Episode #1.1 - Claire Butler - Mini Episode Transcript
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JJ: Kia ora e te whānau, and welcome to Kaitui Kōrero. Today, we're chatting with indie author Claire Butler who brings complex, flawed characters to life while weaving important social themes into her pukapuka. Claire is all about breaking stereotypes, championing diverse voices, and creating characters that truly resonate with readers.
Claire's books are fast-paced, full of emotion, and impossible to put down. We'll kōrero about the highs and lows of indie publishing, what it's like to challenge the norm, and why she loves being an indie author. So grab a cuppa, get comfy, and let's dive in.
[INTRO MUSIC]
JJ: Kia ora and welcome, Claire! Today, we have got Claire Butler talking to us. So, Claire, can you share a bit about your journey into indie publishing?
CB: Yes, thank you for having me. I suppose my journey into indie publishing went very similarly to a lot of authors in the sense that I tried the traditional publishing route first. So, I like most, I suppose have always been writing, and in my late teens, early 20s wrote a lot of books, and you know what would go through the process of editing them, and then as soon as I was happy with it, I would send it out to the big five publishing companies on there. And I would send it out to the big five publishing companies on there.
And I would send it out to the big five publishing companies on their unsolicited manuscript days and spent months writing query letters and whatnot. And once that was done, you know, I sent it out into the universe with my best wishes and moved on to writing the next manuscript, so I did that for several years. And obviously, nothing came from that; a lot of slush piles and rejection emails. After a year, then I put my writing on hold for, you know, career, marriage, kids. It wasn't until, like, I published first in April 2023, so 2022, it might have been earlier that 2021, actually, when my youngest child was three months old, so I was on maternity leave. She was a good sleeper, so she'd sleep for like, uh, three-hour stretches during the day and I was bored, and so I wanted to tap back into writing because it had been several years; I missed it, and I just think, like most mothers, wanted to tap back into something that was authentically me, that would bring me happiness, uh, something that was like mine, my little corner of the world. So I began writing again, and I didn't plan it; I didn't plot it; I didn't know that I was writing a book; it was more like just just tap back into that part of your soul again, you know, just put words on a page. Write scene to scene, write whatever makes you happy what you want to in that day, and I ended up writing to reclaim a kingdom.
I got to the end of it, and I was like, 'Great!' And then I was steering down the barrel of what I had always done, which was the two to three months of you know uh submitting it to the the trad houses and and writing query letters. And I just for the life of me could not bring myself to do it. I think, like most mums, our time is precious; we have very little energy left. Um, so whatever we do kind of puts ourselves into, you want to be assured that you're going to get something out of it right, and I just knew that there was no point like it would end up in the slush pile. I just couldn't do it, and I had heard about indie publishing, but I didn't know what it was, what that meant. So I then went down a rabbit hole literally for about nine months where I researched the heck out of Indie publishing. It became a bit like an obsession for me every day, just like reading articles and listening to podcasts and, you know, looking at the data to try and figure out what it was. But also, what I would need to do if I wanted to go down that route, like what it would cost me financially. What’s the time? How much time would I have to put into this? Like, what would I need to do to be at least semi-successful in order to make, like, an informed decision about whether this something I want to do, um, so yeah. So after the nine months of driving myself half insane with that, I decided to take the plunge and, yeah, publish 'To Reclaim a Kingdom' in April 2023.
JJ: It must have felt quite freeing, though not doing the putting it together and sending it away, and then waiting and waiting.
CB: I was so relieved; like, I never waited by the phone when I sent the manuscripts. It's kind of like, you know, if they're not into you know? [laughing] I didn't wait by the phone, but it was, yeah, like I just knew, I just knew that nothing was going to change, um, the traditional publishing is very hard to crack into. What I hadn't realised was the change in the landscape of publishing that had happened in the past like five years. At that point, things had really changed, and the indie publishing industry had just exploded. So, I think really for me it was just good timing as well.
JJ: I think that's one of the one of the good things that came out of the likes of COVID
CB: yes.
JJ: That people were sitting at home and they they didn't have a job to do or they didn't have anything to do and had so much time on their hands; they sat down and they wrote, then one thing led to another people started saying well why can't I just put it out myself.
CB: yes
JJ: It's quite amazing to see how many indie authors have popped up out of the woodworks and how many of them are being picked up by traditional publishers
CB: Oh, it’s amazing, isn’t it? And I love the fact that the indie industry is now shaping what we read because, you know, for so long, the traditional companies were gatekeeping what was deemed popular. What was deemed you know the next big thing. And with indie publishing coming on and bringing in all these new genres like indie publishing, we created romantasy. You know and look at romantasy now. It's huge, so, so yeah, I really love that these little uh niches now are becoming popular because that's what readers want; they want something different,
JJ: They want something that will help them escape the reality that we live in [laugh]
CB: Yes, yeah.
JJ: That man coming through the door or that woman coming through the door or that, what are they called, uh Wolverine coming through the door, like this, you never know what you're gonna get. But it's the fact that people can sit down, pick up a book and escape reality.
CB: yes
JJ: and it's just amazing the amount of books you can do that. With now,
CB: Yes, yeah, and I mean the talent, oh my goodness! So, before I became an indie author, I hadn't, obviously, read indie authors. But when I, yeah, decided to become one, obviously, I immersed myself in indie books, and I was just blown away by the talent. I rarely read traditional now; not not saying that they're like traditional authors aren't talented-they are. But, I think that a couple of years ago, there was this inherent bias that trad authors were, you know, the only good authors, which is so not true,
JJ: Definitely not. I totally agree with you. I find that there's a lot of stigma behind being an indie author and it's something that is, I think, it's starting to break now. And it has been for the last year or two where people don't worry if you've published independently; it doesn't mean your book is bad, yeah. It means that you've got the ability to sit down and write a book, publish a book, sell the book, and tell your story how you want it told, not how the traditional publisher wants you to tell it.
CB: Yes, I think there are pros and cons to both;
JJ: Oh, absolutely!
CB: But yeah, I agree: the bias, I mean, some of it's still there, we still have a bit of a way to go, but it is breaking down, and that's just glorious to see.
JJ: Yeah. I think it will always be there for some people. People who believe that, oh, they have to be well-educated; they have to be an academic; they have to have written so many books and had so many publishers and blah blah blah. But I think the best part of picking up an indie book is that you can relate to the person who wrote it- usually it's just like picking up something your friend's written, sitting down and enjoying it.
CB: Yes,
[MUSIC]
JJ: This was just a taste of our kōrero with Claire Butler. If you want to hear more about Claire's journey, her writing process, and the world of indie publishing, check out the full episode wherever you get your podcasts. Ka kite anō, keep writing, keep reading, and we'll kōrero again soon.
[OUTRO MUSIC]
