A huge congratulations to Book Besties Bookstore, an online community matching readers with their next favourite book! Whether you love dark romance, fantasy, romance, or you’re chasing a thriller that’s actually scary (we’re still looking too), Book Besties is there for you. You’re not just buying a book — you’re joining a community. As a feature author in Book Besties Bookstore, here are some questions they asked and my answers (great questions!).
Tell us a little about yourself and your writing journey
I am an Australian indie author with a real-life love of the outback – from the landscape to the sunrises to the sunsets to the lifestyle to the rodeos to the cowboys and cowgirls! I self-published my first novel in 2013 and have achieved incredible success including several bestselling novels. Last year (2025) I decided to write in the romance genre and I started my author journey all over again under a pen name, Missy Best. With a new brand and a new author life, learning from my indie author experiences of the previous decade, I’m excited to see where Missy can take me and my new readers!
What genre do you write in, and what made you choose it?
I have always dabbled in romance and sex scenes in my crime novels, and it was while writing my latest book that my characters started getting more explicit and adventurous. This prompted me to ask the question, what do I really want to write? My crime writing takes me to such deep and dark places and I found myself yearning for more romance, more indepth exploration of relationships and more spice! Once I started putting words onto the page, I became obsessed, and in less than a year as Missy Best, I am writing the third novel in the ‘Not My First Rodeo’ series. Having spent my whole life in small towns and the Australian outback, it was a natural fit to start with small town and cowboy/cowgirl romance. I lean towards strong female characters, women who are doing it their way, who go after what they want, right or wrong.
I’m also an avid reader (of course) and the two genres I read the most are romance and crime. Tropes I love to write (and read) are
· Forbidden love
· Cowboy romance
· “We shouldn’t be doing this”
· Slow burn
· “You deserve better”
· Book boyfriends are the best
· Book girlfriends are better
· Broken heart
· Secrets & twists
· Forced proximity
· Small town romance
· Second chance romance/redemption story
What was the moment you decided to self-publish instead of pursuing traditional publishing?
A heartbreaking rejection on my first novel by a literary agent who told me it wasn’t good enough for the current fiction market spurred me into action to self-publish. I attended a self-publishing workshop and had many of the skills required to write and publish. My rejected book went to #1 on Amazon and has since had over 100,000 copies downloaded as a Kindle or purchased in print. After that, there was no looking back.
Can you tell us about your latest book or current work-in-progress?
My current work in progress is Book 3 in the ‘Not My First Rodeo Series’ and it follows two of the characters from Book 2 (The Fall), Wynonna and Robert. It was while editing The Fall that a sentence jumped off the page and I opened a new word document, wrote Book 3 at the top, and the story is evolving from there. I am inspired by the greatest romances of all time including Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blithe, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler and more recently Bella Swan and Edward Cuthen along with Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler. Unpredictable and forbidden romance, redemption stories, smouldering, unbridled passion and characters not afraid to try new things are the threads holding my novels together. Being new to this genre, I’m open to exploring new themes and ideas. As an experienced fiction writer, one thing I know for sure is that it will be my characters who decide what they want to do and I never really know what’s coming!
What does your writing process look like?
(Plotter vs panster, writing routines, coffee consumption—be honest 😉)
Initially I was a panster but the editing process was excruciating, so I have learnt to plot out the story first then write chapter by chapter in order. In saying that, I still let myself go ‘panster rogue’ every now and then as you never know where that might take you! I also replot halfway through if the original plot gets dull and boring and needs a new direction. I spend a lot of time on long road trips and I dictate my books while driving – this has opened up a whole new world of getting stories out of my head and into my books.
What has been the most rewarding part of being an indie author so far?
The freedom to publish to my own timeline is by far the best part. In my first five years of publishing I published a book a year, which was exactly what I wanted at that time. If I had been traditionally published, the books would not have been out that quickly and the outcome would have been far different. Being indie gives me the freedom to write and publish books around a very busy work and family life, and make all my own decisions about where I want to take it. I did take a couple of years off from writing when I experienced several personal traumas in succession. When I started writing again it was a brilliant outlet to rebuild myself and my confidence. Writing fiction has always helped me make sense of the world.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced on your indie publishing journey?
It can feel lonely at times in my writing cave, although the online writer community has grown significantly since I started. Distribution can be a challenge. I used to stock my books in a lot of bricks and mortar bookstores but found the administration was time consuming and the way I was treated because I was self-published was confidence draining. It’s so exciting to see new online, genre-specific stores such as Book Besties Bookstore, established by readers who are inspired to open a bookstore for the sole reason that they love books!
Trying to make a living from selling books alone is a real challenge that the majority of authors face – whether you’re indie or traditionally published. I don’t have the gold star answer to this and I’m not making a living from my books alone, however, they make a huge contribution to my business. The potential and opportunity to grow is always there – books are forever!
How do you balance writing with marketing, social media, and the business side of being an author?
Marketing is definitely the hardest part, particularly when you’re in the final stages leading up to a publish date and it feels like every time you go onto social media you get sucked into it and it takes you away from finishing your book. The most important part is to get your book finished and published. If the time you spend on marketing is preventing you from doing that, then you need to take a step back, finish, then go back to the marketing.
I try and set realistic social media goals and limit the time I am on social media. I also have a marketing plan and stick to that rather than try and fit in with trends and being told by the algorithm that I have to post a set number of times a day. I’m in this for the long game, and follow a more traditional, consistent, ‘keep showing up’ approach. Taking the time to set up your administration/accounting properly in the beginning is well worth it, even though it’s not my favourite part! You can save yourself getting into a real tangle down the track if you have good business systems in place.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are considering self-publishing?
· Nobody gets anywhere by staying in the same place.
· Always be your most enthusiastic supporter. You’ve got this!
· Focus on what you’re good at, outsource the rest. For example, I use a professional graphic designer for my covers rather than try and create my own. I used to outsource a book formatter before I changed from a PC to a Mac and started using Vellum. I’m still learning, but that’s part of the challenge!
· Find your people, ask questions, learn what you can from others but rely on your own instinct to make decisions.
· If you’re having trouble finding the time to write, start with 10 minutes a day, every day. Get up 10 minutes earlier, stop scrolling on social media for 10 minutes – this keeps you in touch with your manuscript and characters and gets you closer to your goal of finishing your book.
· Make sure you follow all the timelines set by Kindle Direct Publishing when you submit for pre-release but don’t submit for pre-release unless you’re absolutely sure you can finish it by that date!
· Set your own deadlines but don’t be afraid to shift them. If you need to give yourself a bit more time to finish your book to the standard you feel proud of, nobody is going to die in a ditch if it’s two weeks later than you originally promised.
Where can readers find you and support your work?
· Website: missybest.com
· Tiktok: missybestwritesspice
· Instagram: missybest.sugar2spice
· Facebook: MissyBestWriteSpsice
· Join my street team: missybestwrites@gmail.com
Latest release: The Fall
Other books: Always You
Print, signed books also available in the Book Besties Bookstore