Welcome to A Month of Rain and Reads, a celebration of self-published and indie SFF throughout the entire month of November. To find out how you can take part and view the whole list of content, visit our introduction post.
Today we’re interviewing Machelle Berglund, author of Fairy Seasons and more, as she launches her crowdfund campaign on Backerkit as part of The Book Bazaar 2025.
Machelle is raising funds for Fairy Seasons, an anthology of light and darkness, exploring the fickle nature of fairy kind. The stories span from delightful tales of fairy encounters to nightmarish situations within the darkest parts of the magical realm.
Follow the campaign and pledge your support!
Please tell us a little about yourself and your Backerkit project.
I, the weird and spooky (but not as spooky as I’d like to think), am a lover of the spooky and weird. I love oddball humor, flowing verse, and prose. Above all, I love to tell stories.
All of these things merged together, clashing with fairy and folk tales, and mashing up into a ball of something I’m very excited about. Fairy Seasons, my Backerkit project, is an anthology of poetry and prose. It mixes tales of delight and fairy mischief with the horrors of the darker fae and the fickleness of fairy nature.
Fairy Seasons is something of a dream project of mine. I’ve had it in mind for a long time and didn’t know how to go about it. Well, until much more recently anyways. Sometimes, great ideas have to churn for a long time before they start to make actual sense.
Why did you join The Book Bazaar 2025?
I joined The Book Bazaar 2025 because like… Why not? For a lot of the things I wanted to do with Fairy Seasons, well, funds were tight. I was a little hesitant since my project wasn’t complete. I figured it couldn’t hurt to apply. And then, surprise! I was accepted.
Have you crowdfunded before? What do you hope to achieve with your project?
Yeah, no. Never. Never thought I would do the thing. I had no idea how to do so.
I hope to achieve the funding I need for editing and to hire a couple awesome artists to add some fairy-filled art to Fairy Seasons. I also hope to achieve a wider audience for my work. I’ve struggled for a long time to grow an audience. I know I’m a good writer. It’s just hard to find the people who would love your work sometimes.
Tease us with your Backerkit campaign! What rewards can we expect?
I got some pretty cool things in mind! Aside from the book, I have art prints, fairy photos, and even handmade hemp necklaces! Beyond that, fun things like stickers will be available upon reaching campaign achievements.
Why did you decide to self-publish/publish with a small press and what has been your biggest success so far?
I decided to self-publish because, well, a friend had self-published her children’s books. From there, we worked on a thing together.
Honestly, I decided to self-publish because I like having control over my art. It’s one of the few things I have any absolute say over. I also didn’t know how well the poetry market faired. And had no idea where to start when it came to trad-publishing. I still have no idea.
But self-publishing? Oh, I’m decently knowledgeable. Well – ish.
What is your favourite thing about being an indie author?
Meeting other indie authors. I’ve met a lot of really cool indie authors with amazing ideas. I’ve even become friends with some of them. And that is like, the coolest!
What tips can you share on self-publishing or crowdfunding with your fellow indies?
The best tips I can share for self-publishing (especially for the people who publish like crazy): slow down a bit. Let ideas mingle and churn. They can get better with time.
Lots of drafts are not bad. You don’t have to publish something every year (I know, you tend to lose audience if you don’t. Sorry).
And while I absolutely abhor the passion tax, balance getting paid for your work but also not being in it for the money. Because by passion tax laws, you probably won’t make much. I want you to make a lot. But, I don’t want you to be disappointed when you don’t.
Can you recommend a few of your favourite SFF books from indie/self-published authors?
Yes! W. James Chan is a favorite. His books are really trippy and dark.
I’m currently reading Echo Sight by Cian Verati and I love it! The world building is so interesting and I love the characters.
Otherwise, I’ve read mostly horror by my fellow indie peeps. I have a lot of SFF I want to read, though.
What are you working on after your campaign?
After the crowdfund, I’ll be working more on Fairy Seasons! Ha ha! But, beyond that, I do have several projects in mind. So, stay tuned to see more of what I have in store!
Do you have any last words?
Er.. It ain’t easy being cheesy but, you got this.
About the Author
Machelle is a spooky little weirdo that usually looks human in appearance. Though, this wonderful weirdo often feels more like several ferrets and hissing opossums in a trench coat. Someone is wearing clown shoes, but somehow no one knows who it is. Machelle has previously published plenty of poetic endeavors. Many more tales are on the way!
- Website: linktr.ee/spookypickle
- Bluesky: @spookyxpickle.bsky.social
- Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorMachelleBerglund
- Instagram: @authormachelleberglund
- Mastodon: @SpookyxPickle
- TikTok: @xspookyxpicklex
- Tumblr: spookyxpickle
