when experiments go wrong…

“You should probably try publishing under a male pen name”.

I scanned the words on the Slack message again.

The blue glow of the computer screen was harsh on my eyes, and somewhere in the back of mind I was wondering where my computer glasses were.

The words echoed in my mind, as I stared blankly. Processing.

Maybe all this time I’d been doing it wrong?

I mean, sure, it had been a little while since I’d put out a sci fi story, and I was questioning the strategy I’d been using up until now.

Some things had clearly been working.

But others hadn’t.

I was exhausted though. Writing 5-10 thousand words a day takes its toll.
I needed another way of doing this writing thing.

An edge.

I hit the dimmer on the screen brightness as I gazed at the message. It was just a part of a conversation I’d been having earlier that evening with one of my male author friends.

He was doing great in sci-fi.

He knew all the things that worked on Amazon.

He knew what he was talking about.

Maybe he was right?

Maybe publishing as bubbly ditsy Ellie was holding me back?

Maybe that was why I was having to work twice as hard as my male counterparts?

I mean, this isn’t news. While we can point at women who break through in every industry, I still get the sense that on the whole, in mass markets, we’re not taken as seriously.

Of course, it’s totally different with the people who know and love us…
People who read our emails, leave 5* reviews and like our posts on Facebook.
I know who you are, ;). And I’m suuuper grateful.

But when a random person is picking their next read… maybe it does make a difference?

As I sat there, re-reading that part of the conversation, the problem solver in my brain clicked it.

“Well, the only way to know for sure is to do an experiment!” it told me.

Ha!

Famous. Last. Words.

You see, the thing with experiments is you don’t know what you don’t know.
And there were a lot of things I didn’t know.

Things I didn’t control for: like cover design for one! (More on that another time).

So anyway, I decided to go ahead and do the experiment. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh?

I pulled together a team of writers to help me do this… and much in the same way you’ve seen other authors collaborate and create worlds, series and characters, I’ve done this too.

In fact, this had been the very first series I’d started working on before I’d even started The Ascension Myth. I’d sketched out the world details, the characters and planned the first couple of books, but when I started working with MA, we needed to start from scratch in his world. My character, Jack Klingerman, and all his fascinating backstory and special abilities, went on the back burner.

Indefinitely.

And then earlier this year I needed a story concept for this experiment…
So, I dusted it off and got the team working on it, and we put out the Jack Klingerman books, under a pen name: Oscar Andrews.

You may have seen it?

Or maybe not.

Which is my point…

Because when it came to it, barely anyone who would normally read an Ellie-book picked it up because it doesn’t have Ell Leigh Clarke on the cover!
And why would they?

No one told you.

How would you have known?

It was my own dumb-ass fault for not letting you in on what was happening…
Anyway, it was an interesting experiment but I really feel it’s time to loop you in on what’s going on, so that you’re not sitting around waiting for an Ellie book. I am indeed working on more stories in the background (more on those in another email), but in the meantime, if you’re wondering what you’ve missed, check out the Empire Rising series:

Download Book 1, Empire Rising: Renegade Patriot, while it’s on 99c.

Yes, it says Oscar Andrews on the cover, but rest assured it’s “from the mind of Ell Leigh Clarke”.

It has less snark than you’d normally see, but same story and character development you’d expect from Ellie stories.

Check it out and let me know what you think?

I’d love to hear from you.

Just contact me and let me know if you liked it or not.

Ellie x