Inside Publishing: Diane Bator Discusses Passion for Writing & Commercial Side of Publishing

Diane Bator (website here) has been an author her entire life. From writing stories as a kid to writing published short stories and full-length novels as an adult, she’s learned a great deal along the way. Having worked with an agent, several publishers, and now an Indie publisher herself, she has a wide variety of skills and loves to use them to create and promote not only her own work but her mentees as well!

While working with her previous publisher, she released 15 mystery novels. After starting Escape With a Writer Publishing, she’s already launched three books (two relaunched and one new), with one more to come on November 22nd – Dash Allman, PI, Volume 1 – and many more in the lineup.

An Award-Winning, prolific Canadian mystery writer, she is the mom of three kids, two cats and a step-dog, as well as the author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries, Glitter Bay Mysteries, and the Audra Clemmings Mysteries with many more books and plays to come! Follow Diane on Substack here.

Diane Bator, photo by Diane Bator

What’s the most overlooked aspect of an author’s development?

Diane Bator: “The actual element of writing bad rough drafts! Authors learn to find their voices by writing the worst stuff ever and slowly mine the good stuff from the rubble. If not given that chance, their voices come across as forced and hollow. One of the things we forget is that writing is supposed to be CREATIVE! We’re supposed to muck around in the dirt, get our paper dirty with stuff we’d never even show our best friends, and discover that rawness that helps us get to the good stuff. We’re all led to believe we have to be perfect from the get-go and it causes many creatives to become stifled.”

How do you balance the commercial side of publishing with your passion for writing?

“That’s tough because we all want to succeed, makes lots of money, and have our voices heard in the world. What happens is most of us are in it for the love of writing. The passion of the written word. We’ll never see those million-dollar advances or sales. Most writers I know write because they love what they do, no matter the commercial success. We’d all love for that dream to happen – to be the “chosen one”, but that’s not likely to happen for everyone. We need to remind ourselves that this is what we were meant to do and those stories that swirl around in our heads are there for a reason. To Entertain!”

Do you think there’s too much pressure on authors to be ‘content creators’ in addition to writing?

“YES!! I was listening to a virtual conference this past weekend (one where I won two awards for my first Indie published book!!) and hear someone say that in order to be a successful author, you needed to be writing on your blog at least once a week if not more. To continue to create new content on social media to keep your fans interested.

“I’ve had my blog for MANY years. I had a hard time juggling 3 kids, my writing, my day job, my marriage, and trying to think of something that sounded semi-intelligent to post to my blog once or twice a week. That quickly became once a month. Then every three months. Then… Now I use my blog for good. I share other authors and their work and have done so since 2018. Now and then, I also share my own news about upcoming books and awards. For the most part, I use my newsletter for that. Which is a whole other thing we need to create content for!”

Diane Bator ‘Written In Stone’ book cover

What’s the most valuable long-term professional relationship you’ve built in your career, and how did you maintain it? What advice would you offer for cultivating lasting relationships in the literary world?

“Other Writers!! Early on, I wasn’t able to attend conferences and to many book events. Funny enough, Covid changed that. So many conferences around the world went online and have stayed that way! In 2024 alone, I attended two in-person conferences and 3-4 online ones. They’re just as much fun. Have an amazing number of sessions and workshops. AND you meet some incredible authors from all over the world.

“Most of the writer relationships I hold near and dear, I formed over the past 12 years in Ontario where I lived, but some were formed with other writers who worked with agents and publishers I’ve worked with.

“We’ve all had very different journeys and have learned so many things that other have yet to discover. When I made the switch to Indie Publishing in January 2024, the first people I reached out to were fellow Indie authors who have been on that path since 2010 and beyond. They were amazing sources of information and inspiration! I meet virtually with some of them quite regularly.

“My advice to any writer is to make friends with other writers no matter what genre they write. There is so much to learn, and we can’t do it all alone. We need to make friends with people at conferences, at writing groups (if you can’t find one, build one and put out the call!), even by reaching out to authors whose work you enjoy. It’s surprising how many are receptive to chatting and giving advice.”

How has your definition of success changed over the years? Is it still about sales and recognition, or have other factors become more important?

“When I was starting out, all I wanted was to publish a book.

“When I published my first book, I was thrilled to earn a few dollars in royalties.

“When I got my first royalties, I wanted more, so I published more.

“When I felt like I’d hit a glass ceiling where I was, I changed things up and learned how to do things on my own. Now, I’m back at square one publishing books and hoping royalties increase once more.

“Sales and recognition are great for sure, and they are two things every writer strives for. However, we also want people to enjoy our work and share our books with others. One of the things I love is when I’m recognized by a fan (Yes, that does happen!), another is when people love that I’m a writer and want to ask a zillion questions.

“One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed about the whole writing process is the creativity and “getting the voices out of my head”, which has been a huge help over the years while dealing with issues in my family. There have also been times where I’ve been able to write about things in my own life and work them out while torturing one of my characters.

“Money and recognition will always be a part of writing, but the creativity is why I love to do what I do.”

Diane Bator ‘All That Sparkles’ book cover

How do you see the relationship between established authors and emerging voices evolving in today’s publishing landscape?

“I’ve been fortunate to meet some great people in Canadian writing: Maureen Jennings, Robert J. Parker, Linwood Barclay, and so on. Some at author events in Ontario. Some at conferences. All writers have a need to connect with other writers and most I’ve met are happy to give advice to emerging voices. Programs like Sisters in Crime and the Writers Union of Canada, ask established authors to mentor the “newbies” and help guide their path.

“Even though no two of those paths will be the same, there is so much we can learn from each other!”

How do you think the rise of AI-generated writing will impact the careers of human authors?

“Without human authors, AI has nothing to learn from. It’s machine generated and will never understand the nuances that make humans human. While we are all up in arms about it, there’s little we can do about its advancement. To shut down AI, we’d have to shut down most of the world’s computer programming and software. The technology has been around for a long time but has only recently gained the notoriety of taking over careers of authors and other creatives.

“Human beings are creative and inventive by nature. No matter what we do or say as authors, as artists, as musicians, there will always be that threat of someone trying to create better using a machine. All we can do is fight back by staying true to our own nature and doing what we love to do best.”

Do you believe the resurgence of physical books, like vinyl, is a passing trend or a permanent shift in consumer behavior?

“Have you ever gone into a bookstore (new or used), smelled the covers, the paper, gushed about your favorite author or a copy of an old classic that’s been out of print for years? As society becomes more technologically advanced and AI generated, there will remain that nostalgia for a good book, a cup of tea, and a blanket on a rainy day. Physical books don’t malfunction, don’t run out of battery power, and never need to be plugged in. If you’re get snowed in without electricity, you can still curl up to read a book.

“When tablets first came out, the doomsayers predicted print would vanish in a few years. Here we are. I have an eclectic library of print and rarely read a kindle. After working on a computer all day, I need to look at something different. Not another screen. Most of us get more than enough screen time between our phones and our work computers. Physical books may seem old-fashioned, but they’re much better for our vision.”

Diane Bator ‘Death of a Jaded Samurai’ book cover

Do you think the literary industry prioritizes profit over artistic merit, and do you believe it’s stifling creativity in favor of commercial hits?

“At the end of the day, publishers are businesses. Like all businesses, they survive by making profits. If they come across a story or a book that they can easily sell – even if the writing makes other authors cringe – then absolutely they will go for the low-hanging fruit. There are several commercial hits out there that many writers refuse to read after having read the first page, if that much!

“True, there are many great books to come along that do gain commercial success, but agents and publishers look for what they think will sell. That’s what they get paid to do.”

What’s the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned in your writing career?

“Patience. It takes time to write a book. Time to edit. Time to query agents and publishers. Time to publish.

“The joy of becoming an Indie author, is that you cut out some of that time. Yes, you still need to write the book and hire editors, cover artists and so on, but you don’t have to wait months or more to get an agent, longer for the agent to sell that book to a publisher, then another year or two before your book hits the market.

“I’ve also learned that I’m not so bad at creating covers and helping other authors along their paths!”

In retrospect, how much of your success do you attribute to hard work versus being in the right place at the right time? Can authors create their own luck, or is it mostly out of their control?

“When I first started submitting to agents and publishers, I kept getting rejections. I was part of an online writing group and asked one of the group members to read it and give me some advice. She turned out to be a reader for an agent. Suddenly, I had an agent. Within the year, I had a publisher. Before long, I had a second publisher for my second series. Talking to the right person at the right time, helped me get a foot in the door. After that, it was a lot of hard work to get books written and published.

“Authors can definitely create their own luck. Talk to other authors. Follow agents and publishers on social media (not in parking lots, that’s creepy!). Educate yourself on what you need to do to write a solid book, an attention-getting query, and create an elevator pitch or blurb that makes people notice. Find ways to work with other people to expand your visibility as an author. Get a great PR guy! Those things are well within your control AND can help create some great luck!”