Susan Smith on her first year as a self-published author

Blog November 2025

A memorable first year as a self-published author started with Pure of Heart

I can’t quite believe it’s been a year since the launch of Pure of Heart!
Looking back, so much has happened in the past year, personally and with my books. There have been ups and downs, but overall it has been a positive year that I’m proud of.
Seeing Pure of Heart’s Amazon page for the first time at the end of October ’24 was an exciting moment. Having my own author website or subreddit was not even a thought in my head that day. Instead, it was a culmination of several years’ work that sparked a desire in me to continue and realise the dream of getting The Bunny Basket Collection published too.
I had already started the task of illustrating The Bunny Basket Collection (see June ’25 Blog), but when Cody said he could turn my characters into 3D models, it seemed the perfect opportunity to make my dream an achievable reality.
While Cody crafted all my designs into 3D characters, I realised a need to advertise my books, and so r/EclecticTales on Reddit began in January ’25 (see April ’25 Welcome Blog).
Having a place to share about my books and the books of other self-published authors has been uplifting. With over 250 members now, and authors from many genres posting about their books, the subreddit is going from strength to strength.

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Seeing Pure of Heart’s Amazon page for the first time at the end of October ’24 was an exciting moment. Having my own author website or subreddit was not even a thought in my head that day.

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‘Have you scrolled yet?’ is a unique feature on Reddit. Periodically, there are so many books posted on r/EclecticTales that it would be a shame for previous ones to go unseen if readers and supportive authors don’t scroll down enough.
That is why I started ‘Have you scrolled yet?’. In April I posted parts 1-5 (various categories e.g. fiction, non-fiction or authors advertising multiple books), one part every day for a week.
In August I repeated this for parts 6-10 with the books from April to August. Parts 11-15 will be posted later this year. Every book posted will get its permanent advert in ‘Have you scrolled yet?’ which as you can see is pinned to the top of the page.
With r/EclecticTales up and running, and whilst Cody and I started the creation of ‘Friendly Flynn and the Bunny Basket’, it was time to create an author website. Warren at Site Dragon has amazingly taken my ideas (with some creative ideas of his own while he guides me through the process) and has made this my online space that I am incredibly proud of.
In April’25 ‘www.eclectictales.uk’ was launched at the same time as ‘Friendly Flynn and the Bunny Basket’ on Amazon. I have since successfully completed the process of trademarking the name ‘EclecticTales’ as my brand name.
As a side project, you will see that I also released a compilation book of my Dad’s short stories (Shaggy Dog Stories, Spoonerisms and Silliness). This was very personal for me and a project that was initially a surprise for him (see July’25 Blog). Since giving his approval to publish, he is happily telling everyone he knows about it!
Following from there, with personal circumstances giving me time to focus on The Bunny Basket Collection of books over the summer months, Cody and I have recently completed the final one in the series of 10 books.
This won’t be the end for the bunnies and their friends, we have plans for some individual books next year. Also, watch this space for a couple of brand new projects, one children’s book (hopefully) this year and the start of a fantasy trilogy coming next year.
Have you noticed the links at the top and bottom of each page? One link takes you directly to r/EclecticTales and the other takes you directly to @EclecticTalesOfficial on YouTube. This is my new YouTube channel for Teasers to each of my books.
Currently I am adding The Bunny Basket Collection of books first, but as time goes on, more content will be included. Again, watch this space for more social media content in the future.
All this in a year and so much planned for 2026! I hope you enjoy my books and I would love to hear from you. Reviews on Amazon and r/EclecticTales (for mine and other r/EclecticTales authors books) would be lovely please?
Don’t forget to subscribe and comment on @EclecticTalesOfficial, and you can also contact me directly on ‘Ask Susan’ (by clicking on the Contact link at the top) with any questions or comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

Next Blog: December 2025

Christmas Blog (yes, it’s that time of year again!)…