On the Precipice of Author Transition: Going Hybrid
- realityskimming
- Aug 24
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 24
by Cait Gordon
About the Story Thing (2025) - 07
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"About the Story Things" is a thematic series of articles, sponsored by Reality Skimming Press. Pieces will appear every other Monday Jun 2 through to the end of 2025. Query us about contributing at https://facebook.com/relskim or info@realityskimming.com
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“I feel like I am in a place of transition as an author human. It’s been a wild and fun ride these past nine years, but I’m kinda in a ‘not sure where I’m headed now’ state. Ever feel like that?”
I posed this question to a group email from the SF CANADA speculative fiction association in May 2025. It was a “message in a bottle” moment, where the reality of a recent decision of mine was beginning to hit, but I had no idea what would be on the other side.
Allow me to clarify. For almost ten years, my books have been released by the same Canadian publisher. This is thanks to Nathan Caro Fréchette of Presses Renaissance Press, who laughed when I unwittingly blurted a pitch to him at a geek con in 2015 while I was dressed as a fashionista dalek (long story).
Because of Nathan’s belief in me, I grew from an “accidental” author to a Prix Aurora Award–nominated co-editor of Nothing Without Us, a multi-genre disability-fiction anthology that’s been taught at Trent University for several years. The second anthology, Nothing Without Us Too, won a Prix Aurora Award. Then, to my utter shock, my disability-hopepunk adventure, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space, won the 2023 Indie Ink Award for “Writing the Future We Need: Disability Representation by a Disabled Author.” So, not too shabby for a fashionista dalek.
When Nathan decided it was time for him to step down as head of Renaissance and another team took the helm, I found myself in a state of reflection. Even though it’s been a wild ride—and I know it’s not easy to find a publisher these days—I felt a stirring in my soul to try something new.
Hoping that curiosity doesn’t kill this Cait (it’s funny because my name is pronounced like cat), I’ve decided to become a hybrid author. No, I won’t run on both electricity and gasoline, although that would be a cool cyborgy lifestyle. What I mean is, I would like to be an author who independently publishes their own works in addition to having some works published by other presses. So, my author husband Bruce D. Gordon and I founded Dinsdale Press and are diving in!
Cue me having all of these feelings:
Yay!
Yay?
Wait. What am I doing?
Um… I’ve gained momentum in my career—will I now become irrelevant?
Will anyone even buy my works?
No, seriously, what am I doing???
Thankfully, while my brain floods with these sorts of questions, there are folks I can contact to ask about their experiences. J.M. Frey, author of Nine-Tenths shared this with me: “Deciding to self-publish my thirteenth book was simultaneously the hardest and easiest decision I’ve ever made, and I don't regret it one jot. After everyone I had submitted this most recent novel to lauded it as intriguing—but rejected it for being in the ‘hard to sell’ pigeonhole—I had to do a lot of grieving over what I thought the future of Nine-Tenths would be. But once I’d left that behind, I got very, very excited about having the chance to have complete creative control of every aspect of a book for the first time!”
I so get it, the excitement about creative control. Being in my own playground and making whatever I want in the sandbox is a thrilling prospect! So, whenever the doubt-goblins try to creep back into my brain, I remind myself, “But the playground!” This is when my enthusiasm turns outwards, and as my husband says, becomes infectious.
Frey brought up an important point, though. Large traditional publishers calling manuscripts “hard to sell” is like having a great big NOPE stamp walloped onto our books. While that label sounds alarming, it also got me thinking, Do I even care? I am an autistic, disabled, and queer author of mostly humorous speculative fiction. I know my works are niche. Okay, kinda super niche. So, who am I trying to impress? Writing-to-market gives me the ick, anyway. I want to put forth stories that I want to read. And, as always, I wish to invite folks to read along with me!
On another note, sometimes established authors simply want more than one way of getting their books out there. John Haas, award-winning author of The Cults of Death and Madness had this to say about self-publishing his works: “Originally, we tried self-publishing because we had a one-shot horror novel and nowhere to put it. So, we decided to do it ourselves. Why did we continue to self-publish? It's nice to have a foot in both worlds. There are pros and cons to both types of publishing, and I like to diversify.”
That’s the beauty of deciding to become a hybrid author. You are allowing yourself to explore a space where you are the decision maker, for better or for worse. I’ve been told I have a “learner’s brain,” which I think really fits. I really enjoy figuring out how to do new things. And while I will be wearing many hats, I’ve got a few plusses in my corner. I have experience doing interior layout and cover art, and I do have colleagues who are willing to do skill-swaps. (That’s when we barter skills to save on expenses.) So, for example, I can do a proofread in exchange for a proofread because I know hybrid authors who are also editors!
That’s another thing I discovered: the collaborative nature of indie author culture is really giving me life! At least within the circles of indie authors I frequent. Oftentimes, they are community builders who want to share what they’ve learned about the production process or give each other notices about potential author events. In the United States, the WriteHive organization holds a huge virtual con every summer with amazing workshops, readings, and panels. I had the honour of being a panelist this year and really enjoyed the vibe of the indie authors and readers on their Discord. It was fun as heck, and I gained so much knowledge from the other indie and/or hybrid authors. In Ontario, there are the Toronto Indie Author Conference and the Eastern Ontario Writers Festival (EOWF). Bruce and I are scheduled to have a vendor table the EOWF in September, and this happened because local indie authors invited me to their group chat, where they said the festival was open to applications!
Okay. So, just for a moment, let me cloud over the sunshine and get back to one of the “yucks” that tries to kidnap my “yums”—Will I become irrelevant? Talia C. Johnson, my BFF and co-editor of the Nothing Without Us anthologies said, “No. That’s silly.” Nathan Fréchette also insists I am “doomed to relevance.” I mean, it’s not like I’m disappearing! I’m still here, right? (Checks mirror.) Yup, I’ve not left the planet. I’m continuing to community build, be on panels, plan workshops. Cait has not left the building.
Another thing that quelled some of my anxiety is what’s happened since posing my question to SF CANADA about my authory transition. In October, Dinsdale Press will be putting out my first-ever short story collection, Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain. I wanted to gather my favourite short stories over the last decade—previously published and unpublished—in one place, just for me. I managed to muster the guts to ask a few authors to blurb the collection: Kate Heartfied, Dr. Finnian Burnett, Jamieson Wolf, and Dianna Gunn. They not only enthusiastically agreed, but I also received a foreword from Derek Newman-Stille of the multiple Prix Aurora Award–winning digital humanities hub, Speculating Canada! Then, someone else I respect asked if they could review the collection (YES, PLEASE!). Even as I write this, I’m still pinching myself over the support I’m receiving.
This response from my peers underscored an important fact—there will always be awesome people out there who love to support authors of niche works. And to be dead honest, the fringes are often where I find the most interesting authors and books. My dream is to be one of the cool kids on the fringes with a fan base who loves my weirdness! Will my books sell? Maybe not a bajillionty copies, some definitely, but if they bring joy to readers, that’s what matters most to me.
Joy is not only important for readers but also for this author. In the past few years, I’ve felt weighed down by the talking heads (not the band; they’re still awesome) within publishing. Ludicrous hot takes about writing and publishing posted on social media and discussed within some author spaces definitely contributed to reducing my desire to write at all. And that is not okay. Would indie publishing my works help restore that spark? Would it really be that playground I desire? In the premier episode of The Disabled Crone podcast, Jamieson Wolf says, “Self-publishing on its own should be an absolute joy. I know my words are good enough to be out there. I know they’re good enough to be read.”
I love the confidence of this. What would it be like for me if I only thought, Indie publishing will be an absolute joy, and my words are good enough to be out there! Later on in the episode, Jamieson also admits it’s a lot of hard work, so he is realistic, but you know by listening to him that it’s a path he loves taking when he’s not working with another publisher.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that making the decision to go hybrid has unlocked something in my brain. The desire to discover, yes, but also, I finally completed a first draft of another book of mine we plan to release next year. Why is this important? Well, I had been stuck on that draft for over a year! Choosing another path opened up my creativity again. It’s amazing what can happen when one gives oneself permission to play.
Lastly, let me discuss the “No, seriously, what am I doing?” panic that still lunges at me from dark corners. Quick answer? I guess I’m going on an adventure, folks! I can say with absolute certainty that I still don’t know all the things, but researching is something my autistic brain loves, and so far, many glorious solutions are falling into place! I also have support—thank goodness—encouragement, a partner who is in it with me, and a whole lotta drive.
Because let’s face it: I didn’t know what I was doing for my first-ever novel, and it got published. I’d never edited an anthology before, and with Talia (who had also never edited an anthology before), we brought more disability speculative fiction out from behind the curtain—not once, but twice! We also have discussed disability representation in CanLit and in fiction with students as guest lecturers at Trent University on several occasions.
So, I think, overall, I’m less apprehensive about the “What happens next?” stuff as well. Just like when I write by the seat of my pants, I don’t want to know the ending just yet. I want to experience everything—every triumph and whoopsie—along the way. Does this mean I never want to work with other publishers again? Of course not! I would love to do both. This must mean I really will run on electricity and gasoline now—metaphorically speaking.
Anyway, find me next year and ask me how it’s going! I hope to have one heck of a tale to share. Onwards!
Cait Gordon
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Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction celebrating diverse bodyminds. She is the author of the award-winning, disability-hopepunk adventure, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! Her short stories featuring disabled and/or neurodivergent heroes have appeared in several anthologies and will be included in her first collection, Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain (2025, Dinsdale Press). Cait twice joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the (award-nominated) Nothing Without Us and (award-winning) Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. She is also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. You can follow Cait on her website, caitgordon.com, and @caitgauthor on BlueSky, IG, and Threads.
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References
Gordon, C. (Host). (May 2025). The Disabled Crone [Audio podcast]. Episode One: Putting Yourself First in Publishing, with Jamieson Wolf. Apple Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/putting-yourself-first-in-publishing-with-jamieson-wolf/id1804202502?i=1000705832719&r=387
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