Hannah Reed
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Hannah is a young-adult fiction author living in Jersey. In July 2019, she published her first novel, ‘Tenebrasco’ – Book 1 of the Pearl Wielder Trilogy. ‘Tenebrasco’ is a contemporary fantasy novel described as a modern take on mermaid myths and legends.
Hannah started writing and storytelling as a child. She either had her head stuck in a book, or when circumstances stopped her from reading she made up stories in her head and told those to herself instead. While studying English Literature at the University of St Andrews she took a creative writing module and finally started penning one of the stories she had been telling herself since childhood.
After realising she didn’t have the patience for traditional publishing she embarked on a journey to learn everything there is to know about publishing a novel. After lots of googling, rewriting and courage Hannah finally published her debut novel – ‘Tenebrasco’.
“But, at some point in your life you will have to decide to do what scares you most or not. And, if not doing it is scarier than doing it - then you have your answer."
Tell us about your path to setting up your business and what motivated you?
The path of procrastination has a nice ring to it! Writing ‘Tenebrasco’ was a whirlwind experience but once the manuscript was finished then the ‘real work’ begun. I hadn’t planned to publish Tenebrasco at first. I was merely writing for fun. But once I decided to actually pursue my dream of becoming an author I had a steep learning curve ahead of me.
Deciding to self-publish my book meant I needed to source editors, cover designers, create my own marketing campaign and finesse the manuscript so it was the best it could be.
Eventually I reached the point where all I needed to do was actually publish ‘Tenebrasco’. My dream of seeing ‘Tenebrasco’ in print as a real book kept me motivated. I set the date for my launch party and started telling friends and family that I had written a book and I was going to publish it. It came as a shock to many!
How do you work and what is a typical day like for you?
I currently work a normal 9 - 5 job in marketing so unfortunately, I don't spend as much time writing as I would like. As such there is no typical day for me. I make sure that every day I do at least one thing to further pursue my dream of becoming a fulltime author. Either contacting book bloggers, posting on Instagram, having a whiteboarding session, or my favourite part - actually sitting down and writing.
You can often find me lugging either my laptop or a book (usually both) to wherever I go in the hope that I have time to either read or write!
What are the best parts about your business?
Without a doubt, the best part is writing. There are other highs like hearing friends debate the characters or reading reviews from strangers who genuinely like the book. But, I wouldn't be doing all of this if I didn't have a story inside of me (or several!) that I couldn't deny putting to paper.
What has been your greatest struggle as a business owner so far?
Putting myself out there. In part due to my anxiety, other my stereotypical British fear of talking about myself. I am loathe to put myself out there for fear of failure. Every action I take is dogged by a 'what if it isn't good enough', 'what if no one likes it', 'what if everyone think's it's awful.'
I am learning to push past those feelings but some days are easier than others.
What has been your biggest a-ha moment so far?
There was a small part of me that didn't believe I would ever publish ‘Tenebrasco’. I set date after date citing them as the day I would publish my book. But, my anxieties made me come up with every excuse under the sun not to publish as I wasn’t ready.
So, the day I uploaded the full manuscript to Amazon, the manuscript that would be sent to everyone who had pre-ordered ‘Tenebrasco’, that was my 'a-ha' moment. It was the first time I truly believed I would publish ‘Tenebrasco’ and have my book baby out in the world.
Do you have any advice for other small business owners?
I fear any advice I could give would be hypocritical as I clearly don't follow it! But, at some point in your life you will have to decide to do what scares you most or not. And, if not doing it is scarier than doing it - then you have your answer.
What currently inspires you?
In day to day life I am inspired by everyone who is pursuing their dream or standing up for what they believe in. I am inspired by those who in the face of adversity don’t give up. These people and their actions inspire me to pursue my writing.
You can contact and find me here
website | instagram | email | good reads
