Interview with Sci-Fi Author and Self-Publishing Mogul, Qualia Reed

Qualia Reed is a prolific self-published author, with a thriving sci-fi realm blossoming from their digital books. We spoke to them this week about navigating the weird new world of digital publishing platforms, queer characters and representation, and their everlasting love of writing.

Rian: Hi Qualia, it’s lovely to be able to speak with you. I recently read your book ‘The Shadows Of Athelon,’ and was captivated by the characters and world building, as well as the heart wrenching narrative. It’s clear you truly love to write. Where or how do you think your love for the medium started?

Qualia: I’ve always been captivated by storytelling. I wrote and bound my first book in the second grade. I think it partly comes from my desire to entertain others, but it also is a way of letting out these creative, imaginative ideas that are always floating around my head.

Rian: It does come across as a very cathartic experience for you, and I can confirm your work kept me very entertained. I do wonder, were you always intending on self publishing? And since you’ve taken that route, what has been your experience of getting into it?

Qualia: When I began to think about getting my stories out to audiences, I figured self-publishing was the likely route because much of the stories I write are not what is typically published. That, and the lottery that is trying to get books traditionally published, pushed me in the direction of self-publishing. I work in healthcare as my occupation, and have a four year old at home. As such, I can’t spend the thousands of dollars a self-published or indie author may spend on editors, cover designers, and printers. I made myself a promise that my love of writing will never cost me more than it makes me. With self-publishing, it doesn’t necessarily have to cost me a dime to get stories out there.

Rian: It must be quite a benefit to be able to have full creative control over your own work. What’s the hardest part about self publishing, and conversely, what’s the best?

Qualia: The hardest part about self-publishing for me is the worry that my stories won’t be received as professional, or worthy of reading because they’re not published by a major publishing house. The stigma against self-published authors is huge. This worry can be made way worse because it is very difficult to get your name or your stories out there to audiences due to overwhelming numbers of self-published authors out there right now.

The best part about self-publishing is also the reason I continue to do it. I can be at my home, write a novel on my laptop, edit it, and then publish it without leaving my desk. That degree of control over my creative works is extremely satisfying for me.

Rian: I can imagine the freedom to be comforting. As a self published author, you mostly sell your books digitally as opposed to as physical copies.You use Amazon as well as (Google) Play Books, your own online store, and a few others, are there any large differences between these selling methods? Would you say you have a favourite?

Qualia: Honestly, Amazon is a strange one. Their formatting on their self-publishing rules doesn’t make any sense. If it wasn’t for my ability to use Amazon to print actual, decent paperback copies, I’d never use it. For someone in my financial situation, though, it’s the best way to see paperback copies in my hand that I am aware of. I love Google books, though the audience is a lot smaller than it is for kindle or kobo. Their user interface for authors is probably the best that I’ve used. I also publish ebooks in Apple, Smashwords and a few others, but in terms of ebooks, Google is my favourite to use so far. That being said, I’ve recently begun to sell my ebooks direct off my website which is also a fun way to do it.

Rian: I love that. It’s important to keep these things fun. So, how did you get into writing sci fi? Much of the ideas and characters that are presented in your writing feel so new and fresh, how do you come up with it?

Qualia: I’ve always been obsessed with science fiction. As far as non-animated tv shows go, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Quantum Leap were some of my faves as a kid in the 80s. As soon as I was old enough to go to the library, I began reading sci-fi books. As a kid, that meant a lot of Star Trek books, Star Wars, Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein, Issac Asimov, and Philip K Dick. Something about the earliest roots of sci-fi, from Frankenstein, all the way to the 1970s really appeals to me. I firmly believe that sci-fi is escapist fiction for outsiders. It’s imagining the world to be something else, either the paradise that we wish it was or the hellscape we fear it’s becoming.  For me, sci-fi is also often the story of the outsider being thrust into a brave new world. As an outsider, that part of it has always appealed to me. Obviously, in 2023, Heinlein is problematic for numerous reasons, but as a kid, it was the first, and only bunch of books that featured normalized, queer, non-monogamous characters, and as a kid, I was desperate to find books with any queer representation.

Rian: I think, even today, it’s hard to find media that normalises queer characters. Your work does an amazing job of it. Now, you’re not just writing about queer character, but you’re also in the LGBTQ+ community yourself. Do you ever come across any obstacles due to being a trans and queer author? Do you ever get pushback as your work normalizes being LGBTQ+?

Qualia: Sure, I get pushback for being trans and queer. People have felt the need to message me just to say they’ll never read my work because they won’t read anything with gay characters. I find that funny though, because I truly believe that at its heart, sci-fi is inherently queer. That’s like when people who are huge far-right believers say the new star trek is ruining their childhood. Like… One of the earliest things I can remember about Star Trek is that it’s a socialist paradise where we’ve eliminated money and everyone works to better themselves and the rest of humanity. Honestly, I try to let it roll off my back when I get confronted with hate online. I want to keep being a visible author so that young people can see me and be inspired to write their own stories.

Rian: That’s incredibly heartwarming. I’m sure your works will be a testament to not only queer youth, but queer people in general.

Thank you for the wonderful answers. It’s been an absolute joy speaking with you. For those reading, what can we look forward to from you in the second half of this year?

Qualia: I’ve got my novel Electron Spin coming out at the end of the summer. It’s a full-length novel that is a stand-alone, queer sci-fi, but also is a continuation from the short story anthology I released in March called The Shadows of Athelon. In the fall, I’m also releasing my first Middle-Grade/YA fantasy/steampunk genre-blending novel called Beyond The Falling Snow. Other than that, I’ve got a few more shorts, and possibly a novella or two to come out this year.

Qualia can be found on Instagram as @Qualiareed, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087126994657 , Mastodon at @Qualiawrites, all links to her books are available on her website https://qualiareedauthor.wixsite.com/qualia-reed