If you’re an indie author or indie book fan, then chances are you’ll be familiar with the Narratess Indie Sale, one of the biggest sales in the indie community that takes place every April and August. Hundreds of indie books take part across a collection of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror genres, and the sale just keeps on getting better with each year!
The next Indie Sale will be taking place August 23rd-25th at indiebook.sale. Are you an author who wants to get involved? The deadline for submissions is August 8th and you can sign up here. Read the interview below for more information on joining.
Naturally, a lot of work goes into preparing and running the sale, so we wanted to interview the author behind it and learn more about what makes them – and the sale – so awesome!
Please join us in welcoming Tessa Hastjarjanto, author of SPFBO semi-finalist Undine’s Blessing, and the creator of the Narratess Indie Sale:
Please tell us a little about yourself and your indie publishing experience:
Hi! My name is Tessa Hastjarjanto (she/her) and I’m a disabled author from the Netherlands. I write speculative fiction in different genres. Lunis Aquaria is my main fantasy world where (so far) two books take place, Tales of Lunis Aquaria and Undine’s Blessing. I’ve also published horror and science fiction short stories, some in anthologies, others with my own imprint.
I became chronically ill when I was 21 and it got so bad, I made a short bucket list of things I wanted to do. It took me a while to cross them all off, but with the release of Tales of Lunis Aquaria in April 2019 and visiting the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan later that year, I crossed them all off. I published my book, went to Japan, and saw giant pandas in real life.
Tales was my first book, one that had been stuck in my mind for a long time. The first drafts for some of these stories are really old. I knew that traditional publishing might not be for me because of several barriers, like language, disability, and knowledge. This was the quickest way to get my book out. But now, six year later, I’ve grown to really enjoy the publishing process, everything that happens after the manuscript is done, before I start marketing.
What is the Narratess Indie Sale and how can indie authors take part?
The Narratess Indie Sale started as an idea in late 2020, we decided to run the sale in April to coincide with #indieapril in 2021. #indieapril and #indieaugust are events on social media where we celebrate indie creators, in this case, books and authors. This sale focuses on the indie fantasy, science fiction and horror community. Readers and content creators will read, review, and spotlight books, while indie authors have a free pass to plug their books shamelessly. With this sale, we want to connect authors and readers.
Authors can sign up here (https://subscribepage.io/NIS) to get an invitation to join! It’s a curated sale, so it’s not a guarantee you will take part in it. But I don’t have the same requirements as a Bookbub for example. The requirements are listed in the invitation you’ll receive. The biggest requirement is that it has to be fantasy, science fiction or horror, ebook format, and doesn’t have AI-generated content in the cover or story.
Why is it important to have representation as part of the sale?
As a disabled woman of colour, I’m part of marginalized communities and I missed seeing myself in books. I’m also very aware of all the hurdles people from marginalized communities have to go through to ‘make it’. With everything I do, I want to highlight books that otherwise don’t get as much attention.
I love diverse books and I prefer to read queer fantasy, so I also use the sale to stock my digital tbr.
The Indie Sale website is one of the most organised I’ve seen! How much work goes into the sale?
All credits goes to my husband. He’s done an amazing job in getting it to where it is now. We try to improve each sale a little bit. Some of it is visible for you, other things aren’t. We’re doing what we can to make it manageable for the two of us.
I haven’t timed how many hours I put in to make it happen, nor do I know exactly how many hours went into building the site and getting it all uploaded, but I usually don’t get any other work done in the two to three weeks before the sale.
Are there any mistakes authors make when joining the sale that they can easily avoid?
Reading the questions and additional information before filling in the answers helps a lot. I still get many wrong links (to paperbacks for example). Other things like the character limit of the one-line blurb (I know many authors dislike me for this), are now limited on the form, where it wasn’t before.
I spend most of my time before the sale double checking the links and covers.
Authors should take note of which book they enter and for which price and set a reminder to adjust their prices a few days before the sale starts. I check the prices for each book a few times during the sale and contact people who don’t have their submitted price.
I do this mostly because, as a reader, I don’t like it when I’m shopping around and see something not discounted. I’ve also seen readers complain about that. I hide the books when the prices aren’t updated but restore them when they are. That’s why you’ll see new books added during the sale. These are not new entries.
What is your favourite and least favourite part of running the indie sale?
My favourite part is definitely seeing the excitement from the authors and readers. All the hauls, uplifting each other’s books, showcasing your own work. This energy is what keeps me going.
The least favourite part is the communications. All the emails, the social media, sharing, answering questions. This is only because it’s a huge mental drain for me. All of my social energy is gone after those three days. I’m still feeling the emotional burnout I had after the first sale. Sometimes I doubt if I should continue with the sales because it takes such a toll on me but seeing all the happy people, I just can’t quit. So all I can do is to make the communications easier so the overwhelm isn’t as big.
How can indie authors support you and the sale?
Buy, read, and review my books! That’s the best way to support me. The less work I have to do for marketing and getting sales, the more time I have to support others (either through these sales or other ways).
I also have a Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/thastjarjanto) and I do paid beta/authenticity reading (https://tessa.narratess.com/beta-and-sensitivity-reading/). Hosting the sale and newsletter comes with a lot of overhead costs and these are increasing as the sale grows more popular. Please consider donating to our funds if possible.
What else do you blog about over at Narratess.com?
The Narratess blog is a bit bare right now since I’m working behind the scenes for a relaunch. In the future you’ll find reviews, cover reveals, book spotlights, book lists, and articles written by me. I’ll also be reaching out to other authors for guest posts and interviews.
Tell us about your books and what you love about being an indie author!
One of the biggest pros of self-publishing is being in control. The biggest cons of self-publishing is being in charge of everything. It’s not just the writing of the book, but also the packaging (blurbs, meta data, cover) and marketing (ads, promotions, social media posts). There’s a lot of things I want to do for my books and Lunis Aquaria as my IP. Merch, a beautiful immersive website, a bestiary. It’ll happen but it’s long term stuff.
My Lunis Aquaria books are suitable for older kids (10+) and up. I want this world and the books to be something that you can grow up with. A parent reading it with their child, like The Hobbit or Discworld. And while the overall vibe of the world is always close to adventure fantasy, but they all have their own subgenre too. Undine’s Blessing is cozy, while Skylar’s storyline has more questing, and my upcoming series has a heist at its core.
In my short stories I experiment more with different genres. A Dress To Kill For is my first horror story and people loved it. I plan to write at least five more stories in the same series.
After that? We’ll see. The list of book ideas is long.
What does your TBR look like?
Endless! Shout out to Jamedi (jamreads.com) who makes sure it keeps growing. Aside from all the books I buy myself, I’m also active on Netgalley, and indie authors send me review copies for their books. I don’t accept all review requests, especially since I’m very backed-up with my arc reading.
Finally, what are some of your favourite indie or self-published books?
Thank you for not asking which my favourite is because I wouldn’t be able to pick just one, haha. I’ll list the first books instead of the series name. Note that I have done beta-reading on some of these.
- The Reanimator’s Heart by Kara Jorgensen
- No Land for Heroes by Cal Black
- Coal Gets In Your Veins by Cat Rector
- Little Known Monsters by Rory Michaelson
- Lichgates by S.M. Boyce (the book that really got me into indie reading)
- The Gift of the Destroyer by Jeroen Steenbeeke (the book that convinced me could do this)
- The Shadow of Black Wings by James Calbraith
- The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies
- Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis
- Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire
- Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault
- The Stray Spirit by R. K. Ashwick
- The Hills of Heather and Bone by K. E. Andrews
- The Iron Crown by L. L. MacRae
- Between the Lines by Rambo D. Hale
Where to find Tessa:
Tessa Hastjarjanto is a Dutch/Indonesian writer from the Netherlands. She writes speculative fiction, and blogs at narratess.com about books, fountain pens, and writing.
From a young age, she imitated popular stories and games in creating her own worlds. This love eventually led to a master’s degree in media and game studies at the University of Utrecht. However a mundane desk job was enough to inspire her to follow her creative passion. The first fanfics were written in lunch breaks and soon original fiction followed.
With the support of her husband, she now focuses on her writing career while battling chronic pain. Swiss white shepherd, Shiro, acts as a therapy dog to keep her healthy and reduce stress through extensive cuddle sessions.
- Website: www.TessaHastjarjanto.com
- Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/tessahastjarjanto.com
- Instagram: @tessa.hastjarjanto
- Bookbub
- Amazon Profile
- Goodreads Profile
