Today, we’re joined by Sarah Skilton whose powerful 2013 Young Adult debut, BRUISED, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly! BRUISED went on to be named a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, a Tristate Review Book of Note and has been nominated for the Arkansas Teen Book Award, the Missouri Association of Librarians Reader’s Award for 2015-2016 and the Maryland Association of School Librarians 2014-2015 Black-Eyed Susan Book Award.
In 2014 Sarah followed her strong debut with HIGH & DRY, a second Young Adult novel that Kirkus called, “A dark, well-constructed mystery with a strong voice.” HIGH & DRY was a quick favourite with readers, becoming a Staff Pick at McNally Jackson Books in New York City!
Sarah answered the following questions about her writing journey:
Many of us have seen a lot of changes in the past three years, both personal and professional, we’ve moved, got married, had babies, switched agents, lost agents, parted ways with our publishing houses, etc. What are some of the biggest changes in your life that have affected your writing career?
Writing can be a lonely business with a lot of ups and downs. We all deal with bad reviews, manuscript rejections, changes in the industry, etc. How have you coped with the stress? Do you have activities, or friends, that have been particularly helpful?
According to a recent AAP report, indie books now make up nearly 60% of all Kindle ebooks purchased in the US, and take in 40% of all consumer dollars spent on those ebooks. What are your thoughts on the growing competition from self-published books? How do you feel about self-publishing your own work?
I am deeply impressed with those who self-publish. Frankly, I’m too lazy to go that route. I’d rather someone else edit, design, publish, and distribute my work so that I can get back to what I love best: writing the next book. I can see why self-publishing appeals to some authors, but so far I prefer the traditional publishing path, especially the back-and-forth with an editor and having a team of experts guiding the process and helping me take my work to the next level.