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Finn Bell: The Self-Published, Successful Crime Writer You’ve Probably Never Heard Of (Yet)

Why Finn Bell’s books have been successful and what you can learn from him

The Killing Ground by Finn Bell

Self-publishing is still often seen as the last resort of writers who can’t get published any other way. But what happens when a writer doesn’t bother submitting to traditional publishers at all and just goes along his own road? How does an unknown writer from a country far, far away, succeed and sell thousands of books?

Finn Bell writes crime fiction. He was a forensic psychologist for many years, until he didn’t want to do it anymore and moved to the far south of New Zealand. There he wrote and wrote, and then published. His books began to sell, and then his first book won the 2017 NZ Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Crime Novel. From there, his books gradually grew a large readership and a big bunch of fans. How did he do it?

I asked him first why he’s writing crime fiction. “I probably write it because crime is what I’ve known and when I sit down in front of a blank page, that’s what comes out of its own accord. But I don’t think it’s a distinguishing feature of what I do — any story — in any genre — will have something of wrongness, sickness, or brokenness that changes through the pages, I think that’s why…

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Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.
Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Written by Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Writer, editor, book lover — I've published many children's books and three crime novels for adults so far. I edit other people's fiction and poetry.

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