Ian Hunter Creates

Hi everyone. I hope things are good where you are.

The summer is here, and I am all for it – especially on the days when I remember to get outside and enjoy some fresh air! Thankfully this is happening more often.

This month I’ll give some updates, and then I’ll talk a little about author challenges and finding the wins, because that has been a bit of a head game for me in recent months.

Let’s start with the updates!

Fyn Carter
Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy of Fyn Carter and the Legends from Atlantis. I’m excited to see people are starting to share comments now that they’ve read it. Thank you to everyone who has also left a review!

With Fyn 2 going out into the world, I wasn’t expecting to see the first Fyn book (Fyn Carter and the Agents of Eromlos) get a bit of renewed attention. It’s really great to see that happening, and I hope anyone discovering Fyn’s adventures enjoys them!

I recently did a post on my social media pages with an introduction to me as an author. It includes some Fyn Carter Q&A and random info, so you might want to check it out. The Instagram version is here, but links to my various socials can be found at the bottom of my website. A snippet of what you can expect from the post is here:

Art Process
While I’m talking about Fyn Carter… I mentioned in a previous blog that I’d share details about my art process for the cover. You can also find this on my socials. I show how I got from an initial sketch to the final thing. Here is the Instagram link, but, as above, links to my socials are at the bottom of my website.

Wider distribution
Wider distribution has been enabled for Fyn 2 (hurrah!), so both Fyn books are now available to request in bookshops. You can also find them online at Waterstones, Foyles, Browns Books, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Some of the data is still being updated, but the books are there! You should be able to request them at your local library too (which would be amazing, so please do). Libraries are awesome things (free books!), and it helps me to find new readers which is one of the biggest challenges as an indie author.

The next book
Some of you may know that the book I’m currently working on is not a Fyn Carter book. It’s still looking to be upper middle grade. It’s still got adventure, but it’s also got some more serious themes, darker vibes, and … a pretty creepy monster. I worked on it between drafts of the Fyn Carter books, and it feels like a nice way to break things up before I deep dive into the remaining books in the Fyn series. I do have a potential release date in mind, but there’s a lot to do, so I’ll see how it shapes up and will update when I can.

Events
I had a great time at MCM Comic Con in London at the end of May. I was pretty exhausted from the weeks leading up to it, but it was so nice to meet new readers and catch up with returning readers. At times it was such a busy event that it was a bit overwhelming, but there are always places to hideaway (and getting back behind my table helped!). One of my highlights of MCM this time (other than talking to readers) was my first piece of Fyn fan mail! That made me glow inside. Fingers crossed I’ll be at another MCM in the future. I’ll continue to keep my events page up to date. Please note there have been a few changes in planned events for the coming months.

Finding the wins
Behind the scenes admin has taken up an extreme amount of time over the last few months. There have been challenges with production, book data, finance things, events, accommodation etc. As someone with a customer service/business process background, it’s sometimes difficult to see these things and know that process changes which aren’t happening could make a big difference. However, when things have felt ‘a lot’, I’ve tried to step back and remind myself of the wins. Some of those include:

• People are still reading and/or discovering my books – often leading to positive comments, reviews, and chats which I’m always grateful for
• At a recent event, someone bought a book because of ‘word of mouth’ (amazing!)
• First piece of fan mail!
• I am still lucky enough to be following my dreams

Sales are of course helpful and a goal, but engagement is also crucial. Some events bring more of one of those than the other, but there is pretty much always a win to be found.

Everyone I meet and work with helps me learn. I learn ways I like to work, who works with respect, who takes accountability, and who works to improve things when mistakes happen. I am also learning who I will go back to (or not) which is always useful to know. I keep hearing people say ‘Both things can be true’, and I’m realising that things can be challenging and positive at the same time. Sometimes it just needs a bit of a mental reframe.

On that note(!), thank you for reading and being part of the journey. Until the next time, have fun, treat yourself, and look for the good as you go 🙂

Ian x