The founder, Nicki Snyder, has wanted to be a writer since her early teens. Becoming an Indie Publisher has been a long and slow journey (for the most part)

Nicki started out writing short stories for herself and her friends around the age of 12. Her early books were school projects. The Circus Elephant was a middle school English project, and Juanito y el Arbol was for high school Spanish.

After trying for over a year to procure an agent, The Circus Elephant was published in 2004. But it was not the way the author envisioned it. The company Nicki worked with charged her nearly $2000; a decision that never sat right with her.  So after a hiatus of several years, The Circus Elephant was republished by the author herself, via CreateSpace.

Becoming a self-published author felt less-than in the beginning, but the more work Nicki put into it, the more she came to realize that traditional publishing was not the only path.

In 2018, Nicki joined a local writer’s group and started to earnestly think about her writing. Her desire to produce published books came back with a vengeance. Between 2019-2020, she put out 3 new books: No Hope Beyond This Point, #cloudart, and Mindy Saves the Day (written by Terri Karsten, but the illustrations are by Nicki Snyder).

The author continued growing in her strength as a self-publisher, but traditional publishing was still the dream. But it was a dream that has pushed Nicki to take the next steps. So in spring 2021, the author choose a publisher name, bought her own ISBNs, and launched her brand: TheShyWriter.

Since then, she has helped two fellow authors with their manuscripts; from beta reading, line editing, and even doing the cover art of one book.  With tepid confidence, TheShyWriter is gradually accepting beta reading, and editing jobs.  

Of course, Nicki’s main goal is to lend a hand to other authors.  Please check out the free help on the Resources for Writers tab, or follow TheShyWriter on Twitter or Instagram for tips and encouragement.  Nicki will post the knowledge she has gained while navigating the self-publishing world with the hope that you share your knowledge back.

The writing community is a strong one, and though we do amazing things alone, together we can accomplish so much more.