What if I do not become a bestseller? What if no one really knows my name?
I spent years asking that question with dread. At 47, I have made peace with it. More than peace — I have come to believe that being an unknown author is a legitimate, worthwhile, even advantageous position. And I want to make the case for it.
Why I Am an Unknown Author
I started publishing in 2011, during the early indie author gold rush. The tools were new, the market was open, and if you moved fast you could make real money. I co-authored the Kill Them Dead zombie series in 2013 with Marc — five books, and it earned us around $5,000. Not a fortune, but proof that it could work.
Between both of us, over the years, we published close to 200 titles. Combined we made just over $100,000 total — with 80% of that earned between 2013 and 2016. In 2015 I lost my job. I went full-time writer. I burned out completely within a year. The joy evaporated. I went back to corporate employment and did not write fiction seriously for seven years.
The Birth of the Unknown Author
Here is the thing nobody tells you: even when you stop publishing, the old books keep selling. Modestly. Quietly. A few dollars a month, then a few more. Not enough to live on, but enough to notice. Enough to realise that the work had a life beyond the hustle that created it.
That observation changed something for me. The pressure to produce at volume, to market aggressively, to optimise every decision for commercial return — all of that had been killing the thing I loved. And the books that survived into quiet royalty trickles were the ones I had cared about.
The Power of Anonymity
Zero expectations is a strange gift. No audience waiting for the next book. No obligation to rapid release. No expensive marketing funnel to maintain. No algorithm to feed. Just a writer and a story and whatever time can be found around everything else.
"I stopped writing to publish. I started writing to write. The difference is everything."
Will I Stay Unknown Forever?
Probably not entirely. But the younger version of me who wanted the recognition, the sales rank, the genre bestseller badge — that version would be confused by how content the current version is. The writing is better now. The stories are more honest. And I am not grinding myself into nothing to produce them.
If you are an unknown author reading this and wondering whether it is worth continuing — yes. It is. The craft matters. The story matters. The audience will find you when it finds you. Write the book first.
