Words and Pictures with Louie Stowell

The importance of perspective, self promotion vs a publisher's marketing budget and why rejection is the breakfast of champions.

This week we’re joined by bestselling author and ex editor, Louie Stowell.

We talked about her about her journey to publication, self promotion vs a publisher’s marketing budget, the importance of having a life outside of writing and why it’s important to put your work out there even if it leads to rejection.

Louie Stowell started her career writing carefully-researched books about space, ancient Egypt, politics and science but eventually lapsed into just making stuff up.

She has written fiction for 8–12 (Nosy Crow and Walker Books US), but the number one bestselling Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good series is Louie's first project as both author and illustrator, inspired by her research into Norse myths.

There are now 5 books in the Loki series, plus a World Book Day £1 book and an activity book. Louie writes full time in London, where she lives with her wife Karen and a creepy puppet that is probably cursed.

Why are words and pictures important to you?

When you put them together, it’s a kind of alchemy. I don’t mean books with illustrations. I mean books where the illustrations and the words work together as part of the story engine. Books where if you took one away it would make no sense.

I am especially fond of books where the images undercut or subvert the text somehow, adding a layer of pathos or irony. That really makes my brain sit up and take notice. Obviously, comics do this, and comics are deeply beloved to me, but I’m also very interested in books that are not technically sequential art/comics but use illustrations and text in a very integrated fashion.

Just dating myself here but it makes me think of the Chuckle Brothers: “To me…to you….to me….to you….” Where words are one Chuckle Brother and Pictures are the other. I recently discovered there used to be a prize for books like this. I’d love to bring it back some day.

How did you go from having an idea for a story to getting your first book published?

Well, it took me from writing my first novel as soon as I left uni to getting my first book published about 16 years later so the “how” is perhaps best described as SLOWLY.

Did you always want to be an author?

No. I initially wanted to be a jazz musician. Then an advertising copywriter. It took me a while to realise that being a writer was actually A Job. By then I was working in publishing and realised that it was a job that was incredibly hard to get and even harder to keep.

How do you think your previous career in publishing has impacted your writing career? Has knowing more about how publishing works helped? And if so, how?

It gave me realistic expectations about what being a published author would mean. I know that not all books get equal levels of marketing, for example, and that books go out of print, and a lot of authors don’t keep publishing books over time. I don’t think knowing any of that has helped practically but it has helped emotionally.

Given that you have a background working in publishing, was there anything that still surprised you about the industry when you became a published author?

There are things I knew intellectually but I’d never be on the receiving end. I knew, as a publisher, it took me a long time to get back to people. But when you’re the one waiting it’s very different.

Taking something to acquisitions as a publisher feels like a horrendous rush and you’re pressured to know all the things and be in the loop on everything. As an author, it feels like a glacial eternity of ignorance and waiting.

Where did you get the idea for Loki from and did you always plan to illustrate it?

It’s an idea that crept up on my slowly. I’ve always loved mythology, and I came to norse myths via Wagner. As a trumpet player, Wagner always gave you a decent amount to do.

I went through a through (worse) versions of the idea, including one where Loki didn’t start out as an adult god but rather a child one. But it was the divine adult-to-mortal child that crystalised the idea. The humiliation!

And it was Loki’s voice that brought it all together. That came fairly fully formed. I hoped I’d get to illustrate it but I didn’t expect to. I sent doodles with my submission but my agent definitely didn’t want me to get my hopes up.

A few publishers wanted it but only one, Walker, suggested I did the drawings – Non, my editor, used to be a colleague at Usborne and had seen my doodles in the office. I drew them a picture of a horse once I think. I now can’t imagine someone else doing the art.

Going back to one of the questions above, there’s one way working in publishing helped me as a writer (illustrator anyway)….doodling when I should’ve been working meant a future fiction editor saw my art!

I suppose the broader version of that is that publishing is SMALL so any connection you make at any point may become relevant later. It’s the same few dozen people moving around!

Can you give us any insights into how you promote yourself and your work?

I have a deep love of text-based internet, and I was what you’d call extremely online before I was published, so I just started folding my books into what I was posting. Twitter used to be a great way to reach parents and teachers and booksellers but obviously that’s gone the way Musk and the only things it’s useful to promote are cryptocurrency or fascism.

I’ve started a newsletter now that twitter is dying and, while its reach is much smaller, I’ve had it on good authority that it’s the way forward for authors and promo. I try to post on insta from time to time but I don’t like it.

I love bluesky for fun but no idea if it’s any use as promo. Offline, school and festival events are the engine of self-promo. But imo it should be the publisher’s job far more than the author’s to promote books.

What I can do pales in comparison to what a publisher with a marketing budget is capable of.

Do you have a writing routine? If so, can you tell us about it?

No. I’m very casual. I like writing at home in my office but sometimes write in cafes too. No particular time other than I never write late at night. After about 6pm my brain shuts down all higher functions.

Can you tell us what you're working on now?

I have an adult novel chugging along in the background, a comic for kids, and the latest Loki – loki book six. Working title: A Bad God’s Guide to Monster Hunting. It features Loki’s giant snake of a son, among other monsters. Though Loki wouldn’t appreciate me calling him a monster. THAT’S MY SON, he’d say.

What advice would you give someone who wants to get published?

Make sure you have a life that has nothing to do with books and publishing. It can become very all-consuming, and it’s great to have some distance from time to time.

In terms of actually HOW to get published, I think actively seeking rejection is a good thing – I didn’t put myself out there much for years and it meant I had a very slow road to publication. Submit short stories! Enter competitions!

The more your name gets out there, the better, and the more practice you have with rejection? The better for your life as a writer, as it doesn’t stop after being published. Rejection is the breakfast of champions.

This was a fascinating interview and we’d like to say a huge thank you to Louie for answering all of our questions. You can find out more about Louie and her books on her website, Substack, Bluesky, instagram and subscribe to her newsletter below.

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