to announce the release of my debut book, and I’m proud to announce that I’m one of the first published authors on Campfire.
2023 is the year I became a published author. Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?
I want to tell you about more than just my book though. This occasion calls for a proper introduction to the Campfire platform and the reasons why I’m there. Whether you’re a writer or a reader, you should check this out.
What is Soul Survivor
Soul Survivor is a tale about a young man so in denial about his supernatural gift, he can’t tell ghosts apart from the living. His wakeup call is a tragedy but also an opportunity because when you have an extraordinary gift, maybe you can do extraordinary things. Maybe you can even cheat Death.
I never would have imagined that this would become my first published book. It isn’t the first book I’ve written. I likely wrote and shared over a dozen of books and even more short stories by now (I never tried to count them all), but even when I shared them online, they were always works in progress.
When Campfire announced that they were accepting their first batch of submissions for their new monetization program, I wanted in. I took stock of which of my books was the closest to publishing, and Soul Survivor was the winner. I wasn’t finished revising the ending, but I was close. If Campfire hadn’t motivated me to get a move on, I likely would have been editing this book for 3 more years. Deadlines work.
Two days ago, Soul Survivor became available to purchase. Two days ago, I became a published author. And. That. Is. Amazing.
I talk more about the background of this story on the official series page and in this article on the book’s page. The scary part of the book’s history is that it nearly got shelved, never to be seen again. A year ago, I tried to edit the first draft, but I didn’t know how to fix it and was ready to give up on it. I am so glad I didn’t because the solution was quite simple. I just needed time to come to those conclusions.
Lesson to be learned here is to not give up. (I’ll add it to my list.)
If you’re a writer or a creative of any kind, I hope that I can give you hope that eventually, things work out. If at first you don’t see how to fix your story, give it time. Put it aside and return to it later. With a fresh outlook and a fresh set of ideas, you might just be able to save it.
Sounds great! Where can I read Soul Survivor?
I’m so glad you asked. As of writing of this article, you can read Soul Survivor exclusively on Campfire.
It’s a unique platform that allows me to share much more than just the book with you. I get to share the lore, the backstories, as well as my hand-drawn illustrations. I kid you not, I leveled up my drawing skills just so I could add them to this project. My artwork has never been this public before. I’m certainly nervous. I hope you’ll like it.
Why I published my book on Campfire
Campfire has existed in the writing space for several years. It’s a well established writing software, but they’re brand new to the publishing business, so why would anyone take a chance on it?
There are several reasons, each one more compelling than the next. Here are my main ones.
Royalties
Let’s address the elephant in the room: money. Book publishing is not a lucrative business. You spend years pouring your heart and soul into a book and later only earn pennies on each sale. Don’t let successes like J.K. Rowling’s or Stephen King’s deceive you. Most best-selling authors still have to keep a day job to support their families.
Being a starving artist isn’t fun. I don’t know about you, but I like having a roof over my head and not worrying if I’ll be able to feed my family this week. So I maintain a standard full time job. I come home, tired, mentally spent, go about the family/adulting necessities, and when everyone else settles down to watch a movie or play a game, I sit down to start my second job: writing, and I put in a full day of work into it too.
Why write if it doesn’t give you the return on the time spent?
We write because we have stories to tell that we have to get out of our heads, but we share them for personal reasons. I can’t speak for all writers, but I share my stories because I love them, and it makes me happy to hear that someone loves them too. It’s a simple dopamine rush: I share because it makes me happy. But is it really that surprising that I’d like to get paid for the years of hard work I put into it?
The publishing landscape is pretty depressing though. Both the traditional publishers or self-publishing platforms like Amazon, they all eat so much of the profit out of a book’s sale, there’s barely anything left for the author. Why do they get away with it? Because that’s how it’s always been. Why would they change into a model that would make them less money, right?
Campfire is the exception as they pay 80% of royalties without requiring a contract or exclusivity. This is unheard of in the publishing world. I’m sure all publishing houses hope that Campfire won’t take off because it can put them out of business. Instead of lining the pockets of billionaires, Campfire puts that money right in the creator’s hands.
This is huge. This is the future of publishing. It’s publishing in favor of the creators.
Features of the platform
Campfire is unique. There is nothing like it out there on the market.
Imagine this: I’m a writer that uses Campfire Write app to organize my projects. I currently have 24 projects within this application. To take Soul Survivor as an example, this Write project contains 190 elements: some are exclusive to this project, some are shared with other projects (it’s a series). These elements include chapters, character profiles, locations, articles, maps, timeline events, and more and more notes that I’ve accumulated over the years. I get to customize each to look how I want it to look. I can add images, extra pages, and I can link the elements to each other for quick reference and automatic lists.
Campfire is an awesome tool for me as a writer. I’ve been raving about it from the very first time I used it.
But here is where it gets interesting. With just a few clicks, I can turn my personal project into an ebook and a customized website. I get to choose which of those 190 elements should be shared. I create a home page for the readers to have a starting point, arrange my elements in folders to group the information, and I set them up so they’re slowly revealed as the reader makes their way through the manuscript, so they don’t accidentally spoil the story for themselves. I choose the font and color schemes, spruce up the graphics, and arrange everything so it enhances the story’s theme. I have the full creative control.
With just a few clicks, I can turn my personal project into an ebook and a customized website.
Whenever I go back to the Write app to edit, with just a few clicks, I can push that update to the readers. When I add new content, I’m still in control of sharing it. No more import/export, copying/pasting, or worrying about formatting that doesn’t transfer from one platform to another. No more using the manuscript to leave author notes and images that don’t belong there (I’m looking at you, Wattpad).
And now, I get to be paid for it too—better than any other self-publishing platform. Or if we’re comparing to Wattpad, I get to be paid, period.
What’s in it for the readers?
The reader, in turn, gets to choose how much to pay: if they want to read just the good, old-fashioned ebook or if they want to dive deep into the bonus content that the author curated for them. Imagine if every book you ever read came with its own wiki website and a direct contact with the author, so you don’t have to hunt them down to leave a comment or check what else they’ve published. It’s a game changer.
I’m not just a writer. I’m a reader too, and I love the idea of having this freedom and convenience to become an instant super fan.
Imagine if every book you ever read came with its own wiki website and a direct contact with the author.
This is it. This is the publishing news we’ve all been waiting for.
Go, check out Campfire right now to see what the fuss is about. I’ll see you there.
I’m not the only author raving about Campfire
Check out what the other authors are saying (and take a sneak peek at their books too, it’s a pretty cool collection):
Elsie Vaughn – Publication… The Far-off Horizon that is Now at My Doorstep
