I Became an E-Book Author

A piece on life by our team member Maria Osep’yants

E-books are becoming increasingly popular today. This trend has also affected my life: recently, I joined the ranks of authors of such books. Moreover, this happened during my emigration — in Uzbekistan, where my husband and I moved from Russia in 2023.

Two of my e-books are sold online, so I can share a bit about what it’s like to be an author of electronic literature and whether it’s worth pursuing for profit. I’m proud that you can now find my books on Amazon (links below). The first one is “The Prolonged Journey,” about our life in Uzbekistan, and the second is “The Knight’s Dream,” a collection of poems (both in Russian).

How It All Began

Let me start from afar. Since early childhood, I dreamed of becoming a writer. My first publications were in newspapers in Makhachkala (a Russian city on the shores of the Caspian Sea), when they hadn’t even heard of the internet there yet. One day, a friend asked me, “What would you do if you knew for sure that you would never be published anywhere?” At that time, I was intuitively confident that this would not happen to me. But could we have imagined that publications would become so accessible?

In the 1990s, when the internet appeared in our lives, we still didn’t know what to expect from it. I remember a conversation with a friend who insisted that the internet would destroy books and literature. It turned out to be the opposite. However, some might say that the ease of publishing works has greatly affected quality, making it difficult to find gems among the trash. I don’t think so. I believe you just need to know where to look. Besides, everyone is searching for something personal, and everyone finds it.

A Grain of Sand on the Beach

Some write simply “for the soul” and publish on numerous unmoderated literary websites. Others want to become professionals or earn money, participate in competitions, and strive to publish in “elite” editions… But which editions are considered “elite”? Opinions vary here. Sometimes a writer or poet has millions of readers, yet is not recognized by the community of discerning connoisseurs and professionals (or those who consider themselves as such). There are countless authors and countless genres.

Once, there was no one in my circle who wrote poetry or prose. That’s how my life began. Now, it seems that almost everyone around me writes. And when venturing into the literary expanses of the internet, it’s easy to feel like a grain of sand on the beach. How everything has changed since my youth!

Success and Sales

Is it easy to sell a book under such conditions? Especially if you are by no means Stephen King. Well, as someone who has been far from commerce all my life, I am both pleased and surprised that someone buys my books at all (though there aren’t many of those people – yet 😉). But there are authors who are significantly more successful than I am: I heard about one internet writer who built a house from his earnings.

Is it easy to achieve success and popularity amid a general fascination with writing? It’s hard to answer this question. The thing is, the very concept of success is blurred. Who should be considered popular? Someone with a million likes? Someone who won one out of a million literary contests? Someone published in an “elite” online edition? There is no consensus here. Even what seems like a simple and reliable indicator, such as sales numbers, is not a criterion: sold books can be poorly rated by professional literary critics.

Borders Don’t Matter

Today, a writer is not bound by geographical limitations: one can publish books in any language from anywhere in the world. Inspired by life in Uzbekistan, I wrote my first book right here and uploaded it to the global network from this very place. The illustrations were photographs taken by my husband (which make up a significant part of the book). The following year, a collection of poems also emerged.

Why did all this happen in Uzbekistan and not in my homeland, Russia? I still don’t understand why it turned out this way. It is believed that leaving one’s homeland causes stress and leads a person to stop being creative… But apparently, in some cases, moving can, on the contrary, refresh one’s worldview and provide a new impetus for creativity. And the internet helps convert this impulse into real action.

So What?

So what can I advise in conclusion? What is the takeaway from all this? There will be no conclusions or advice: everyone decides for themselves. For me, literature is not so much a way to earn money as it is a way of life. I embrace this path with all its roses and thorns (which are also unavoidable). I am glad to have experienced such a time, with all its pros and cons. I find it interesting to be one of the authors of e-books, and who knows what will come of it, as the future is full of surprises.

Writing has no borders. Neither should talent. Brain Drain Unlimited supports displaced professionals navigating legal pathways to rebuild their careers in the U.S.