My fifth indie spotlight is about Mackenzie Leanne and her debut collection of poetry Swimming in the Black.
About the book:
Swimming in the Black is a collection of poems and prose chronicling thoughts of spiraling into heartbreak, anxiety, and depression; the feelings relating to searching for someone; emotions of love; and life as a new adult.
My review:
Swimming in the Black is a collection split in to five parts, chronicling the different emotions in love and heartbreak. Mackenzie’s poems are often short and punchy, and the natural order they’re written in feels less curated than other collections, which I ended up really liking!
There’s great use of page layout in the book- poems aren’t all situated on the same place on the page, which drew me to certain poems throughout. I never really consider the ways in which layout makes an impact until I see it done well!
The collection might not resonate with everyone, as is the way of all poetry, but for anyone who has experienced heartbreak or a relationship that drains your soul- especially if you’ve later found love or fulfilment- there’s likely something that will strike a chord.
Interview with Mackenzie Leanne:
I chatted to Mackenzie Leanne about her experience of publishing independently!
How have you found indie publishing so far?
Independent publishing is tough. Word of mouth is the most important way to get your work noticed, but as an independent author this can be difficult without an established following. Sharing my work is something very new to me, so finding that audience has still been an endeavor. It may have been best to try to form that audience before publishing, but I was impatience and excited. I am just starting to realize however that there are a niche of people who want to help indie authors succeed, and that has been really great to see and gives me hope.
So what made you choose to go the independent route?
I went with self-publishing because I wanted to share my work. It is uncertain of if, or when, an author will hear back from a publishing company, and I no longer wanted to keep my poems to myself. It may be the harder path, the least likely to succeed path, but I am still happy with my choice.
Any experience of the other side of the publishing coin?
The only traditional publishing experience I have is through being a co-author on two psychology research papers. In my undergrad at university I was involved in a research lab, and through that experience I coded data and edited a paper for publication. That experience does not allow you to be creative, and it is kind of hard to compare it to publishing novels.
So speaking of word of mouth and finding a new audience, tell me about your debut and where people can find your work!
My debut poetry collection, Swimming in the Black, is more poetry than prose, but I think that is the new trend with poetry. In fact, that is what got me interested in writing poetry. Before, I was not interested in writing in the genre. I have written drafts of dystopian, fantasy, and contemporary, but never poetry. Realizing I did not have to write something that fit a certain schematic in poetry, really opened my eyes and my creativity. It has been an interesting experience to realize I like writing in this genre. The themes that I cover in this collection are related to anxiety, depression, heartbreak, love, and life as a new adult. They are based upon my own experiences – sometimes directly and sometimes more loosely. Swimming in the Black can currently be found on Amazon.
A Novel Haul 