We started side hustle writing books from shed – publishers rejected us but we’ve sold millions of copies with TikTok
CAROLINE PECKHAM and Susanne Valenti are proof of the power of BookTok.
Ever since the sisters were little girls, they had dreamed of becoming authors. But like many budding writers, their manuscripts were rejected by dozens of publishing agents.
Now, thanks to TikTok, they are best-selling authors, with 2.8million copies of their books snapped up and two billion pages read on Kindle Unlimited.
The hashtag for their series of novels, the Zodiac Academy, has amassed 251million views and they have been nominated for BookTok Breakthrough Author of the Year.
Mum-of-two Susanne, 37, says: “As little girls, all we ever wanted to do was write. We tried to get into publishing the traditional way, by sending manuscripts to agents, and only received rejections.”
The sisters decided to take matters into their own hands. At first they wrote material alone and self-published books separately.
But during lockdown, they started writing together from their parents’ garden shed, while also working in the family cattery business.
‘We work so well together’
They completed the first of their Zodiac Academy series – hailed by fans as an adult Harry Potter – and created a TikTok account to market it.
“Covid had a huge impact because everyone was reading so much,” says Susanne. “We began writing the Zodiac Academy series together and created a TikTok account and things went crazy.”
To date, the sisters have self-published eight books in the series and, last year, six publishers offered them deals – all of which they turned down.
“It’s important that we’re putting out the books that we want to create. We don’t want somebody else dictating to us,” says Susanne.
Instead, the sisters have opted to take a distribution deal from Simon & Schuster, where they will keep the rights to the books.
“We edit each other’s chapters and have proofreaders to check for any mistakes,” Susanne adds.
“We’ve learned so much and want to stay independent. The business is slowly building and they are also employing assistants and advisers to help.”
Caroline, 34, says of their incredible journey: “At one point there was a $2million deal sitting on the table, but we said no, because we want to continue doing things our own way.”
While the pair used to rely on income from working in their parents’ cattery, they now earn enough from writing to step away – and for their parents to retire.
We’ve learned so much and want to stay independent
Susanne says: “We’ve been able to let our parents retire and my husband has quit his job as a mechanic and is renovating our dream house.”
The women still write from their parents’ garden. “I like the fact that I’m around so much for my children,” reveals Susanne.
“It might be in the garden room working, but I know that they’re in the garden with their nana. That is really lovely for me.”
‘True writing powerhouses’
The sisters are true writing powerhouses and can churn out a book a month when they need to.
Caroline says: “The thing we really love the most is the actual writing part. The business part is necessary, but writing stories is all we’ve ever wanted to do.
“We work so well together, and disappearing into a cave to write a new instalment is the best thing.”
- The BookTok Awards are on Thursday, July 25.