Indie Author Profile: Rebecca Bradley

It's the kind of success story that all indie-writers can take heart from, and when Rebecca Bradley, a former police officer, finished in the force she found that her police procedurals, authentic because of her own experience as a police officer, did well enough that she was soon able to make a decent living from her writing.

 Rebecca Bradley is a retired police detective. She lives in the UK with her family and her two cockapoo's Alfie and Lola, who keep her company while she writes. Rebecca needs to drink copious amounts of tea to function throughout the day and if she could, she would survive on a diet of tea and cake while committing literary murder on a regular basis. 

' I realized how dark and warped our world really is,' Rebecca recently told Publishers Weekly of her time working for the police. 'But the opposite is also true and there are people fighting to make it right, battling with everything they have.'

Initially after leaving the police force, due to a genetic condition  (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), Bradley discovered she had a passion for writing and looked at the traditional market for a publisher, but eventually she decided to self publish and built up a network of eager readers via her skillful use of social media. Facebook, it seems, for all its flaws remains a valuable tool for indie authors.

'Full of realistic detail and convincing characters.' Woman Magazine, listing Shallow Waters after Sarah Hilary's No Other Darkness, under 'If You Liked That, Try These...'


'Make sure you are aware of the amount of work involved before you jump in,' Bradley advises those wishing to follow her self publishing lead.  'Because unlike traditional publishing where a lot of the process is done by the publisher, you are responsible for every single step. Including knowing when those steps need completing, where to go for the help, and all the extras that come with releasing the book.'         

 Bradley know the importance of making crime thrillers ring true and she is using her knowledge of law enforcement to help other crime authors write authentically and offers a “Police Fact Service” for writers basing their work in England or Wales.

Bradley's tips for other writers:

• Be genuine.
• Use social media.
• Make real connections.
• Don’t talk about your book – until you’re releasing a new one, then don’t oversell it, mention it and ask for a little help.

Check out Bradley's Amazon Author Page HERE