Traditionally Self-Published with Mica Merrill Rice
Traditionally Self-Published is the podcast tailored for indie authors who want to learn how to self-publish using the strategies, tips, and tricks like traditionally published authors. Hosted by author Mica Merrill Rice, each episode features real talk with industry professionals (editors, cover artists, narrators, etc.) and actual indie authors who are flipping the script and publishing on their own terms. Whether you are plotting your first or publishing your fifth, here you will learn how to write smart, publish like a pro, and keep your readers turning those pages.
Traditionally Self-Published with Mica Merrill Rice
From Corporate Engineer to Debut Novelist: Laura Camacho Frias on Writing Unwritten
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In this episode, Mica sits down with author Laura Camacho Frias to talk about her upcoming novel, Unwritten, launching July 14th. Laura shares her journey from a 20+ year corporate engineering career to quitting her job and writing full-time, how old childhood journals became the seed for her novel, and what she's learned navigating hybrid publishing.
In this episode, you'll hear about:
- Laura's path from engineering and corporate management into full-time writing, and the "bullfighter-level" courage it took to quit her job
- The premise of Unwritten — a dual-timeline story about a teenage boy, his missing mother, and the secrets we keep from the people closest to us
- How Laura's own childhood journals inspired the novel, and what she noticed was missing from them
- Wrestling with genre labels — literary fiction, coming-of-age, and "women's fiction" — and why she had men read her early manuscript
- Writing without an outline, and the lesson she learned about planning from her old corporate life
- Why she chose hybrid publishing with Catalyst, and what that relationship actually looks like day to day
- Who hybrid publishing tends to be the best fit for, and how the costs of self-publishing add up
- The hardest lesson from the process: learning to let go, including a rough experience at a book fair
Where to find Unwritten:
Unwritten by Laura Camacho Frias is releasing July 14th — available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
About Laura:
Laura Camacho Frias grew up in a small industrial town in the North of Spain. Despite her initial dream of becoming a translator for the United Nations, life happened; she studied engineering instead and moved to Portugal to complete her first degree. This turned out to be the beginning of a relentlessly high-paced 20+ year professional career, during which she worked in product and project management across several multinational industries, overseeing multi-million-dollar projects and managing brilliant minds.
Because Laura is only human — despite other people's opinions — this way of life contributed significantly to a health scare. That's when she rediscovered her passion for storytelling and became a full-time writer, focusing on stories heavily inspired by her own personal experiences.
Her partner, three kids, and two dogs ensure she still can't have either a proper relaxing day or a full writing day, but deep down, she wouldn't change it for the world. They all live together in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
How to find Laura:
- Personal website @ http://www.lcfrias.com
- Short stories @ https://reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/laura-camacho-frias/
- Substack about career change & life as an ex-corporate @ https://lcfrias.substack.com
- LInkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-camacho-frias/
Have a publishing question? Email me at mica@micamerrillrice.com
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"Traditionally Self-Published" theme music is written by Landon Bailey and performed and produced by LNDÖ