Today I welcome onto my blog, author Liz Shipton, who is here to share her unusual and intriguing author life… aboard a sail boat! Enjoy this post where she discusses how she became a hybrid author and lots in between!

In September 2021, my partner and I (and our dog!) cut ties to land and sailed off into the sunset aboard a 43ft sailboat called Loki. Coincidentally – okay, not coincidentally at all, but we’ll come to that later – this is also when I started writing.

Since then, I’ve self-published two indie series (Thalassic, a 9-book spicy dystopian romance, and Tales of Mischief & Fuckery, an anthology of 12 spicy short stories), gone viral on social media, landed an agent and my first book deal, and funded my first Kickstarter at over $34,000. My trad-publishing debut Dot Slash Magic comes out August 19th 2025.

My journey into publishing might look, from the outside, like a straight path to success, and to many, it appears I am literally “living the dream.” So I’m here today to tell you all the ways that’s not true, all the things I’ve done wrong, and how choosing a life as an off-grid nomad has been tough…but instrumental to what I’ve achieved so far.

Onward!

Setting Sail & Writing Thalassic

It took me about a year to write my first book: Salt, book 1 of The Thalassic Series. I wrote most of it on my phone, between the hours of 2AM and 6AM, while I was on night watch in Loki’s cockpit, sailing down the coast of California into Mexico.

Salt is a “sailpunk” (yes, I did invent that genre, no, it hasn’t taken off) romance that weaves my personal journey through sobriety and neurodivergence, and the real-life places we encountered during that first year sailing, into a dystopian adventure. This book was something I wrote primarily for me – however, I won’t pretend I didn’t have hopes that someday, people might read it.

While writing that book, I fell totally, absolutely, dangerously in love with writing. We’re talking obsession beyond what normal people would consider healthy. My ADHD and autistic folks will probably understand – “hyperfocus” and “special interest” don’t really begin to cover it.

Twelve-to-sixteen hour days, seven days a week. Going to bed at six in the morning and starting the next day at nine. A rabbit hole so deep it took me three years to climb out of. That’s what we’re talking about here.

The Bad & The Ugly

The upshot of that was that Salt turned into a 9-book series, which was never meant to happen. And to be completely honest, guys: don’t do this. This was the first mistake I made. 

Part of the reason I kept writing Thalassic was because I fell in love with the world and characters and wanted to know more about them. But partly I kept going because I’d heard it’s easier to sell the next book in a series than it is to sell a whole new series. This is true…to a point. Most of my readers drop off after book 3 (which drives me absolutely bananas because books 4 – 6 & 9 are the best ones in the series!)

It took me about 3 years to complete Thalassic, and the most unfortunate part about that was I couldn’t promote anything else during that time. The other thing that sucks is that I’m now stuck promoting the first (aka worst) book I ever wrote, because it is the entrypoint to the series. The third thing that sucks is that because it’s cross-genre and a bit weird, it’s extremely difficult to get people to pick it up. I don’t actually make very much money off those books.

So that’s lesson one: Write a 3-book series in a normal genre for your first attempt and then move on.

The Good

I will say that the benefit of having a 9-book series is that the people who love it really love it. They get as deeply acquainted with the characters as I am, and they become hardcore fans. These are the folks who support me on Patreon and who are psyched for my next Kickstarter.

The Better

The other benefit is that by the time I was done writing this series, I knew what I was doing. My writing process is now a well-oiled machine, and my prose is clearer, my dialogue snappier, and my characters better-developed than they would have been without it.
Lesson two: In order to get better at writing, you have to write a lot.

Going Viral

Once I’d finished books 1-3 of The Thalassic Series, I got on TikTok and Instagram to promote it. At that time, it was still a YA series (there are two versions – a YA edition with no spice, and a spicy edition.) I didn’t start writing spicy stuff until I discovered Booktok.
Booktok taught me what romance tropes are. In 2023, armed with this knowledge, I put up some comedy videos that went viral. I have to credit Jason Pinter/A.L. Brody here (as I try to do everywhere) with pioneering these videos.

When I put up my own version of his “wiggly finger voiceover” reel, I wasn’t expecting it to go anywhere – I was as used to my TikToks getting 200 views as I was to copying trends on the platform. Fortunately, Jason is an extremely cool person who was surprisingly okay with me successfully ripping off his idea. He even provided me a quote for the front of Dot Slash Magic!

The Bad & The Ugly

Here’s where I made my second mistake: I didn’t fully capitalize on this viral moment. For one thing, due to my remote/nomadic lifestyle, my account is registered in Mexico, meaning I’m ineligible for things like the Creator Program and TikTok Shop. I’ve tried to change this and it’s impossible. This means I make zero money from that account. Yes. You read that correctly. Zero.

Second, going viral with your face on Booktok is not the same as going viral with your books. My comedy videos do not translate to sales like a post about a book does – especially now, almost two years later.

I spent far too long relying on those videos and not actually promoting my books on the platform before I realized this.

So I guess those are lessons three & four: Make sure you establish your TikTok account in the US. And don’t forget to post about your effing books!

The Good

The upshot of my virality was that it landed me in front of my agent and led to my first book deal. Angry Robot signed my contract for Dot Slash Magic based on three chapters and a synopsis; I didn’t submit a complete manuscript. I’m not going to sell myself short: you can tell by the end of chapter one that the book is fucking kickass – but a big part of the reason I landed that deal was my social media presence.

The Better

The best part about those viral videos is that they made me a better writer. Those videos went viral because they’re well-written (and okay, because my face is funny, I guess.) Writing the scripts for those reels taught me a bunch of important things, like:

• How to grab people right away
• How to communicate a complete character or even story arc in under a minute
• How to make things funny
• How to trust my instincts

That last point is crucial. Prior to those videos, I had no idea I was funny (according to my partner, I’m still not 😂) Once I had figured out that being myself worked, I started doing it in my books. Dot Slash Magic isn’t marketed as a comedy, but it is absolutely bonkers. That’s because I started writing it right around the time those videos took off, and when I saw that people responded favorably to my real voice, I figured “fuck it!” and just transferred that voice to the book.

So there’s another lesson, maybe? Don’t be afraid to let your voice be shaped by unexpected influences.

The Not Coincidental Part of All This

Remember when I said that starting my writing journey at the same time as my sailing journey was not coincidental? Let’s talk about that now.

A big part of the reason I chose to pursue this lifestyle was because I knew it would give me the freedom to write. None of what I’ve accomplished in this time span would have been possible had I been land-based, working a regular 9-5.

Living on a boat is cheap. Living on a boat in Central America, doubly so. Buying a boat is cheaper than buying a house (especially in California) and living this fringe-of-society lifestyle costs next to nothing.

We anchor for free in some of the most beautiful places in the world. We have no car. We have no insurance, health or otherwise. Risky? Absolutely. In 2024 we were almost hit by the unprecedented hurricane Beryl and could have lost our home with no insurance on it.

Suffice it to say: living on a boat is not always “living the dream.” But the financial freedom it’s given me is what allowed me to kickstart my career as an author.

I am the sole provider for our little family (me, my partner, and our dog.) I work a day job as a freelance technical writer, but over the last three years, I’ve been able to rely more and more on income from my creative work to support us. The only reason I’ve been able to do this is because supporting us costs so little.

All of this is to say two things:

1. Don’t compare your journey to mine

Beating yourself up because you haven’t written as many books, or gone viral, or gotten a publishing deal would be ridiculous. There are very few people in the world who have the amount of time that I do to devote to writing. I chose this lifestyle on purpose, so that I could make it my priority. Not everyone can do that.

2. Art takes commitment

I fully believe that choosing a low-cost, minimalist lifestyle is a really good way to support your art. If you’re serious about writing (or any other creative pursuit) you might have to make sacrifices. I’m not saying you need to run out and live on a boat, but I’m a big proponent of “making your life support your art, rather than the other way around.” If you’re at a place in your life where you can ponder this…I encourage you to do that.

The Future

So now what? Well, Dot Slash Magic comes out August 19th 2025, and it’s distributed by Penguin Random House, so you can pre-order it everywhere books are sold. Please do pre-order it! I promise you’ll have a good time.

My second Kickstarter – for the deluxe Thalassic Series omnibuses – launches in early 2026, and it’s going to be gorgeous. I’ve never done special editions before, so I’m pulling out all the stops with foil, sprayed edges, a slip case, hand-numbering, book plates…the whole shebang!
Follow the pre-launch link here if you’re interested.

Finally, my latest manuscript Mother & Slaughter is on submission to Big Five publishing houses. You can read the rough draft chapters on my Patreon (where you’ll also find other goodies like behind-the-scenes videos, exclusive Patrons-only merch, my personal resources for indie authors, and more.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope it’s been at least somewhat informative and not too unhinged. Thank you to Ari for giving me space to spew my ramblings all over you, and to my readers and the folks who follow me on social media for supporting my work.

Now please stop procrastinating, and go write your book.

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Liz Shipton is a writer and off-grid liveaboard sailor. She’s currently sailing around the world with her partner and her dog, turning her real-life adventures into speculative fiction.

lizshipton.com | instagram.com/lizshiptonauthor | tiktok.com/@lizshiptonauthor

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Liz, thanks so much for being a guest on this blog and sharing your experiences. It was a great read and I am just a little jealous of those beautiful locations you have sailed to. Good luck on your new upcoming book. 🙂

Happy writing!

Ari

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Source: Photos and related pictures supplied by and copyright to author Liz Shipton

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