Indie Author Spotlight, Episode 31

Hello! Jennifer Martin here! I'm a budding short story writer and a new volunteer at The Writer's Workout as well as a recent graduate. I have learned that breaking into the literary world can be daunting feat and so I am taking every opportunity to meet new and interesting people in the literary community, like today's guest, and personal friend of mine, Caden Tarbox.

A lover of the dystopian and fantasy genres, Caden Tarbox has begun their journey in the independent author scene with their novel The Rising Sun. Make sure to check out their website and socials, which are linked below, so you don't miss out on any of their future work. I was very pleased with the opportunity to learn more about Caden's writing. I know you will be too.

Hi Caden! Thanks so much for meeting with me today. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I guess I should start with my name. Hi, I’m Caden Tarbox, I am a self-published author of one book so far and have been writing different works since middle school. I think one night I was watching a movie and immersed myself in a daydreaming sequence which I decided to try and write because why not? I grew up with my nose in a book and when I was introduced to the world of fandoms I took to online reading (both fan fiction and original stories). I decided to turn my daydreams and regular dreams into stories and about midway through high school decided that I could do something with this, which led me to my college journey. I just recently graduated with a Writing Arts Bachelor’s and Creative Writing Minor.

Tell us about your writing style.

My writing spans three genres, technically. My main is dystopian as I have found that writing comes easy to me. However, I have always had a sweet spot for fantasy, so that is the genre I am trying to focus on and build. Then the third genre is romance, but that is more sprinkled into the other two genres. My writing falls into the young adult category, but anyone who enjoys the genres or writing is what matters. I generally prefer to write in first person and dabble in third person, although my first published work is in third person. I think one thing you will see with my writing is that I try to be really descriptive and go into the emotional depths of each character or at least try to (that is probably more shown in my current work)

Tell us about a project you’re proud of and link it. 

My self-published book! It is titled The Rising Sun. It is a prequel dystopian short 10-chapter novel that I had been working on for 3 ½ years before I published it. The world that it falls in has been in my workbook since 2018. It follows the nightmarish reality that the characters have woken up to, setting up the future of the world through perfection. It is available only on Amazon. I spent the majority of my college time writing and rewriting this book, and all of it came from a dream I had one night. The one-year anniversary just passed and sometimes I forget that I am technically a published author; it is mind blowing.

Spill the tea, what are you currently working on?

I’ve been told that people can’t wait for the next book to follow my last one but like I said, I have a sweet spot for fantasy and have turned to an immense worldbuilding for another series. I have had over twenty chapters written for this fantastical series but with minimal worldbuilding. So now I am reworking every detail that goes into this world so I can set up this story and more. I do still visit the other series to keep my writing flowing, but my main focus is this fantasy world, but I’ve promised a continuation of the dystopian books and intend to keep it.

What is your biggest/best piece of advice for other Indie Authors?

My biggest advice to other Indie Authors that I’m sure is common sense but commitment, but I don’t mean writing and then eventually publishing. Obviously, that is an enormous part, but I specifically mean committing to the spreading of your work. One of the most important things about self-publishing is getting your book out there. Promoting your work is so important and only promoting it for a little bit won’t do what you want to do. Take it from someone who didn’t do a lot of promotion after the publishing of my work. Granted I had other things going on, but getting your work out there, asking others to read and review your book, whatever you can for good promotion of your work. Be wary of specific offers though, make sure everything and everyone is legit!

Who is your favorite Indie Author? 

Okay, this might get me flamed. I don’t have a favorite indie author. Don’t get me wrong though, I have a fair share of indie books on my shelves that I love to read, but I haven’t found that I like just one author, especially since some of the works I have are the only published content so far. I will mention though, the indie author that got me into the genre is Wren Havyn. Her current working series has a lot of depth to it, and she is about to publish her second book to the series.

Where can someone find your work, social presence, etc.? Drop some links. 

My published work can be found on, Amazon and I have an instagram page dedicated to my book (books eventually). The handle is @cadentarbox  

As for tidbits of my writing and process, that is something that I welcome people to DM or email (cetarbox7@gmail.com) me about, I always love talking books and writing. I also very much love hearing about others' works, if they need just an ear to listen or ideas!

If you want to know more about Caden, check out their 2nd interview over on The Writer's Workout Substack - https://writersworkout.substack.com/p/caden-tarbox-second-interview

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