JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A rising Mississippi author says that her growth can be attributed to social media and a reader base that spans across the states.
Lauren Cate Leake, a 31-year-old fantasy romance author raised in South Mississippi, signed an entire table of books at the Ridgeland Barnes & Noble location.
Mississippi author markets her books across the US, using social media to build her reader base(WLBT)
In her own words, her book series, The Dread Descendant, is about “a romance and love that’s a little twisted. It’s a little dark, sometimes uncomfortable. But that has really beautiful qualities. I think it can reflect often what’s real.”
Leake’s first book was published in late 2023, but didn’t start to gain traction until several months after the initial release.
Leake feels that her being from Mississippi should not have any impact on her success, but should open more doors for readers within the Magnolia State.
“I’m not going to feed the idea that I can’t be a successful author because I’m from Mississippi, and more train my brain to think there’s a void here of authors writing in this genre and writing in fantasy and dark romance,” said Leake. “And I know there are readers here for it, because they show up every time.”
Leake has two books on the shelves now: The Dread Descendant and The Dread Prince. Her third novel is set to be released before the 2025 holidays.
With her series, Leake has established a nationwide reader base. However, she says that the excitement of the readers she meets in Mississippi rivals other locations.
“I think a lot of the time, because Mississippi is a much more rural state, we’re much more spread out … so, separated from one another. I think when you come together and you find a couple of other people that also like Fourth Wing or also like ACOTAR [A Court of Thorns and Roses], it’s so exciting because you almost feel isolated here,” said Leake.
According to Leake, she has been across the states, with her books in major retailers in huge cities. That being said, she sees a higher level of excitement in smaller book signing events in places like Ridgeland or even Purvis.
When Leake attended a book conference in Mesa, Arizona, she said because of the high volume of attendees, traffic to her booth was higher. However, she also made the point that having smaller signings at bookstores in Mississippi is often where she finds special moments, even if there are fewer attendees.
“If I go and do an indie [independent bookstore] signing, you know, like in Purvis, Mississippi, there may only be 12 people that come, but to me, that’s still huge, given that we’re in a rural area.”
Leake also acknowledged the historically lower literacy rates across the state and how that affects her view on lower turnouts.
“With a low literacy rate, those 12 people to me are just as impactful as the 200 that show up at a big event. Because, given the circumstances of where we are and that type of thing, I think that’s really cool.”
Leake believes that higher-level literature, like classics, is important for people to read, but books that allow readers to relax and set aside stress are becoming more and more popular.
“I think that this writing is accessible. I think it is sometimes easily consumed, and I think that a lot of women, predominantly in Mississippi, are working hard, are working long hours, have children. We have a lot going on in life,” Leake said. “So, I think that sometimes you can just read something that really lets your brain turn off and just takes you on a ride. I do think that more and more people are acclimating to that… I think it’s cool because it’s something you can consume easily and have a good time, and sometimes in life, it’s not always great. We live in a scary world sometimes, an evil world sometimes.”
Being an independent author, Leake doesn’t have a publishing house to back up her books in advertising or getting her books into major retailers, like Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million.
She said that marketing her books to retailers is “the hardest thing that I actively have to do.”
One of the best ways that Leake has found to market her books is by directly reaching out to retailers herself.
Mississippi author markets her books across the US, using social media to build her reader base(WLBT)
Leake often goes to store managers and connects with them to propose her books.
“When I first reached out to the [Barnes & Noble] store here in Ridgeland, they wanted to do a signing. We did it. I think it was like October of last year. It went so well that they ended up ordering 100 more copies for me to come back on Black Friday. And so ever since then, we’ve had a really good relationship.”
But the Ridgeland Barnes & Noble is not the only location that has ordered her books to sell. Individual managers at retail locations can order her books from their vendor, Ingram, and sell them to customers.
She has seen her books in Los Angeles, Boston, and other bigger cities across the U.S.
Leake stated, “Sometimes I’ll be searching to see where they are in stock, on barnesandnoble.com. And I’ll be like, ‘Whoa. I have no idea where this city is or why the book is there. But thank you to whoever either recommended it to the store or a store associate that has either read it or heard of it and wanted it on the shelf.’”
She went on to say, “All the time, more and more, I get excited to see them on shelves.”
Social media has been a huge factor in Leake’s success. In recent years, social media trends like “BookTok,” through TikTok, or “Bookstagram,” through Instagram, have risen in popularity.
Leake thinks that this has improved author success rates and allows independent authors not signed to a major publishing house, like herself, to reach readers in all places.
“If [social media] were taken away tomorrow, I would have nothing. There would be no way for me to sell my books. There’d be no way for me to reach readers,” said Leake.
Leake also noted that social media has contributed to more bookstores opening.
“You have more people opening indie bookstores now, I think, than ever because I think they know they have the opportunity to advertise and to find their reader base.”
Leake highlighted that she would be nowhere without her loyal readers.
“I love them so much, and nothing that I have right now, not a single book signing or my audiobook, anything, none of that would be possible without them, and they are the only reason that I keep writing, and they’re the best part of this.”
She went on to say, “[I’m] so grateful that they’re there, and if anyone’s reading my book and wants to talk about it or wants to post about it, it’s the coolest thing ever to me, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.”
Leake’s third book and the last of her Dread Descendant series will be available before the end of the year. She is also working on multiple other projects that she is excited to get into her readers’ hands.
“I’m very excited about it. I’m sad to sort of have it be the final book in this series, but I also have so many other ideas. So, at the same time, I’m sad to let it go, but I’m also excited to move on to other things, and this will always be like my debut baby. But I do have other things I’m excited about.”
Leake’s books are available at major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Amazon. They are also included in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited.
She can also be found on various social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok.
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