Mikala

Dabbler in art. Writer-in-training. YA Romantasy.
Excess height compensates for lack of speed.
🦓 hEDS, POTS, all that fun stuff 😎

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Meet Agnes, my London witch! She's wearing an actual outfit from the book ☺️

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

The sheep where I live wake up at a quarter to six in the morning. Don't ask me how I know this 😀

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

There is a cool breeze, I repeat, a COOL breeze coming in through this window RATHER THAN THE FULL CONCENTRATED POWER OF THE SUN. It's very nice.

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Sitting by an open window listening to Taylor Swift, and a thunderstorm that's heading out to sea, while I get to write the story of two of my favourite characters...bliss.

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Just in case anyone's not thought about it, during this heatwave, don't forget your medication needs to be kept at the right temperature, too.
This is Nurofen brand ibuprofen that needs to be below 25C. If you take meds with you outside or in the car, take care.

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Picnic on the beach! #Filey (it's sat on top of a post box)

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Exactly a month's progress 😄

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

My word count tracker that hangs on the wall beside me 😄. A reminder of how much I've written...and how much more I get to write!

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

@TheBeeMorris She got it, and was surprised it'd all gone through as far as it did, legal-wise! 😅

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Confused the burnt toast theory with the invisible string theory and ended up with the invisible toast theory instead and now I think I should just have a nap.

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

My word count tracker that hangs on the wall beside me 😄. A reminder of how much I've written...and how much more I get to write!

[Sick @sickdotdev]

unfollowing everyone on linkedin except this guy

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

Today's pros: I added 1k words to the Headless Horseman WIP!!

Today's cons: As I told my mum about this, I walked through a spider web and possibly ate some 😐

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

At that point in this WIP where my MC's name looks wrong because I've seen it too many times 😅

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

So spooked am I by the spooky chapter I am writing in the middle of the night...
...that I had to put Abba on. #coward

[Amy's Opening for Submissions June 12th, 2026 @AmyNielsen06]

🧵Query Letter Talk: Let's talk about comps (comparable titles) in your query letter. It's a very important item in your metadata paragraph that can be the difference between an agent continuing to read or an autopass. #writingcommunity #amquerying

[J. W. Cronk @justinwcronk]

I learned something the hard way about publishing, so here it is in case it saves someone else time (or money).

When I released my books:

- I skipped an ISBN for Kindle (normal, no issue)
- Used my own ISBN for paperback
- Let Amazon assign the ISBN for hardcover

At the time, I didn’t fully understand how important that decision was.

Here’s the reality:

If Amazon gives you the ISBN, they are the publisher of record for that version. That edition is basically locked into their ecosystem.

Which means:

You can’t take that hardcover and just go sell it through other distributors, bookstores, airports, etc.

What I should have done:

Own the ISBN across all formats.

But here’s the part most people don’t realize (I didn’t): You’re not totally out of luck. At all actually.

You can create a new edition of your book, use your own ISBN,
upload new files, and now you control that version completely.

Same story.
Same title.
Same book.

Different edition. Different ISBN. Full control.

Call it ignorance, call it learning the hard way, but this stuff matters way more than you think when you start trying to sell outside of Amazon.

If you’re publishing right now:
Own your ISBNs.

Future you will thank you.

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

@ZsaffrynTerra Thank you!

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

I stumbled over the 30k hurdle of my headless horseman WIP tonight! 😄

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

@ZsaffrynTerra Happy Birthday!!! 🎂🎈🎉

[Mikala @Mikala_Writes]

It feels like an April Fool's joke that we're already IN April 🫠