Travelling Thoughts

Everyone complains, but in the world of endless supply of Karens, you have to have substance. I could give you a long list: the rising cost of milk and other groceries, the dark, wet, and cold Finnish winter that seems to last until June, or the way my coffee machine sounds like a dying tractor.

But my real complaint? The invisible wall between self-published authors and their readers.

What do you complain about the most?

The “All-in-One” Burden

When you see a book on a shelf, you’re seeing the work of a dozen people: editors, cover designers, marketers, and distribution experts. When you see my book, you’re looking at a one-person army.

As a self-published author, I am the CEO, the intern, the graphic designer, the social media manager, and—occasionally—the actual writer. We wear every hat, but somehow, the world still views “indie” publishing as a “hobby” rather than a business.

The Gatekeepers of Helsinki (and Beyond)

The biggest thorn in my side? The structural lockout. In Finland, our major book fairs—the heartbeat of the literary scene—often only allow established publishers to rent booths. You can, of course, go around this and put of the publisher hat—and pay the same fee as a traditional publishing house pays for the booth.

This creates a “catch-22”:
1) You need to be with a publisher to get in front of readers.
2) You need a massive following of readers to get a publisher’s attention.
3) But you can’t get in front of readers because you don’t have a booth at the fair.

Realistucally speaking, we are left outside the glass, watching readers discover books simply because they were placed on a specific table by a corporate marketing budget, while our stories—written with just as much blood, sweat, and tears—gather digital dust.

The Support Network Gap

Traditional authors have a safety net. If their book doesn’t sell, they still have an agent and a PR team brainstorming the next move. When a self-published author’s debut fails to gain traction, it feels like shouting into a void. We don’t just lack a marketing budget; we lack the access to the platforms where marketing actually works.

Why This Complaint Matters

I don’t complain because I want a pity party. I complain because there are incredible stories being lost. My novel about ancient Pompeii—a story of queer love in the shadow of Vesuvius—is out there. It’s finished. It’s a piece of my heart.

📖 You can find my Pompeii novel right here on Amazon.

But in a system designed for “Big Publishing,” finding its way to your hands is like trying to find a specific grain of sand on a beach in a sandstorm. What you could do, is to help me beat the odds.

How to Break the Wall

If you’ve ever enjoyed a book by an indie author, the best thing you can do isn’t just to “like” a post. It’s to be the support network we don’t have.

Talk about it: Word of mouth is the only “marketing” we truly have. For us it means a lot as we don’t get TV interviews or glowing praise from famous readers.
Review it: Even a one-sentence review on Amazon or Goodreads is like oxygen to an indie author. This allows us to show that our book has been read!
Support the process: Since we don’t have corporate funding, our “coffee fund” is literally what pays for the next cover design or the next round of editing.

☕ Fuel the 1-Person Army: Support my writing and other content creation here!

Did I Stop at “Buried Hearts”?

No, I didn’t. I am currently working on my next novel—this time heading into the tumultuous final years of Al-Andalus, and, for my Finnish followers, I am in process of finalising a story set in early 2000s Helsinki.

I refuse to let the “Invisible Wall” stop me from telling these stories. But man… it would be nice if the gatekeepers would at least let us in the building.